Why Lake Munyanyange is facing extinction

 

Some of the structures that have been erected near Lake Munyanyange in Kasese District. PHOTOS/FELIX BASIIME

WEDNESDAY APRIL 28 2021

Summahttps://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/special-reports/why-lake-munyanyange-is-facing-extinction-3379690ry

• Salt lakes are geographically widespread, numerous, and a significant part of the world’s inland aquatic ecosystems. 
• Many human activities threaten salt lakes, especially surface inflow diversions, salinisation and other catchment activities, mining, pollution, biological disturbances (for instance introduction of exotic species), and anthropogenically-induced climatic and atmospheric changes. 

By Felix Basiime

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Population pressure, negligence of duty, and corruption can describe the reasons why Lake Munyanyange, a unique ecosystem for migratory birds and flora in Kasese District, is facing extinction.
 Of late, new structures have sprung up in Katwe-Kabatoro Town Council that hosts Lake Munyanyange; building materials and garbage have been dumped on the slopes close to the lake, which poses a great threat to the water body that is a key natural resource of international importance.

There has been increasing human population in Katwe due to fishing at the nearby Lake Edward and salt mining at Lake Katwe, which has caused threats through uncontrolled human activities such as excessive use of firewood from the park, illegal livestock-grazing and charcoal burning, and the presence of settlements close to the water bodies.
Katwe and 12 other settlements, mainly fishing communities, are found within Queen Elizabeth National Park ecosystem, having been demarcated at the time of gazettement to allow for the exploitation of the rich fish resources of lakes Edward and George. 

Katwe Town
Katwe Town flourishes because of salt exploitation from Lake Katwe. All these factors have over time attracted more human settlements, leading to uncontrolled human activities on the natural resources.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), which manages the park, says Lake Munyanyange is not under its jurisdiction and, therefore, falls under the protection of Katwe-Kabatoro Town Council.
The National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) accuse authorities in Katwe-Kabatoro Town Council of neglecting Lake Munyanyange and instead engaging in corruption as the lake is polluted.

“Our observation teams in the area last week found out that there are irregular developments on the slopes close to the banks of Lake Munyanyange, which threaten the life of the key crater salty lake and the nearby flora and fauna in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Mr Rajabu Yusuf Bwengye of NAPE observes: “The National Environmental Act, 2019, does not permit anyone to put up structures close to a water body. [But] what is happening in Katwe is illegal, and this means Nema [National Environmental Management Authority] and local authorities have been engaged in corruption.”

“I don’t think those buildings you see there in Katwe on the slopes of Lake Munyanyange have approved plans. The only eco-tourism lake in Uganda is Munyanyange and when it is extinct, it will cause poverty in the area.”
When contacted about the issue, the Katwe-Kabatoro Town Clerk, Ms Catherine Mbambu, said she was not aware of the situation, reasoning that she has been out of office on a two-month sick leave. But when we put it to her that the developments, building materials and other refuse dumped close to the lake have been there for many months, she referred us to the physical planner.

“I have been in office for one year and I have been out of office for the last two months, I do not know that,” she said.
The Katwe-Kabatoro Town Council physical planner, Mr Rodgers Baluku, confessed that some of the developments close to Lake Munyanyange have no approved plans but argued that they are not in the lake’s buffer zone.

A man watches lesser flamingos at Lake Munyanyange in Kasese District recently. The Lake is an important bird sanctuary.
“True, there is a developer who has put building materials near Lake Munyanyange and he has not complied with the council laws, he is yet to bring his architectural plan for approval. We are engaging him, but the buffer zone of the lake has not been encroached on,” Mr Baluku said.
But he declined to comment when we put it to him that the residues and wastes from the developments end up in the lake.
However, the Kasese natural resources officer, Mr Joseph Kapswera, condemned the developments, saying they are illegal.
 “I have not been at the lake recently, but if those structures are not approved, then they are illegal and I condemn that practice,” he said. 
He added: “As conservationists, we are not against development, but let the development comply with the laws.”

Risks posed by structures near the lake
 Mr Bwengye says the thousands of Flamingos that “honeymoon” at Lake Munyanyange will be forced to relocate and that this will affect tourism.
 “The residues from these structures will end up in the lake and this will destabilise it,” he says,
Mr Jeconious Musingwire, the officer-in-charge of Nema, western region, says since the structures are on the slope and close to the lake, the residual materials will definitely find their way into the lake and destabilise the salt formation process.

“Other materials such as soil will cause reactions in the lake, leading to dilution which will disrupt the salt formation,” he says.
“Those materials will affect the geo-process of the lake and neutralise it, leading to extinction.”
 Mr Musingwire says whatever affects one salty lake also affects the others because they are on the same contour and share the salty rock base. 

“The vents of those four lakes (Katwe, Munyanyange, Nyamunuka and Kasenyi) are interconnected, so if one of the vents has a problem, it will directly affect the others.”
The saline Lake Munyanyange, which is a few metres away from the salty Lake Katwe, is a small seasonal shallow crater lake to the northeast of Katwe Town and is host to thousands of the Lesser Flamingos that tourists flock to Uganda to watch.  The lake is an important habitat for migratory birds and has one of the largest concentrations of the lesser black-backed gulls, Larus fuscus, and other waders.

According to Katwe Ecotourism Information Centre (KETIC), Lake Munyanyange attracts birds that migrate from as far Canada, among other countries. Other birds that migrate to the lake include White Browed Robbin Chats, Black Headed Gonoleks, Long Tailed Starlings, African Hoopoes, Winding, Zitting, Flamingos and Desert Cisticolas.
 These birds are Palearctic migrants arriving in October and departing in April. Thousands of these birds roost at the lake but of late, they have stayed at this lake round the year.

 Mr Nicholas Kagongo of KETIC says most birds find Lake Munyanyange safer for them as at one stage of the year, it turns muddy and that makes it difficult for wild animals to wade through the mud and prey on them. During this period, the birds roost in the middle of the lake.
 Saline lakes, according to geologists, produce salt because there is a depression where water collected. Deep in the ground is the main salt rock that lies on a contour line that connects lakes: Katwe, Munyanyange, Nyamunuka and Kasenyi (Bunyampaka).

 All these lakes have a salt rock deep in the ground, but only Katwe and Bunyampaka can produce edible salt. This is because the two lakes have streams that feed them.
Because of their geo make-up, these lakes are habitat to unique flora that attracts thousands of fauna species all over the world.

Threats to salt lakes

Salt lakes are geographically widespread, numerous, and a significant part of the world’s inland aquatic ecosystems. They are important natural assets with considerable aesthetic, cultural, economic, recreational, scientific, conservation, and ecological values. Some features, notably the composition of the biota, uniquely distinguish them from other aquatic ecosystems.

Many human activities threaten salt lakes, especially surface inflow diversions, salinisation and other catchment activities, mining, pollution, biological disturbances (for instance introduction of exotic species), and anthropogenically-induced climatic and atmospheric changes. The effects of such activities are always adverse and include changes to the natural character of salt lakes, loss of biodiversity, and fundamental limnologic changes. The effects are geographically widespread, mostly irreversible, and degrade the values of salt lakes.

Kasese and the tourism industry
Kasese District is one of the top tourist destinations in Uganda where visitors come to tour the three national parks (that are the richest in biodiversity in the country), hot springs, snowcapped Rwenzori mountain, fresh and salty lakes, and several rivers) in the district.
According to the Kasese District portal, tourism is a significant economic activity within the district given its natural resource endowment, including mountains and national parks. It has provided employment to a number of people who work as tour guides, as well as working in hotels.

Tourism plays a big role in national development and in this regard, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has been contributing to the district development in form of revenue sharing (20 per cent). Under this arrangement primary school classroom blocks, health centres, and community halls have been constructed in various areas of the district.

The gate collection at Queen Elizabeth National Park rose from more than Shs513 million in 2016 to Shs936 million in 2017 as a result of increased volume of tourists visiting the park, according to Ms Olivia Biira, the UWA community conservation warden. Kasese got the biggest share of this money (Shs362 million) because it covers the biggest part of the parks, including birds sanctuaries with more than 6,000 species.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities, currently, tourism is the leading foreign exchange earner.
Mr Herbert Musinguzi, a tour guide and driver, who has over the years driven birders to Lakes Munyanyange and Katwe in Kasese, says: “We usually take many birders to Lake Munyanyange. These tourists like to watch the flamingos there.”
The flamingos at Lake Munyanyange have also attracted investors to the area, setting up infrastructures such as hotels.

Lake Munyanyange
Lake Munyanyange is an explosion crater lake near Queen Elizabeth National Park in Katwe-Kabatoro Town Council.
The park provides a typical vegetation around the lake which is at most risk of human activities such as cattle grazing, the harvest of the vegetation for handicraft making by schools in Katwe-Kabatoro Town Council, depositing of solid wastes from settlers of the urban area and charcoal burning using surrounding rare species of trees.

Lake Munyanyange is an important bird sanctuary and a site of special scientific interest as far as bird populations are concerned, and is definitely the most important of all the saline lakes in the region.
More than 65 bird species have been counted and recorded at the lake on different occasions. The great flamingos are common on Lake Munyanyange around November.  This species feeds mainly on zooplankton, which is abundant in this lake.
The flamingos attract more tourists to Lake Munyanyange because when they migrate here and feed on the algae in the lake, their feathers turn from white to pink within two weeks.

Avocets are also common on the lake, and are known to flock anywhere in Uganda but on Lake Munyanyange, it is easy to watch them from a close distance. 
The ruff and gull-billed terns can also be seen on the lake. Generally representing waders. They use Lake Munyanyange mainly as a safe resting place.

Other common birds here include pink-backed pelicans, grey heron, blackhead heron, great and cattle egret, marabou and yellow-billed storks, hadada and sacred Ibis, kittlitz, wattle, lapwing plovers, curlew, wood, and marsh sandpipers, little stint, red and green shank, black-tailed godwit, water thicknee, grey-headed gulls, black-headed gulls, lesser-black-backed gulls, and black-winged stilts.
 Common mammals on lake Munyanyange area include spotted hyena, lions, elephants, hippopotamus, bushbucks, defassa waterbucks, Uganda kobs, giant forest hogs and warthogs.
Lake Munyanyange contains very high micro-flora, which forms the basis of food chains for many types of micro and macrofauna that occupy the lake. Birds feed on them. For example, the phytoplankton species include spirulina, lyngbya, anabaena spiroloides and phormidium.

The lake crater floor vegetation is dominated by cyperus laevigatus, which occur at the edge of the lake in saline water and mud. There is also another almost pure stand of sporobolus homblei, and the two communities are associated with odyssea jaegari grass, a very rare grass species which in Uganda, only occur around lakes Munyanyange and Katwe. 
Between 25,000 and 35,000 tourists visited Lake Munyanyange a year before March 2020. Most of them are interested in flamingos and other visitor birds from Europe. The March 2021 waterfall count recorded 80,000 flamingos at the lake.

 “The weather here is favourable for their mating, the food here makes their eggshells stronger than elsewhere,” Mr Kagongo says.
Other saline lakes in and around Queen Elizabeth include; Katwe, Kitagata, Mahega, Murumuri, Kasenyi, Nyamunuka, Kibwera, Bagusa, Nshenyi and Maseekye. 

[Source: Katwe Ecotourism Information Centre]

Banks opt out of oil pipeline funding

 

A map showing the Hoima-Tanga oil pipeline route.

https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/special-reports/banks-opt-out-of-oil-pipeline-funding--3344630

THURSDAY APRIL 01 2021

By Felix Basiime

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By Alex Tumuhimbise

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The $3.5b East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project could run into trouble after some international commercial banks withdrew from funding the construction of the world’s longest heated crude oil pipeline proposed by French Oil Company Total and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

“The banks provided statements making it clear they will not support the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline [EACOP]after an open letter endorsed by 263 organisations from around the world was sent to 25 banks considered most likely to be approached for financing,” a March 18 press release from Inclusive Development International, read in part.

“Barclays does not intend to participate in the financing of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project,” it further read. 

Credit Suisse is also said to share the same position with Barclays.

On this, an alliance of African and international environmental and human rights organisations have claimed another win in their campaign to stop the construction of the oil pipeline.

Bank Track, which is among these organisations, raised the red flag over alleged ignored social and environmental concerns along with the project.

“The EACOP is manifestly incompatible with global efforts to reduce our carbon emissions. Banks simply can’t have it both ways – you can’t claim to be serious about climate change and support climate-destroying projects like the EACOP,” Mr Ryan Brightwell, the Researcher and Editor at BankTrack, said.

When Daily Monitor asked Mr Brightwell about the authenticity of the quoted bank statements in their release, responded in an email, “the banks provided the statements to us, with permission for us to publish them on the stopeacop.net website: https://www.stopeacop.net/banks-checklist. If you wish to confirm these statements with the banks themselves or seek further comment from them, may I suggest you contact their press offices.”

Daily Monitor sought confirmation from Credit Suisse through the Media Relations, Credit Suisse Group in Zurich, Switzerland, both on email and phone calls. “Thanks for reaching out. I can confirm: Credit Suisse is not considering participating in the EACOP project. Kind regards,” Mr Yannick Orto, the Credit Suisse Services Ag Group External Communications in Zürich, responded. 

Mr Orto said as a bank policy, they will not give the reason why they are not supporting the EACOP and advised everyone to only use their “public statement” .

Daily Monitor could not reach Barclays Bank through its corporate and investment contacts as provided on the bank’s website for press and media. Our  calls could not be answered by the bank and the voice mail message left was not returned.

However, the bank is quoted on the #STOPEACOP campaign: “Barclays does not intend to participate in the financing of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline project” as its public statement.

“Besides climate and environmental risks, our field investigations reveal serious human rights violations already caused by EACOP, with tens of thousands of people deprived of their livelihoods before having received any compensation. We call on French banks to commit themselves quickly and publicly not to finance this project,” Juliette Renaud, the senior campaigner at Friends of the Earth France, said.  

It is, however, not clear whether the banks’ refusal to finance the project is related to the environment. Mr Samuel Okulony, the chief executive officer of the Uganda-based Environment Governance Institute, said the next 10 years will be critical for efforts to mitigate the severity of climate change and that the pipeline will generate an additional 34 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year, which is disastrous.

Mr David Pred, the executive director of Inclusive Development International, said it would be a significant blow to the project if Standard Bank was to walk away, given the key role it has played as a financial advisor in arranging the $2.5 billion project loan that is required to finance construction.

“Any credible assessment would find that this project is too risky for the millions of people whose water resources it would jeopardise and for our rapidly warming climate, which simply cannot afford another massive oil project,” Mr Pred said.  

Affected persons

 The environmental and rights activists say the project stretching nearly 1,445 kms threatens to displace families and farmers and would pose risk to water resources and wetlands – including the Lake Victoria basin, which more than 40 million people rely on. 

According to a report released by Oxfam International in September 2020 titled ‘‘empty promises down the line’’ a human rights impact assessment on the EACOP, approximately 200 households will be relocated.

The report adds that an estimated 3,200 to 3,500 households will be economically displaced, meaning they will lose land whereas in Tanzania, 391 households will lose land as part of the priority areas and 9,122 will lose land for the pipeline right of way.

Oil companies, govt respond

Both the oil companies and government have been slow to comment. 

Ms Linda Nabirye, the external communications coordinator for Total E&P Uganda, referred us to their March 8 press release that responds to some issues raised by the banks and the NGOs.

The release titled: “Uganda and Tanzania: Total acts in transparency on social and environmental stakes of the Lake Albert resources development project,” said the projects Tilenga in Uganda and the EACOP in Uganda and Tanzania “are undertaken in a sensitive environmental context and require the implementation of land acquisition programmes with a specific attention to respecting the rights of the communities concerned.”

Total says environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) studies have been conducted and approved by the Ugandan and Tanzanian authorities for both projects, which are carried out in compliance with the stringent performance standards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Total also said it would work closely with Uganda Wildlife Authority and with IUCN experts to integrate the best practices for the protection of chimpanzees, particularly by promoting the conservation of forest habitats.

Ms Amina Bukenya, the spokesperson for CNOOC, asked us to send questions on her email which she had not responded to by press time.

On the government side, Ms Stella Amony, the communications lead for EACOP, replied: “The matter is sensitive and needs a collective response from the joint venture members.”

Ms Angella Karisa Ambaho, the communications Officer of Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) said: “I am still waiting for approval of my response to your questions you raised on email, which I shared with my superiors”.

Established in 2013, UNOC is mandated to hold 15 per cent of Uganda’s petroleum licences on behalf of the government.

Local NGOs take on the issue

Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), a registered public policy research and advocacy organisation whose main objectives is to promote environmental conservation and community rights in the extractives sector, said the banks turning down requests to finance CNOOC and Total is a signal to other financiers to  consider their .

“....Climate change, environmental and social risks of the project are immense and when banks see other financial institutions taking a step back and refusing to finance the project, they also re-assess their participation,” Ms Diana Nabiruma, the senior communications officer at AFIEGO, said.

Mr Brian Nahamya, a programmes associate at Global Rights Alert, an NGO involved in advocacy for the oil pipeline PAPs, said the land acquisition was done but no project affected person has received compensation since the end of the valuation process in 2018/2019.

‘‘...Every person affected by this project from Hoima to Rakai, no one has received compensation up to date,” he said. 

Holes poked on EACOP Environmental remedies

Despite the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) issuing a certificate of approval to Total East Africa for an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) as required by law on such a project in 2019, other international environmentalists have poked holes in it.

Section 3.3 of the Netherlands Commission for Environmental Assessment (NCEA)  report on water and wetlands crossings and water use contends that “The ESIA does not make clear why open trench river crossings are chosen as the way to go. This is critical as major rivers typically come together with wide wetlands.”

The oil pipeline route

In Uganda, the oil pipeline will traverse through Hoima, Kikuube, Kakumiro, Mubende, Kyankwanzi, Gomba, Rakai, Lwengo, Kyotera, and Sembabule districts.  

According to the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline Environment and Impact Assessment Report 2019, the pipeline will originate from Kabaale, Hoima District and snake through different communities for a distance of 296km before it approaches the Uganda-Tanzanian border.

About the project

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is a proposed 1,445km-pipeline that will transport oil from Hoima in Uganda to Tanga port in Tanzania.

About 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil have been discovered in the Albertine Graben, the basin of Lake Albert, on the border between Uganda and DR Congo. The extraction will take place at two oil fields: the Kingfisher field, operated by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and the Tilenga field, operated by Total S.A.

In September 2020 both Tanzania and Uganda agreed on the $3.5b oil pipeline project after years of discussing the relative merits of different routes out to the Indian Ocean.

Work was scheduled to start by the end of 2020 but the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the project. Tanzania says the project will create 10,000 jobs and that more than 90,000 people would be compensated to pave the way for the pipeline.

The oil will be partly refined in Uganda to supply the local market and partly exported to the international market via the EACOP.  The project is being implemented by a joint venture of oil companies operating in the Albertine Graben including CNOOC and Total and Uganda government through the Uganda National Oil Company and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation.

Nyamwamba river pollution worries Rwenzori residents

 

Pollution. Wastes from Kilembe Hospital dumped on the banks of River Nyamwamba in Kasese District. PHOTO BY MORIS MUMBERE.

https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/nyamwamba-river-pollution-worries-rwenzori-residents-1734966

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10 2018

Summary

• Impact. The river empties into Lake George, the main source of fish for the community in the Rwenzori area, so any pollution in the river affects the fish quality downstream and thus the consumers.

By Felix Basiime, Moris Mumbere & Enid Ninsiima

KASESE:

Ms Oliver Biira is a farmer at St Peters village in Nyamwamba Division, Kasese District. She cultivates beans and vegetables near River Nyamwamba.
However, Ms Biira and other farmers face several challenges whenever River Nyamwamba bursts its banks.
“Whenever this river floods, a lot of water containing copper and other minerals from Kilembe mines spills over to our gardens and our crops wilt,” she says.
She adds: “We who use water from River Nyamwamba for irrigation are just wasting time compared to those farmers who have high yields in the Mubuku irrigation scheme because the water they use is from rivers Mubuku and Isebwe, which is clean without any impurities,” she reasons.
Mr Yasin Zadoki, a sand miner on River Nyamwamba in Rukoki Sub-county, says when he takes longer hours in the water in River Nyamwamba, his body itches and appears as if he has spent more than three or five days without bathing.

Mr Zadoki observes: “The stones which are always white in colour turn brown when water levels in River Nyamwamba drop but those on the banks remain white, which is an indication that copper might have turned the stones to brown.”

The effects
Ms Doreen Muja, a resident of Kanyangeya ward, says whenever they drink water from River Nyamwamba, her children develop abdominal complications.
“One of my children has developed problems with her intestines and when I took her to the clinic, the medical staff advised me to stop using water from the river,” Ms Muja says.
When asked to comment about these issues, Dr Peter Muhindo, the Kasese Municipal medical officer, warned: “River water is not suitable for domestic consumption since it contains a lot of minerals such as copper and iron ore, which mixes with a lot of oils and garbage. People defecate in the river and others wash dirty clothes in it.”
He added: “Others dig around the rivers or spray chemicals on the crops, and when water moves through trenches and channels while irrigating their gardens, a lot of dangerous toxic materials are consumed without noticing”.
“Basing on all these mineral ores, people’s health and body conditions can react in any way since the nature of water and where it originates is a source of minerals which may be harmful to human health,” he added.
He said there’s a disease called Pneumoconiosis found in excessive mineral deposits, which mix in soils and water. Pneumoconiosis is an occupational restrictive lung disease caused by inhalation of dust, often in mines and from agriculture.

Mr Zadoki observes: “The stones which are always white in colour turn brown when water levels in River Nyamwamba drop but those on the banks remain white, which is an indication that copper might have turned the stones to brown.”

The effects
Ms Doreen Muja, a resident of Kanyangeya ward, says whenever they drink water from River Nyamwamba, her children develop abdominal complications.
“One of my children has developed problems with her intestines and when I took her to the clinic, the medical staff advised me to stop using water from the river,” Ms Muja says.
When asked to comment about these issues, Dr Peter Muhindo, the Kasese Municipal medical officer, warned: “River water is not suitable for domestic consumption since it contains a lot of minerals such as copper and iron ore, which mixes with a lot of oils and garbage. People defecate in the river and others wash dirty clothes in it.”
He added: “Others dig around the rivers or spray chemicals on the crops, and when water moves through trenches and channels while irrigating their gardens, a lot of dangerous toxic materials are consumed without noticing”.
“Basing on all these mineral ores, people’s health and body conditions can react in any way since the nature of water and where it originates is a source of minerals which may be harmful to human health,” he added.
He said there’s a disease called Pneumoconiosis found in excessive mineral deposits, which mix in soils and water. Pneumoconiosis is an occupational restrictive lung disease caused by inhalation of dust, often in mines and from agriculture.

The pollutants
Dr Muhindo said as the river rolls down stream, it sweeps a lot of minerals in the area, including from Kilembe hospital, which is close to the river.
“There are many corrosive elements in the water from River Nyamwamba so people should desist from drinking it unless it is boiled and whoever feels any abnormalities on his body should immediately go for checkup to get immediate treatment,” he added.
The district health officer, Dr Yusuf Baseke, said: “We need to research more to establish if there are no other effects making the people’s skins to itch other than the water from River Nyamwamba.”

However, according to Natural Resources Defence Initiatives (NRDI), a non-governmental organisation (NGOs) based in Rwenzori Sub-region, the impact of pollution of River Nyamwamba is being felt in Lake George basin, a Ramsar site.
Lake George is a Ramsar site recognised as a breeding ground for several birds and fish species.
“The direct danger from the stock piles from Kilembe [mines] is felt and will continue to be felt in the greater Lake George basin,” Mr Edgar Muganzi, the Coordinator of NRDI, said.

Far-reaching impact
“Through erosion, these wastes end up in Lake George and other water sources, which is one of the biggest breeding areas for different species in the Albertine region (fish and birds),” Mr Muganzi says.
He adds that the wastes contain heavy metals which have got adverse effects on human health and this could be the cause of the health problem cases in the area, including rampant kidney failures, discourages among pregnant mothers and animals (after consuming the effected fish), cardiovascular diseases, cancer-related diseases, heart diseases, sleep disorders and concentration disturbances in children.
“People who have been exposed to such pollution tend to also suffer from memory deterioration, prolonged reaction time and reduced ability to understand,” Muganzi added.
He said this is likely to be a regional problem because Lake George fish is supplied to the entire region and through the food chain, these heavy metals are easily consumed by human beings.
The secretary of Kayinja Beach Management Unit (BMU) at Lake George in Kamwenge District, Mr Nicholas Kabagambe, said the fish breeding grounds at the shores of Lake George have been affected due to siltation. He added that they have been experiencing less fish catch for the last three or more years.
Should the pollution go on unchecked, there is a risk that whatever drops in River Nyamwamba is more likely to be carried to other water bodies like Lake George, Kazinga channel, Lake Edward, River Semuliki, Lake Albert, Albert Nile and then River Nile as they all connect in that sequence.

The pollution

Mine wastes. Stock piles of copper that were left behind after the closure of Kilembe mines in 1970s have been steadily flowing with contaminants draining into nearby water bodies, especially of recent, when River Nyamwamba bursts its banks.
According to the Department of Geological Survey and Mines, more than 15 million tonnes of stockpiles were produced by the mines between 1956 and 1980.
Water from deep underground tunnels has been oozing out of the mines carrying with it dissolved minerals into the river.
Hundreds of people and animals along River Nyamwamba depend on it for a living.
As different studies indicate, the discharges into the river contain heavy metals like Copper, Cobalt, Iron and Lead, which creates a threat getting into the food chain where they accumulate over time.
Government reaction. According to Mr Jeconious Musingwiire, the western region spokesperson for National Environment Management Authority (Nema), government stopped Tibet Hima Mining Company Limited (THMCL), a mining company that took over Kilembe mines, from operating Kilembe mines due to waste management issues.
“They [THMCL] were stopped mainly due to waste management issues. Some copper tailings and other wastes go direct into River Nyamwamba and may have an effect on flora and fauna downstream, so the management of the mines needs to first rectify this,” Musingwire said.
In February 2016, NEMA wrote to the management THMCL about waste management.
“This authority notes with concern that despite numerous reminders and notices to you from Kasese District advising you to comply with environmental requirements applicable to the Tibet Hima Mining Company Limited, mine developments and operations, especially the management and disposal of mine tailings, THMCL has not addressed these issues as needed,” the February 25, 2016 letter by the Nema executive director, Dr Tom Okurut, read in part.
However, Mr Alex Kwatampora Binego, the THMCL project manager, said: “The problem happened when the tailings walls broke down in December 2015 contaminating the water in the river.”

5,000 Kasese salt miners’ livelihood on the line

 Salt miners sit beside their products, the salt rocks, as they wait for clients near Lake Katwe in Kasese District in 2017. PHOTOS | FELIX BASIIME

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 28 2021

https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/special-reports/5-000-kasese-salt-miners-livelihood-on-the-line-3307180

Summary

• The miners face eviction from the salt lake after the Energy ministry issued an exploration license to Rwenzori Shining Star Ltd.

By Felix Basiime

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Rajabu Juma, 76, is a resident of Katwe-Kabatoro Town Council in Kasese District, where he has lived all his life extracting salt from the salty Lake Katwe, adjacent to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
He owns 20 salt pans on the shores of Lake Katwe, where he earns a living and the business supports his family and dependents.

Salt is mined in small plots of 10 by 12 feet wide and three to five feet deep, known as salt pans, on the shores of Lake Katwe. 
They are owned by private individuals or families and are passed down through generations. 

Currently, the number of salt miners is estimated at between 6,000 and 10,000 and the salt lake is their life blood, a cultural heritage, a tourist site and an academic site for geography students from secondary schools to university, and researchers.
Juma is among the more than 5,000 artisanal miners facing eviction from this lake. 

A miner ferries salt rocks from Lake Katwe in Kasese District.

The eviction threat
The looming eviction comes after the Energy ministry, in November 2018, issued an exploration license to Rwenzori Shining Star Ltd, which is co-owned by Chinese and Uganda businessmen, and on December 29, 2020, the Katwe-Kabatoro Town Council also granted the same company with surface rights, both deals that are being contested by Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) and the local artisanal miners, respectively.
The licence permits Rwenzori Shining Star Ltd to set up a salt mining plant at Lake Katwe.

“All my life is salt mining, no one has ever come to us to tell us where we shall be or benefit after the company has fully taken over the lake. As locals, we don’t oppose the government project, but where does it leave us? We inherited this business from our ancestors,” Juma asks, adding: “I, at 76 years, can’t work in the new salt factory, so where will I be with my family?”

The artisanal miners, through Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), an advocacy organisation whose main objectives is to promote environmental conservation and community rights in the extractives sector, have petitioned the Energy minister.

“More than 5,000 artisanal salt miners, including women, youth, the elderly and others who work at Lake Katwe in Kasese District face displacement from Lake Katwe and need your protection,” the February 17 petition reads in part.

“When this is done, it is expected that the more than 5,000 salt miners, including more than 3,000 women, 750 elderly persons and others will be evicted from the salt lake,” the petitioners contend.

Government evicts government
Two weeks ago, in what shocked Parliament in a dramatic scenario of “government evicting government”, UDC accused the Energy ministry of wrongfully awarding a salt exploration licence on Lake Katwe to a private firm, the Rwenzori Shining Star Ltd, a decision that UDC wants rescinded.

A miner inspects her salt pans near Lake Katwe in Kasese District.

The UDC managing director, Dr Patrick Birungi and his team led by Finance minister Matia Kasaijam appeared before the Parliament Budget Committee to answer questions on the alleged irregularities in the licensing of the Lake Katwe salt company in Kasese District.

Dr Birungi explained that despite UDC in April 2019 having applied for the exploration licence, its application was rejected and granted to a private company while the ministry was well aware that government was interested in the project.

When Sunday Monitor spoke to Dr Birungi this week, he asaid: “After that meeting, the Ministry of Energy has asked us to remove the pillars in the lake, UDC owns the assets in and around the lake, we are in discussions internally to see that the interests of government are not lost completely in this deal.”

The deal was done behind the back of the occupants and registered users, the salt miners and the owners of the area, and UDC.
The big question is why the Energy ministry rushed to offer an exploration licence to a private company without the knowledge of the asset owners, UDC, who had earlier expressed interest and applied for the same.

When asked about the issues raised by UDC, the Permanent Secretary in the Energy ministry, Mr Robert Kasandem, said: “We are addressing those issues.” 
He, however, could not explain further how they are navigating the issue.
Lake Katwe salt company is a former subsidiary of  UDC before it became defunct in 1959. 

According to the UDC website, the Lake Katwe Salt project was one of the projects implemented by UDC before its holding company was wound up in 1998. UDC incorporated Lake Katwe salt company in 1975, with the mandate to extract and process salt for both human and industrial use.

Regrettably, it did not produce any salt due to lack of an in-depth chemical analysis to identify the properties within the brine, hence resulting into the poor technology design.

Some of the salt pans on the shores of Lake Katwe in Kasese District.

Since then, UDC has been in the process of revamping the Lake Katwe salt project into a chemical plant to produce salt (sodium chloride) for human consumption and by-products to be used in the chemical, pharmaceutical, leather tanning and textile industry.
Irregularities and concerns
AFIEGO has poked holes in the license offer by the Energy ministry to Rwenzori Shining Star Ltd.  

It says the deal happens amid a number of irregularities, gaps in mining laws and major socio-economic concerns.
“Hon minister, we would like to bring to your attention a major gap in Uganda’s mining legal regime: failure to define what surface rights are and how they may be acquired for public land or resources in consultation with resource-dependent communities or stakeholders. Neither the 2003 Mining Act, nor its attendant regulations, define and provide for the above,” AFIEGO contends in a petition to the Energy minister.

It further argues that this gap means applicants for licences for surface rights and government, including local governments, are not legally bound to consult resource-dependent communities before licences are issued.

“In the Katwe salt miners’ case, this legal gap meant that the Katwe-Kabatoro Town Council was able to issue the aforementioned surface rights licence without consulting the miners,” Mr Dickens Kamugisha, the AFIEGO chief executive officer, wrote.

He added: “As registered users of the lake, the miners had an interest in it and ought to have been consulted before issuance of the surface rights. However, this wasn’t done. As a result, the miners’ livelihoods are at risk.”

Interestingly, when Sunday Monitor asked the Kasese District environmental officer, Augustine Kooli about Katwe-Kabatoro Town Council offering surface rights to a private company, he said he was not aware of the offer and he even described the deal as illegal.
“I am hearing it for the first time from you, that deal is illegal. A town council has no mandate to grant surface rights over Lake Katwe,” he said.

When contacted about this, the chairman of Katwe-Kabatoro Town Council, John Bosco Kananura, said: “The miners’ rights are well catered for by our council.” 
But some local activists, who are also miners, are contemplating suing Kananura for alleged abuse of office.

“We were not consulted by our leaders or anybody as users of the lake or was any public hearing held in this regard, the council flouted rules of procedure. As users, we want to sue our chairman for abuse of office,” Sulaiti Kasunzu, an activist and a miner, said.
The 2019 Mining and Mineral Bill that provides for and protects the rights of artisanal miners is yet to be enacted into law.

A section of Lake Katwe Salt factory, one of the projects implemented by UDC before its holding company was wound up in 1998.

Environmental threats
Tampering with the lake catchment that consists of several water streams that refresh the salty lake and the restored vegetation (trees) at the shores by National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) may cause silting and flooding of the salty lake, leading to extinction like it was almost five years ago.

“The lake risk depletion and even if the company is to provide jobs, it will never ever sustain the livelihoods of thousands of communities that depend on the lake,” Rajabu Yusuf Bwengye of NAPE, said.

Lake Katwe neighbours Queen Elizabeth National Park and as a result, the lake attracts and is a sanctuary for important fauna and there are fears that drilling for salt at the lake will not only affects Lake Katwe, but Lake Munyanyage as well, which would negatively affect the biodiversity, Kamugisha argued.

Rwenzori Shining Star Ltd indicates in some of its documents that Sunday  Monitor has seen that it carried an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) but which AFIEGO contends is full of flaws as it is opposed to an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) study as mandated under the 2019 National Environment Act.

“No consultations of the salt miners were undertaken during the EIA study, which in itself is a violation of the 1998 EIA regulations” Kamugisha argued.

In his September 4, 2020 communication to the authorities at Katwe-Kabatoro Town Council, Capt George Michael Mukula, the chairperson of Rwenzori Shining Star Ltd, said the Chinese-Uganda consortium was set to invest $390 million (about Shs1.4 trillion) in salt mining and mineral beneficiation at Lake Katwe.

Background
About Lake Katwe

During Idi Amin’s regime in 1975, the Ugandan government contracted that of Germany to construct a salt factory at Lake Katwe but unfortunately, the salt industry collapsed during the time of Apollo Milton Obote II regime. 

In the National Resistance Movement (NRM)’s 1986 10-point programme booklet, the same industry is mentioned to be rehabilitated but after 35 years in power, the country is still depending on imported packed salt.
Salt traders come from nearby markets in Uganda and from other countries such as DR Congo, Rwanda, Sudan and Tanzania to buy raw rock salt at Lake Katwe.

According to geologists, Lake Katwe produces salt because there is a depression where water collectes. Deep in the ground is a main salt rock that lies on a contour line that connects lakes:Katwe, Munyanyange, Nyamunuka and Kasenyi (Bunyampaka).

All these lakes have a salt rock deep in the ground, but only Katwe and Bunyampaka can produce edible salt. This is because the two lakes have streams that feed them.

In the middle of Lake Katwe, there 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 in the ground to become a salt solution, which quickly turns into salt.

Nyangoma: The resilient midwife

 

Syliva Nyangoma in front of Bugoigo Health Centre II in Buliisa District. Inset, Nyangoma inside the clinic. Photo/Andrew Mugati

https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/magazines/life/nyangoma-the-resilient-midwife--3299446

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 21 2021

By Andrew Mugati

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By Felix Basiime

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Sylvia Nyangoma was raised in a peasant family in Kisansya, Kibwera Sub-County in Buliisa District.  Her childhood dream was midwifery because she desired to help women after hearing her mother’s ordeal while giving birth to her.  

“My mother said she was about to die while delivering me. She suffered a haemorrhage and was saved by only two tablets that nurses administered. After seeing the difference midwives make, she encouraged me to join the profession,” Nyangoma recounts.

Not even her peers could convince Nyangoma to give up her dream of becoming a midwife for the teaching profession. 

“In Senior Four vacation, my friends tried to persuade me to join the teaching profession, but my sister was against it and advised me to go for nursing even if we did not have enough money because it was my childhood dream,” Nyangoma explains.

In 2014, Nyangoma enrolled for a two-and-half-year certificate in midwifery at Hoima School of Nursing and Midwifery. Four years later, she got a job at Hakki Medical Centre in Kigorobya.

“I thank Godfrey Bwambale, my clinical officer who mentored me at Hakki Clinic, I developed the confidence to work by myself,” she says, adding “Also the discipline they instilled in me at St Martin Vocational Institute Munteme shaped my work ethic,” she says.

In 2019, she was recruited and posted to Buliisa District General Hospital. There, she became so passionate about her work that she could not take the mandatory days off.

“I wondered what I was going to do at home on such days. I got used to this routine until 2020 when I was transferred to Bugoigo Health Centre II,” she explains.
New space
Her workplace is 25 kilometres from Buliisa District local government headquarters in a little known area. 

Her name did not ring a bell to many people until last year when she single-handedly helped to deliver mothers of more than 100 babies, attended to 17 referral cases, and registered zero death under difficult working conditions during the lockdown.

“Mid last year I was alone on duty because my colleague took sick leave and later maternity leave which ended on February 9. God helped me to handle 126 deliveries without any deaths recorded,” the soft-spoken midwife and mother of three shares.

She commends the community of Bugoigo including staff at the facility for being hospitable and understanding while she struggled to serve them.  “I have a lot of work here compared to her previous workplace. Here, I have to do almost everything as opposed to my former placement,” she says. 
Challenges
Nyangoma is not new to challenges; a Health Centre II has basic equipment for delivering mothers which does not help with the complicated cases. She recalls a woman who rejected a referral to Hoima yet she was over bleeding. On examining her, she discovered the woman was pregnant after which she miscarried.  “I faced many challenges to arrest the bleeding since all tests had turned out negative,” she relates.
  She also recalls a mother of six who suddenly started bleeding and Nyangoma called for an ambulance from Hoima Regional Referral Hospital because she was worried the woman would bleed to death while she watched.

 Refusing to give in, she consulted medical officers at Buliisa General Hospital who instructed her to give the bleeding woman first aid which arrested the bleeding and kept her alive until the ambulance arrived. 

Bugoigo Health Centre II has two midwives, it receives 20 to 40 women per day for antenatal services but in January, the number shot up because Butiaba Health Center III was overwhelmed raising the number of women attending antenatal to almost 200 per month.

Community treasure
The community especially expectant mothers are kind and understanding to her. They know she works alone.

“When I spend about two days without visiting the community people come to check on me at the facility,” she adds.
The only big fear Nyangoma has is the state of the clinic.

“Our working condition in the maternity section is not good, our walls are cracked making it unfavourable. I fear that it might collapse at any time. I pray that the government considers building a bigger maternity ward for us,” she says.

According to Nursing Now Uganda (which partners with many organisations including the Ministry of Health), nurses and midwives form the backbone of health care delivery in Uganda, making up 72 per cent of the public health care workforce. 

They are usually the first point of contact for most patients.
Achieving universal health coverage in Uganda, among other national and global targets, depends on empowering nurses and midwives to build on and expand their knowledge and skills. 

 Investing in more nurses, nurse education and training, regulation, enhanced working conditions and developing practice in Uganda will strengthen their ability to contribute to the provision of better health care, promote gender equity, and ultimately strengthen the economy of the country.

There are, for example, only 61,813 nurses and midwives in Uganda (Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council, 2017) with a nurse/patient ratio of 1:11,000 against the recommended 1: 1,000 ratio.
A stressful schedule
“Whether it is day or night someone can get into labour and you have to come out and assist,” Nyangoma explains. She is therefore always on standby for any emergencies even when she is at her home.

She says she has managed to come to terms with this punishing schedule because she has learnt to manage her own emotions and instead put the expectant mother’s needs first. 

“When you are overwhelmed, you can get agitated but you need to keep calm because sometimes mothers in labour lose control of their emotions and become angry, rude and argumentative, remember they are experiencing extreme pain and empathise. As a mother, I have been there and I can easily imagine what they are going through,” explains the midwife.