Climate Change in Uganda

Uganda: When a Dying Lake Hurts the Living

Felix Basiime

19 June 2010 (http://allafrica.com/stories/201006210758.html)

ANALYSIS

Climate change is threatening Lake Katwe and the lives of over 8,000 residents who engage in salt extraction for a living. The lake has flooded forcing people to seek alternative jobs.

It was a bright sunny day when I arrived at Lake Katwe deep inside Queen Elizabeth National Park. The sight of a woman sweating profusely drew my attention. Ms Aidah Mbambu, 40, was busy drawing water out of a salt well which had flooded. 

"I have been trying to empty this well for the last three weeks but it fills up quickly," she starts her story.

Ms Mwambu has been extracting salt from the lake for over 15 years. And from this business, she has supported her six children. She is not alone. More than 8,000 people own small wells (salt plots) on the shallow lake. Their lives depend on extracting salt.

Plots on the shores of the lake are demarcated and owned by individuals or families. The ownership is hereditary.

A plot means a pond of at least 10 or 12 feet wide and between three to five feet deep. At the center of the lake, only licenced individuals are allowed to extract the salt leaving the locals to own plots at the shores.

Out of mining salt, Ms Mbambu says she earns between Shs 20,000 to Shs 40,000 daily. But her livelihood is now threatened. "There is no salt now, water has flooded our salt pans," says Ms Mwambu, "I have grown up in Katwe and have never seen such a situation."

The reduction in the amount of salt extracted has exposed the locals to economic hard times. Ms Mbambu says she has, for the first time, failed to send her three children to school this term. "I am afraid of taking a loan, so my children are still at home," she said.

                                                   Flooding

The salty Lake Katwe flooded in May, 2010 a few days ahead of the peak season for extracting salt. Business usually booms during the dry seasons, (from January- March and June-September) when the water in the shallow lake evaporates exposing the salty rocks underneath. The flooding has also left more than 3,000 porters jobless.

According to Mr Nicholas Arinaitwe Kagongo, an environmentalist at the Lake Katwe Salt Tourism and Information Centre, the floods that hit the area recently, dissolved the salt in more than 8,000 salt pans.

"There used to be over 30 streams refreshing lake Katwe but now only 4 are left," Mr Arinaitwe says.

He says lake Katwe may become barren just like other salt lakes in the district if the current climate changes are anything to go by. "There were four salty lakes in Kasese District but now two are left, and others got 'barren' due to similar environmental factors that Lake Katwe is facing now," he adds.

The salty lakes are in the areas of Katwe, Nyamunuka, Bunyampaka and Munyanyange.
Today, only Katwe and Bunyampaka have salt. Mr Arinaitwe says high extraction following the high demand for salt in Uganda and the neighbouring countries, has also affected the salt quantity in the lake.

Other factors include the degradation by animals and residents who cut the vegetation surrounding the lake. The grass and other shrubs control the rain water runoff.

"The problem is that we have been using the grass from the slopes around the lake and on the lake banks to create our salt wells which caused the rain water runoff, but we had stopped this and had started using sand in sacks," Ms Mbambu says.

Experts blame it on mishandling of environment. "There is an unchecked run off of rain water from the hills due to poor vegetation caused by bush burning," said Mr Jeconious Musingwiire.

Mr Musingwiire, the western region focal person and public awareness officer for NEMA, said there was need to properly manage the water catchment area around the lake. And Mr Paul Isabirye, the Coordinator of the Climate Change Unit under the Ministry of Water and Environment says "there must be an investigation into why the streams are drying. Trees must be planted around the lake. They will safe guard the banks".

Traders around East and central Africa have for many years flocked Lake Katwe to load about eight to 10 lorries of salt daily. The lake produces three types of salt- Crude salt for animal leak, edible salt (sodium chloride) and unwashed salt. The women scrap the bottom of the garden to scoop the salt. They use their feet to crash the salt to form small/fine crystals and then wash the crystals forming edible salt (washed salt/ sodium chloride).

Kasese local government earns about Shs240 million annually in taxes from the salty lake. Lake Katwe remains the main source of income among the inhabitants of Katwe-Kabatoro town council in Busongora south. People still practice rudimentary mining of salt to earn a living.

There are health complications in this job however, notes one of the guides in the area. "For the women when the female reproductive organs get in contact with this salty water more often, they develop uterus complications," says Nicholas. "The men on the other hand are also affected. When the male organs get in contact with this salty water, they itch. This makes them scratch their male organs causing wounds."

To minimize these effects, the women are advised to wear a pad before they enter the water. This helps to reduce on the amount of "salt water" entering their reproductive organs. The men on the other hand use condoms, Nicholas says.

                                                 About the lake

Lake Katwe has a salt rock that lies on a contour line that connects lakes: Katwe , Munyanyange, Nyamunuka and Kasenyi (Bunyampaka). In the middle of the lake are vents or holes which go from the main salt rock to the outside. They are scattered in different parts of the lake.

Water from the streams goes through the vents and dissolves the main rock to become a salt solution which quickly turns into salt.

Blood donation: A message to the churches

“Give your brethen blood as I have given you mine”

Felix Basiime (April 1, 2010, http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health%20&%20Living/-/689846/890430/-/format/xhtml/-/5sg96y/-/index.html)

Mrs Jovanice Munyarubega, 46, from Kisoro District, South Western Uganda was saved by a blood transfusion in 1983 at Mutolere Hospital when she was admitted with acute malaria while pregnant.

“I was checked and found anaemic. I needed blood,” recalls Ms Munyarubega. After the blood transfusion, she got her good health back and was discharged. Later, she delivered normally.

Prior to seeing the benefits of donating blood, she had in the past had a burning urge to donate blood, but feared that she might die or get weak after the exercise.

“I was challenged to donate blood. But I kept fearing that I would get weak and die,” Ms Munyarubega says.

She is not alone; so many people in the communities in Uganda nurse the same feelings, a thing that has for many years forced Red Cross to recruit blood donors from schools, tertiary institutions, security forces and companies because they get a luke warm reception from the communities.

When schools close, regional blood banks countrywide run out of blood or operate on little capacity causing a number of deaths of treatable sicknesses especially among children and pregnant mothers.

“When schools close and we go to the communities, people especially the elderly reason that they don’t feed well so they can’t donate blood. We set up tents during donation week in towns but we get very few people turning up, but in church we have been overwhelmed,” says Mr Emmanuel Mugarura, the Western Regional Blood Donor Recruitment Officer.

Mugarura says, his team was overwhelmed on March 13, 2010 when they got over 109 units of blood at Mbarara Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church after a sermon by church Pastor, Mr Abel Munyarubega.

This was after Red Cross teamed up with the church and organised a blood donation day and the church mobilised its members. From the pulpit, Pastor Munyarubega based his sermon on the book of Mathew 25: 31-40 and James 2: 14-17 and urged the flock, “Don’t sit here in church and forget the sick out there, we can’t give blood to everyone but the few pints of blood you will give will save daughters and sons of God somewhere.”

He added, “My wife Jovanice (Munyarubega) was saved by a blood transfusion, and so have many others, don’t be selfish.”

Mrs Munyarubega and others in the congregation were persuaded by the sermon and went straight to donate blood outside the church where a team of five officials from Red Cross and Blood Bank were waiting.

“Since I was rescued by a blood transfusion, I remained with a debt to pay but feared until I heard a good sermon in church about donating blood and helping the needy,” Mrs Munyarubega said.

She vowed, “From today on, I will always donate blood because the exercise I feared before I have found easy and quick and I have known all the reasons why I should donate blood.”

Pastor Munyarubega later said, “As a church, we found it necessary to save life. We sat in a church board and resolved to invite the Blood Bank officials, our target was that at least each member donates and it was successful even the children cried, because they wanted to donate but were barred by age.”

The blood donation age bracket is 17-45 and one must be above 45kg in weight.
Pastor Munyarubega adds, “We heard that the country was about to import blood due to the blood crisis and we found this as a challenge for us as Christians.”

Red Cross chairman in Mbarara, Mr Patrick Webaale says, “This is the first blood donation we have had from an organised church. We have been getting blood mainly from schools and other community members, but we were overwhelmed by this church. We appeal to other churches to do the same because the need for blood in hospitals is high especially in the rain seasons (when malaria cases are many).”

“We expected 40 units from this church because we have never got anything above that in a day when we go out in the communities, but we got more than 100 at once,” says Mugarura. “We have been partnering with schools and companies but the SDA church has taught us a good lesson, from now we shall target the churches and mosques, an area we had neglected.”

Why water sources are drying up in western Uganda

Why water sources are drying up in western Uganda

FELIX BASIIME

MBARARA (Monitor, Februray 16, 2007) The government is still investing more resources in the water infrastructure even as some Gravity Water Schemes (GWS) in the west start drying up. Less than five years ago, the government set up several GWSs in the hills of Rwampara, Kashari in Mbarara district and Kamwenge and Ibanda districts. Records show that each GWS cost about Shs 970 million but unfortunately some have started drying up. Others with water have dwindled in quantity making the beneficiaries line-up for water for long hours. A case in point is the Kikyenkye GWS in Ibanda and the Rubindi GWS in Kashari where some stand taps are already dry and the water tanks empty due to less pressure to push the water up the tanks. These were some of the observations raised at a regional workshop of inter district water development stakeholders in Mbarara from February 7 to 9, 2007. The workshop, that was organised by the Department for Water Development (DWD), was attended by chief administrative officers (CAOs), LC5 chairmen, district water officers, community development mobilisers, NGOs among other stakeholders. Participants shared lessons, challenges and harmonised work plans for all stakeholders involved in the provision of water for domestic and rural production. This comes at the time when the region is faced with the gradual drying up of water bodies among them River Rwizi, the main water source for Mbarara town. Among the observations raised was the question of funding water sources construction under conditional grants for domestic use and rural production. It was noted that the scheme was not sustainable despite the government's interventions taking water as a priority for funding. During the same workshop, DWD's Engineer Ian Aribahona, emphasised that Local governments (LC5s) should commit 70 percent of the conditional grants for water to infrastructure development. "People think that water is constant, no, it fluctuates according to the management of the catchment area," Mr Jeconious Musingwire told Daily Monitor in an interview. Mr Musingwire is the western region NEMA focal person for public awareness and Education and also the Mbarara district environment inspector. He adds, "Some of the GWS are over stretched, they serve more than the required number of taps, a case in point is the stand pipe in Kanoni in Ibanda. It is dry because the planning could not establish how many taps could be served by the scheme," Mr Musigwire, who did his Msc at Makerere in Environment and Natural Resources in 2006 wrote a Thesis on Water quality assessment of surface water in Mbarara Municipality. He said district authorities don't subject these projects (GWS) to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). "No hydrological report or EIA is done on these projects before to reveal the status of the underground water and also the recharging potential because the extraction of water at any water body should let at least 30 percent of the flowing water to continue rather than channel all of it to the pipes," he says. Mr Musingwire said channelling of available water at the aquifers (water sources), affects other water bodies in the surroundings.                            Planning and funding  While the government is giving more priority to provision of water both for domestic use and rural production, most of these projects are done under water departments who at most depend on "Social economic assessments" but no hydrological reports because there are no hydrologists at district level. "Water departments identify water sources, hills for gravity, shallow wells which is a decentralised service. we are hitting a snag in white elephants due to lack of hydrologists," said Mr Musingwire adding that there are no financial commitment for environmental restoration interventions for the already degraded catchment areas which are serving water bodies".                              LC's view In August 2006 during an LC5 council session, the report by the Works Sectoral Committee stated that the water source at Bucuro and Rubindi GWS in Kashari "escaped". But Mr Musingwire wondered how this could happen. "Because when it escapes, it means it has shifted from one place to another or it has run away but what the politicians are saying is that the GWS dried up due to the aquifers getting dry faster than the recharging natural system".                             Why River Rwizi is drying up According to Mr Musingwire, the Rwizi will dry up because most of its catchment areas are being mismanaged at a high rate among them are wetlands and GWS. He said the Rwizi gets water from Itojo wetland system (Ntungamo), Bujaga/ Nyaikaikara wetland (Mbarara), Nyakambu wetland (Buhweju, Bushenyi) and Kooga wetland system (Sheema/Kashari). "These wetland systems are naturally replenished by the water sources in the ridges of Buhwa and Bucuro (In Buhweju and Kashari), Ryengoma (in Ibanda) and Rubindi that are also being tapped for GWS," said Mr Musingwire. "If these GWSs sources are being tapped without proper hydrological survey and EIA, the outcome is that the ridges, the wetlands and River Rwizi will all dry up". The size of Rwizi is thinning gradually. National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) took over the water and sanitation services in Mbarara town in 1987. The area has piped network coverage of 145.2 km. Mbarara municipality has close to 70,000 people (by 2007) but NWSC targets a population of 92,750 and serves 74,930 people daily through pumping water only from River Rwizi. Water is treated at two Water Treatment Plants both drawing the raw water from River Rwizi. The older plant at Kabale Road treats about 700 m3 per day while Ruharo plant treats about 3800 m3 per day. NWSC extends water services to Kaberebere town, 14km in the South, to Rutoma/Bwizibwera 30km in the North, Biharwe 12km to the East and Ruti 6km to the West. The government also plans to tap more water from River Rwizi to supply the dry areas of Isingiro and Rakai districts. More often President Yoweri Museveni has said they plan to pump water up the Isingiro hills into tanks then it runs by gravity flow to Ngarama and Rakai areas. The government also plans to extend piped water from Lake Kakyeera in Rakai district to Lyantonde town. Rwizi also waters Kakyeera.                               Way forward According to Mr Musingwire, hydrology services should be decentralised to do the initial work on GWS. Currently the service is still centralised. The government should also use civil engineers rather than sociologists in water projects. He thinks the government should put money first in looking for the causes of water scarcity in the region then in infrastructure later.

The prisoner who is 102 years old

The prisoner who is 102 years old

Felix Basiime

Kasese (April 11, 2011)

It is a sunny and windy day at Mubuku government prison in Kasese district, several inmates, men and women paint the flat compound yellow.

Others are busy working in the fields (gardens), while others are seated waiting for a workshop. The latter class can pick some English and are ready to learn and train other inmates on their rights.

This is one of the workshops conducted by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) country wide in various prisons to inmates on their rights and court processes. 

But lonely in the compound, is Mr Saul Bwambale, 102 seated on a verandah of a uniport, beside him is a walking stick. He is holding a plastic bowl while eating brown beans and posho as several flies disturb him.

He is so weak that he cannot move to the kitchen to pick his share of meals, fellow inmates help him bring food for him. He takes too long at lunch alone as he munches food slowly.

He struggles to lift himself up to go to wash his hands after a meal. He is really lonely because other inmates are between 18 years and 40, he has no company. Due to his age and being weak, the prison authorities say they give him milk from the prison farm daily.

He takes 3 meals and sleeps on a mat like other inmates in the same dormitory.

Bwambale is a convict. He was convicted of defilement by High court in Fort Portal two years ago. He is serving a 3 year sentence which according to the Officer in Charge at Mubuku, Mr Albert Ziraba, will end in early 2012.

Bwambale was convicted of defiling a 17 year old girl in Bwera, Kasese district near Uganda-DRC border but up to now he asserts that the case was framed.

“We had land disputes with my neighbours and they framed a defilement case against me and I was jailed so that they take my land” Bwambale sadly says.

He is not visited in prison because he says that he lost several relatives during the civil war between government forces and the rebel Allied Democratic forces in the 1990s.

“Am now left with one kid and I don’t where he is” says the sorrowful Bwambale.

He wants to appeal after he heard of the prisoners’ rights and court procedures by JSC.

But several inmates at Katojo prison in Fort Portal and Mubuku asked JSC officials several questions about defilement. Several say that cases were framed against them and are not satisfied with court decisions.

They were told that with or without a male sexual organ one can be convicted of defilement in courts of law.

At the government prison in Fort Portal at Katojo, an inmate asked, “Really how can court convict an impotent suspect over defilement, many of us here languishing in prison over framed cases”.

In response, the JSC’s Registrar Education and Public affairs, Mr Michael Elubu said, “Yes, because there is sexual assault of a minor be it by hands or any other object”

At Mubuku, basically a farm prison, Bwambale does not labour in the fields like other inmates because he is weak and old.

Defilement cases used to grab land

According to Daily Monitor of September 8, 2009, court officials say that the people of Kyenjojo district use defilement as a tool to chase their neighbours off their land.

The resident state attorney, Kyenjojo then, Mr Kizito Aliwaani while addressing human rights activists, local leaders, community development officers and paralegals, he urged them to be on the lookout in society for such cases.

He said, “As local leaders and human rights activists, you need to keep on the look out to differentiate between genuine defilement cases and framed ones”.

He said in 2009, court instructed police to hunt for 3 men who framed a defilement case against Mr Stephen Kaahwa, a resident of Karuruga village with an aim of chasing him off his land.

He said that the suspects grabbed a young girl and pushed her in the bed room of Kaahwa who had a land dispute with them but police instead arrested Kaahwa on suspicion of defilement.

Kaahwa was later released after the Resident state attorney discovered loop holes in the case. The girl also confessed that she was defiled but by another person a year ago.

                        Not walking alone

Through court process we find justice, but to Bwambale it is sadness and he does not know where to start his life after prison. But he is not alone in the world.

According to the Deccan Herald, an online magazine, 108-year-old Mr Brij Bihari could very well be the oldest prisoner in the world serving a life sentence in a prison in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur town.
Brij Bihari, a resident of Barahara Mahant village has spent about 24 years in the jail on the charge of killing four people along with some others, Bihari and 18 others were sentenced to life imprisonment for the killings at Bariyapur Shahi village in the district in 1987. Of them, three died while serving their sentence in jail. As many as 16 members of Brij Bihari’s family, including himself, had been named in the killings. The sensational killings, which were attributed to old enmity, had evoked an outcry then. Brij Bihari was 84, when he was arrested in connection with the murders and sent to jail though it was doubted if he could kill somebody at such an age. He never came out since then. According to the jail officials, his name has been included in the list of inmates, whose release has been recommended on this occasion. The list was currently under consideration of the government, sources said. The officials said a prisoner, who was blind or suffered from cancer or had served 12 years and completed 60 years could be released as per the rules. According to jail officials, Brij Bihari is too old to be kept in the jail.

            

TOURISM: Meet Mary, the Friendly Elephant in Uganda

Mary the Friendly Elephant in Uganda

By Felix Basiime, Kasese (March 27, 2011)

Over two decades ago, she was orphaned in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Rescued and tamed by park wardens at Mweya Safari Lodge, Mary’s bond with humans is so strong that even though she later returned to the wild, she regularly visits the locals near her abode.

One evening, I was driving from Fort Portal to Mbarara and as I passed through Katunguru, about 108kms on Mbarara-Fort Portal Road, I could not believe my eyes when I saw a huge elephant comfortably walking around the shops as people gave it food with ease and played with it. I parked my car at a safe distance and fearfully took photos.

“Don’t fear her, this is Mary; there was another one called John, they both used to visit us from the park,” said Birungi, a fish vendor standing nearby.

Mary, an elephant, occasionally visits Katunguru Trading Centre and Kasenyi landing site. She used to move with John till he died some years back. Another elephant, a huge male one called Buruburu , visits the people in Kidepo Valley National Park (KVNP).

Katunguru is a town found in Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP). Other towns inside QENP include, Muhokya, Katwe-Kabatooro and Kikorongo, but Mary does not go there. Asked to throw some light on the history of Mary and Buruburu, Tom Okello, former Area Chief Warden at QENP said, “Mary was orphaned in QENP some many years ago and park wardens at Mweya Safari Lodge rescued and tamed her. That is why she is so at ease around people. It is the same case with Buruburu in Kidepo.”

He explained that when Mary grew up, her wild nature took over, so she went back to the park but occasionally visits the people because she is used to being around humans, being tame and all. He says the elephants in this case were named by the locals and are as old as two decades.

According to Birungi, Mary lives around Katunguru and Kasenyi landing site but comes to Katunguru at least once a month.

“Her favourite food is matooke and sweet bananas. She comes during the day and spends about an hour and then saunters back to the park,” says Birungi.

Birungi has lived more than eight years at Katunguru and has witnessed most of Mary’s visits. When she visits Katunguru, Mary does not move door to door among the shops, but stands near the roadside, where locals serve her her favourite treats. She even feeds off people’s hands by extending her trunk to pick servings. She is not irritated by people surrounding her and taking her pictures. In fact, locals don’t get nervous in her presence, though strangers get frightened and keep a distance.

“When Mary comes, people here pose for photographs with her but are very careful not to touch her or do anything to irritate her,” said another fish vendor, adding, “After about an hour of attention from us all, she goes back to the park.”

Mary is not the only wild animal that visits Katunguru during the day; warthogs also come around but are not as friendly; instead, they prefer to go the periphery of the town and feed on refuse.
While Mary and Buruburu are friendly, it does not mean that they can’t cause harm.

“People should not be deceived and joke with such animals, they should know that a wild animal, however tame, will turn dangerous at one point,” Okello says.

He also warns tourists not to touch such animals. The elephant is the biggest mammal in the park and the most peaceful, but when irritated it can show its might on any traveller or vehicle passing through the park, according to the park guides at QENP.

According to John Makombo then acting head of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), the population of elephants, currently estimated at 5,000, has been increasing over the years due to UWA’s strong anti-poaching drives.

“In the 1960s, the elephant population was 30,000, but it kept reducing due to lawlessness that plagued the country in the 1970s and 1980s,” he told the press last year, adding, “Elephants still get wounded when they cross to Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

                               Unfriendly elephants

However, other elephants in QENP destroy people’s crops, especially maize and cotton and during harvest time, people spend sleepless nights around fires near gardens to scare away the wild animals.

Tom Kinyanya, the leader of the Ikongo Farmers Marketing and Cooperative Society, thinks the government has not helped them.

“We have been growing cotton for years but government leaders have given us a deaf ear, which is why they have not responded to our cries when elephants from the Queen Elizabeth national park destroy our crops,” he says.

The farmers want the government to review the UWA policy which prohibits people from killing animals that invade their gardens. They believe that the government values wild animals more than humans.

In 2010, farmers neighbouring the QENP lost about Shs1.8b in crops destroyed by elephants, monkeys and other wild animals, according to a May 2010 report by the Karughe Farmers partnership. UWA has always said the law does not indicate any compensation of the farmers but urges cooperation between the two sides to curb animal invasion of the gardens.

However, Kasese Resident District Commissioner, Capt James Mwesigye, reasons that there is need for co-existence of all the living species on the universe.

                           Physical characteristics of the African elephant
It is the largest living land mammal. Of all its specialised features, the trunk is perhaps the most extraordinary. It serves as a nose, hand, extra foot, signaling device and tool for gathering food, siphoning water, dusting and digging. The tusks are another notable feature of both males and females. Tusks differ in size, shape and angle and researchers can use them to identify individuals.

                             Their habitat and behaviours
Elephants can live in nearly any habitat that has adequate quantities of food and water. Their ideal habitat consists of plentiful grass and browse.

Elephants are always associated with permanent water and abundant vegetation (an exception to this is the desert elephant from Namibia, who adapted to the harsh conditions of the area). Because elephants do not have sweat glands, water plays an important role in helping them cool down.

Elephants are very intelligent and highly social animals. They live in herds made up of the matriarch (the oldest female in the group), her female calves and other youngsters. The herd can comprise between six and 30 animals, and even when they split to form new herds, always maintaining contact with each other at water holes and feeding spots.

At 14 years of age, males leave the herd and associate with other bulls of the same age or older. Within the “bull area” hierarchy is well observed and understood by all; when a group of bulls comes across a female in heat, the animal occupying the highest rank is the one to mate.

Males are much larger than females and their tusks are much longer and heavier. They have six sets of molar teeth and when the last set is lost, the animal is unable to feed and eventually dies. Their lifespan is about 50 to 60 years.

Elephants eat practically any vegetable matter - leaves, grass, reeds, roots, flowers, fruits, bark and even soil if the mineral content is high. They eat about 250Kg of food and drink about 150 to 200 litres of water a day.

Females are sexually mature at 12 years of age and are mated by visiting bulls. After a gestation period of 22 months, a cow (female) gives birth to a single calf weighting up to 130Kg. The calf suckles for about three years.

                                   Questions about elephants
Do people still ride elephants in India?
Yes they do, for various occasions, such as temple ceremonies. Former timber camp elephants are now used as safari riding elephants instead, taking people for rides in protected forests that previously were harvested teak forests.

How fast can elephants run?
Some old records say around 30 km per hour. Some experts say that no human being can run faster than an attacking elephant.
They change from fast walking to “jump-running”, where at least one foot is left on the ground.

How much can an elephant lift?
With its trunk, an elephant can lift about 200-400kgs, depending on the size of the elephant. In QENP, elephants have uprooted some middle sized trees.

Kabarole Investors stuck with millions tea plantlets

Kabarole Investors stuck with millions tea plantlets

Felix Basiime

Kabarole (June 15, 2010)

Mr Steven Kazooba, looks at his more than 300 meter square tea nursery bed at Kyarwabukwari, Kiburara, Hakibale in Kabarole district with crossed hands.

The over Shs 500 million investment has about 5 workers, they need pay, the water pump needs fuel for irrigation. Whenever Kazooba visits his farm, he almost cries, he is stuck with the product in a heavily tea growing region. He has planted over 3 million tea plantlets are ready for sale.

Kazooba is one of the Directors of M/s Steka Enterprises, is one of the investors who have invested lots of money in tea plantlets after government called in private investors to fill the gaps in the industry but are now stuck with them as farmers need them but don’t have enough money to buy.

“Am appealing to government to rescue my over Shs 500 million investment” Kazooba says. He says the farm gate price for each tea plantlet is Shs 250.

In 2008 there was a high demand for tea plantlets mostly in Kigezi region and because of this demand, government asked private investors to raise the tea plantlets.

Tooro region is the land of tea commonly referred to as the ‘Green Gold’, one of the most delicious and sought after teas in the world.

Tea is grown here in the deep, rich and well-watered soils that are unique to the region. In Tooro and in the whole of western Uganda, at least 200,000 people earn their living by plucking the green leaves, earning about US $0.30 equivalent to Shs 678, 000 per day.

Thanks to the temperate climate, tea from the lush plantations is harvested throughout the year. The tea from the farm is of extremely good quality, has a soothing and pleasant taste and is of a rich brown color.

“Tooro Kingdom is renowned for its high quality and big quantities of Uganda tea. Tea alone brings in the country over Shs 300 BN per year” according to Ms Beti Olive Kamya in her December 21, 2009 presentation to Buganda Lukiiko on Regional tier system Vs Federalism.

According to Mr Kasoro Atwooki, a farmer in Kyenjojo, “tea takes the majority of exports in Tooro followed by coffee”.

It is against this background that the tea industry has attracted investors to set up 6 tea factories in Kabarole and 4 in Kyenjojo districts while others have set up tea nursery beds.

“Whenever we go to the fields, farmers ask for plantlets thinking that the factory can buy for them which capacity we don’t have” said Mr Saul Kusemererwa, a Field Manager at Mpanga tea factory.

                                    Government interventions

“We did some supply last year but it was not enough based on the funding we had from NAADS, from Ministry of Finance, it is not enough” says Ms Grace Kazigati, the Kabarole NAADS Coordinator, adding, “We presented this to the Ministry of Agriculture, we know there is high demand by farmers and there are private suppliers ready with the plantlets but it is just a question of funds nothing else”

                                    So what is the missing link?

“The missing link in the tea industry in this region (Tooro) is where farmers and investors have failed to add value to the processed tea, packing and blending is another problem” reasons Kasoro Atwooki, one of the oldest farmers in the area.

He adds, “Infrastructure development is another problem, the feeder roads are poor making it difficult for tea to reach the factories in time”

In puts to farmers is another problem. “If there could be a system to provide inputs at a subsidized rate, the better although government in 2006 and 2009 provided free plantlets to the farmers” says Kasoro.

Mabale Tea Factory, one of the 4 factories in Kyenjojo district, is out growers based plant. It is now owned by about 800 peasants following the privatization of public enterprises in Uganda in the 1990s. 

Without any tea estates of its own, the factory produces 3 million kg in 2 months, which is about 10 per cent of Uganda's annual tea export, to the world market.

Tea industry in the Tooro region has attracted hundreds of migrant workers who come from south West Uganda and others come from as far as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

                                    END

Tooro Kingdom: Land, administration, finances and power vacuum

Land management, administration, finances and power vacuum tear apart Tooro kingdom

Felix Basiime

Kabarole (November 2010)

April 15-18, 2010 will never be easily erased from the memory of most Batooro as thousands stormed Fort Portal streets for 3 days jubilating just because their King Oyo Nyimba Rukidi IV had become of age and would steer the kingdom as a mature person at 18 without the help of regents.

For the first time since his enthronement in 1995 at age 3, the subjects on April 16, 2010 enjoyed matching in excitement with their king through the streets of Fort Portal town.

King Oyo had ascended the throne after his father, the late King Olimi Kaboyo died in 1995.

It is 6 months after the celebrations and now the conflicts are threatening to tear apart the kingdom that was carved out of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom in the 16^th century.

Since March, there has been sackings, resigning, reinstatements, evictions, demonstrations, accusations and counter accusations and on top of all, subjects suing their king for alleged “unconstitutional decisions”.

How the controversies started

Controversies started on March 19, 2010 when the Prime Minister, Mr William Nyakatura sacked the Kingdom Land Board Chairman, Mr Augustine Kayonga on grounds that he was insubordinate to him and that he refused to process land leases for investors a thing Nyakatura argued had hampered development in the kingdom. The Kingdom supreme council then set up a probe committee to investigate Kayonga.

On April 17, 2010 King Oyo celebrated his 18^th birth day and later left for UK for studies without appointing regents (after 90 days of absence from the Kingdom) to administer on his behalf as the constitution stipulates. This left many subjects confused.

Later, the Supreme council Speaker, Rev Clovis Kyalimpa resigned in August making things more complicated because since then the Kingdom supreme council has never sat.

Hardly had the Supreme council tendered in their report on Kayonga than King Oyo on August 12, 2010 reinstated him with more powers of attorney to handle finances from land, a thing that was protested by Nyakatura and the Clans Council saying that it was unconstitutional.

On October 16, 2010 King Oyo sacked Nyakatura and replaced him with Canon Shem Rubale, a move that left many subjects and the Clans Council disgruntled.

This was followed by the forcefully eviction of Mr Nyakatura from office in the presence of police.

Clan heads later contested the authenticity of the letters purported to be authored by the king and also rejected the use of the king’s recorded voice in council explaining why he sacked Nyakatura and said they will not respect any further action until the king comes back to his kingdom.

King Oyo and the culture

Since he was crowned as King in 1995, King Oyo has always been in the hands of his mother (a Mutuku from Ntoroko district) and mostly at the Kampala palace only to come home for some functions.

“Since 1995, the king doesn’t know the Tooro culture, he is always under tight security of the mother” says the elderly Tom Mboijana, and adds, “He doesn’t stay in the palace (Karuzika), he has always lived in Kampala with the mother, he comes here for functions and goes back”

Mboijana observes that this has never been so in the culture of Tooro, kings stay with their subjects and understand them.

“His father Kaboyo used to ride a bicycle with us, all of us learnt to ride from him, he used to interact with people” Mboijana observes. Mboijana believes that this has also fueled the confusion in cultural norms and decisions.

Types of land in the kingdom

There are three categories of land in the Tooro kingdom. According to Mboijana, there is private land which a king can own for himself.

There is official land (Omukama’s land). This is for any reigning king and there is kingdom land which belongs to the kingdom. The queen mothers have official land at Kitumba in Fort Portal municipality by succession since 1900 says Mboijana.

“So, the source of conflict is mainly land management, some people are positioning themselves because they know that some money is going to come from land leases, companies like Tamteco are going to pay about Shs 250 million for the tea estates on Kingdom land” says Mboijana.

Queen mother and the land

Three weeks ago, police arrested 3 members of Twerwaneho listeners club, a Fort Portal based human rights activists club for holding an illegal demonstration. They were protesting against alleged 

“continuous unlawful sell of kingdom land” by the Queen mother, Best Kemigisa and her agents.

“The Queen mother went ahead to offer the government 13 parcels of land covering 13.5 square miles to be purchased by the government in pursuit of S. 42 of the Land Act 1998” reads their October 19, 2010 press release.

The said land covers Royal Tomb sites in Bunyangabu County, Kabarole District and several Saza grounds in Bunyangabu, Burahya and Kyaka.

The human rights activists want government to return all the land titles it acquired to the Kingdom of Tooro unconditionally lest they file a suit in Court of Laws seeking several remedies for the injustices visited to the King’s Subjects.

The Queen mother first came to the spotlight with land issues when officials of the Uganda Land Commission on August 17, 2010 were tasked by parliament to give details of a land transaction in which she was paid Sh4.5b for 9,921 acres of Kingdom land to the Government.

The commission team was appearing before the MPs to respond to queries raised by the Auditor General’s 2007/08 and 2008/09 financial reports.

MPs were mostly concerned that Government had practised double standards by acquiring land for a few tenants in western Uganda, yet many tenants continue to be evicted in Buganda.

“The Orukurato (kingdom Supreme council) must know the sale of any lands in the kingdom, Kemigisa can only sell only what belongs to Kaboyo. King Kaboyo (her late husband) inherited only 90 acres” Mboijana says.

What makes this issue very interesting is that the Kingdom Lands Minister, Mr Yowasi Bukombe and the Land Board Chairman, Kayonga both say they are not aware of this deal. “I don’t know officially that the Queen mother sold land, but I read it in the news papers” said Bukombe, and adds, “To sell kingdom land, she has to pass through the Kingdom Supreme council and it is wrong for her if she got letters of administration if this is true, the Kingdom land policy is that the King holds the land in trust of his people” Asked about this deal, Kayonga says, “You should ask the Queen mother or Government who were involved in the deal, me am not aware and when I came to office in 2009, no body handed over to me, I started from scratch”. Developments in Fort Portal town and around the kingdom stall Fort Portal town which is the heart of the kingdom has had its share of the kingdom poor management of land by delaying its growth and development in some parts of the town that are on kingdom land. Some investors in town have failed to transact businesses with banks or develop on plots just because they don’t have proper documents for the land they are operating on for a long time. The Kingdom land board chairman, Mr Kayonga believes that an independent Land board when established would expedite the process of leasing but those opposed to this idea argue that this move is out to “channel resources of the kingdom into hands unknown to the kingdom administration”. One of the bankers intimated to Sunday Monitor that “Some people in Fort Portal have failed to do business with the banks because they don’t have land titles”. This has definitely dragged the pace of development in town which leaders have a quest for a city status. Sources close to the kingdom say the kingdom generates around Shs 100 million a year, however some subjects argue that if the land is well managed by issuing leases to people occupying kingdom land and collect rent fees from them, it would generate more money. King Oyo and others sued The king can sue or be sued and this what some subjects have done by suing their king and three others in High court in Fort Portal for alleged “unconstitutional decisions” that have messed up the kingdom administration. The Plaintiffs: Mr Baranga John, Mr John Kusemererwa, Mr Kakorwa Mordecai and Mr Kawamara Lawrence last week through their lawyer, Mr Johnson Musana sued King Oyo, Head of the ruling Babiito clan, Mr Charles Kamurasi, Mr Mugenyi Francis, the King’s Principal Private Secretary and Mr Augustine Kayonga. They argue that the respondents have abused the kingdom’s assets and powers granted to them by virtue of their different offices and that King Oyo granted powers of attorney to Kayonga and Kamurasi to close offices of some kingdom officials and opened a parallel bank account “meant to channel resources of the kingdom into hands unknown to the Kingdom administration”. “The king holds the land in trust so he has no powers to transfer his powers of attorney to Kayonga” says Mboijana. On November 9, High court in Fort Portal advised the parties to settle out of court for the good of the kingdom. Hitherto the case stands in court because the sides have not yet reached a compromise. Power vacuum “We want the king to come here physically and mediate into these conflicts and not his recorded voice,” says Mr John Baranga, one of the kingdom chiefs. The clan leaders say there is power vacuum, they want King Oyo to come back, have the supreme council properly reconstituted because now it can’t sit without a speaker since he resigned, clan representatives come to council, Chief magistrate presides over the election of the speaker who after appoints his deputy, Mboijana observes.  “Let him (King Oyo) come back and elders teach him the culture because he is out of touch from his culture and subjects” Mboijana says. Efforts to stem the feuds In a bid to stem the feuds currently rocking Tooro kingdom, the Clans council last month elected a clans committee to meet different stakeholders around the kingdom. On November 15 and 19, 2010 the committee headed by Mr Stephen Nyamutale met subjects and opinion leaders in Kyenjojo district and in Kabarole respectively.  The committee was mandated to mediate the feuding parties and restore harmony in the kingdom. Their aim is also to mediate the feuding factions as advised by High court in Fort Portal to settle out of court. “These days kingdoms follow constitutions but not dictatorial kingships” observes Nyamutale. Land management, finances and interpretation of the kingdom constitution are among the key issues separating the current feuding factions in the kingdom. The Nyamutale committee is yet to realize the fruits of their efforts. Clan leaders have also used other means to stem the current conflicts by seeking intervention of the guardians of King Oyo. “The kingdom is in a predicament situation which calls for all possible measures that can ensure peace and continuity in the kingdom,” Mr Rukidi Mpuuga, the kingdom’s legal adviser says. Mpuuga says measures that are being sought include meeting the President and other guardians to brief them on the current state of affairs in the kingdom. President Yoweri Museveni is Omujwara Kondo (Crown bearer) and one of the caretakers of King Oyo Nyimba. A crown bearer is a title given to some of the highly respected members of the king of Tooro. Other guardians include Kabaka Ronald Mutebi and King of Bunyoro, Dr Solomon Gafabusa. But Mboijana believes that the guardians have not played their part and are just ceremonial. “The guardians never played their roles, they are just ceremonial, that is why there is all this confusion” says Mboijana, adding, “The only solution is the king to come back home” Wider context Conflicts in kingdoms are not new or limited to Tooro. Between 1639 and 1651, there were an intertwined series of conflicts that took place in England, Ireland, and Scotland after these three countries had come under the "Personal Rule" of the same monarch. The conflict was then dubbed “Wars of the Three Kingdoms” The wars were the outcome of tensions between king and subjects over religious and civil issues. Religious disputes centred on whether religion was to be dictated by the monarch or the choice of the subjects. Subjects argued that they ought to have a direct relationship with God unmediated by any monarch or human intermediary. The related civil questions were to what extent the king's rule was constrained by parliaments — in particular his right to raise taxes and armed forces without consent. Like in Tooro, some faction says the king is the appointing authority and therefore can fire and hire anyone at any time, while the clan leaders say no, they are the ones to approve.                                     END                                           In summary ·         In 1995, King Oyo ascends the throne at 3 ·         On April 17, 2010 he celebrates his 18th birth day and after leaves for UK for studies. ·         3 months later he does not appoint regents to administer the kingdom on his behalf as the kingdom constitution stipulates. ·         On March 19, 2010 Land board chairman, Mr Augustine Kayonga is sacked by the Prime Minister but King Oyo reinstates him in August. ·         On August 27, 2010 Supreme council Speaker, Rev Clovis Kyalimpa resigns without giving reasons. ·         On October 16, 2010 King Oyo fires Prime Minister William Nyakatura. A power vacuum is created as several kingdom offices are closed. ·         On October 19, 2010 clan leaders insist that Nyakatura remains in office but he is later evicted from office by allegedly by Mr Charles Kamurasi, head the ruling Babiito clan. ·         October 22, 2010 King Oyo is sued by his subjects for alleged unlawful decisions. ·         On November 9, 2010 High court in Fort Portal advises the two conflicting parties to settle out of court through dialogue for the good of the kingdom. ·         Clan leaders form a 13 man committee to stem the feuds. ·         On November 15 and 19, 2010 this committee headed by Mr Steven Nyamutale meets stakeholders in Kyenjojo and Kabarole districts in a bid to re-unify and stabilize the kingdom administration but has not yet seen success.