‘Where Was He For 40 Years?’ Ugandans Ask Of Museveni On Evictions
By Black Star News Having been in power since January 1986, Ugandans are asking Gen Yoweri Museveni where he has been when small-holder traders flocked the streets of the capital city, Kampala, major towns and urban centers across the country to eke out a living by vending in various kinds of merchandise. In the name of cleaning up the cities and all urban centers countrywide, the sudden and abruptly brutal manner in which evictions of roadside traders were executed raises more questions than answers in the immediate aftermath of the January elections. For one, were the roadside vendors to be shabbily treated the way it happened prior to the elections, the protest votes would have counted much more. (Yams and cabbage growing in a wetland in suburban Kampala. Photos by Black Star.) No sooner had roadside traders been smoked out of their livelihoods than the statutory National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), too, kicked off the dust in earnest: knocking down houses and structures allegedly sitting on wetlands. However, the NEMA knock-downs were immediately followed by allegations flying high of the environmental protection body only targeting structures belonging to poor individuals whereas carefully sparing those owned by the affluent in society in their ‘selective’ operations. More to NEMA’s discredit, Ugandans allege that the rich are busy pouring murram to back-fill wetlands at night in high gear to construct their posh houses and factories. Certainly, it is very expensive to construct a building in a wetland; implying that only the rich can afford to do so. Museveni, in his post-National Budget 2026/2027 speech on June 11, fiercely defended NEMA on wetland restoration policies, warning against “cheap politics” during his address; implying opposition politicians who came forward to sympathize with the vulnerable poor forcibly evicted without alternative settlement plans. A video circulated of an evicted mother being consoled by her little son not to commit suicide. Museveni explained that swamps are not designated for planting crops like yams or malakwang; a local green vegetable normally grown in drylands anyway. His remarks build upon his long-standing calls for wetland encroachers to vacate fragile ecosystems and NEMA gazetted zones peacefully. The comments follow recent and ongoing sweeping NEMA wetland clearance operations in and around the capital, Kampala. An April 16, 2014 Uganda Cabinet Directive instructed that all titles in wetlands on public land acquired unlawfully (after 1995) be cancelled. This is especially for land titles on the lakeshore protection zone. But the opportunity to enforce this instruction and promote compliance through education and incentives so as to compel behavior change remains misty. The intact wetlands of Uganda currently cover a total area of 22,457.4 km (9.3% of Uganda’s surface area), according to the State of Wetlands Report 2022. This is up from the previous coverage of 21,526 km (8.9% of Uganda’s surface area) as recorded in the 2019 State of Wetlands Report, but down from 37,559.4km (15.6% of Uganda’s surface area) in 1994, indicating a decline in the last 30 years. The positive trend from 2015 is attributed to several efforts, including awareness raising, demarcation and restoration of wetlands. (Aggressive back-filling of a wetland in suburban Kampala for factory construction in progress. Photos by Black Star.) Wetlands in Uganda cover a very extensive area and serve several users with varied interests. Wetlands cover a total area of 33,762.6 square kilometres (13.9% of Uganda’s total surface area). The rest is under other forms of land use, majorly agriculture, settlements and industrial developments. The dense network of Uganda’s wetlands makes them an essential part of Uganda’s drainage system. These wetlands form part of the eight main drainage basins in Uganda: Albert Nile, Aswa, Lake Edward, Lake Kyoga, Kidepo, Lake Victoria, Victoria Nile and Lake Albert. The 1995 Uganda Constitution recognizes wetlands and other natural resources as important assets that should be held in trust for the good of all citizens. The Uganda National Policy for the Conservation and Management of Wetland Resources (1995) defines them as “areas where plants and animals have become adapted to temporary or permanent flooding by saline, brackish or fresh water”. According to the Water and Environment Ministry’s Wetland Management Department’s January 2026-published National Wetlands Strategic Plan 2026-2036, wetlands are among the country’s most productive and valuable ecosystems, providing a wide range of ecological, economic, and social benefits. They are estimated to contribute over US$1 billion per year to the country’s national income and provide water provision, purification and regulation: Wetlands purify water and directly supply fresh water, valued at US$25 million annually, to over 5 million rural residents. Wetlands
Black News 
By Black Star News
Having been in power since January 1986, Ugandans are asking Gen Yoweri Museveni where he has been when small-holder traders flocked the streets of the capital city, Kampala, major towns and urban centers across the country to eke out a living by vending in various kinds of merchandise. In the name of cleaning up the cities and all urban centers countrywide, the sudden and abruptly brutal manner in which evictions of roadside traders were executed raises more questions than answers in the immediate aftermath of the January elections. For one, were the roadside vendors to be shabbily treated the way it happened prior to the elections, the protest votes would have counted much more.
(Yams and cabbage growing in a wetland in suburban Kampala. Photos by Black Star.)
No sooner had roadside traders been smoked out of their livelihoods than the statutory National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), too, kicked off the dust in earnest: knocking down houses and structures allegedly sitting on wetlands. However, the NEMA knock-downs were immediately followed by allegations flying high of the environmental protection body only targeting structures belonging to poor individuals whereas carefully sparing those owned by the affluent in society in their ‘selective’ operations.
More to NEMA’s discredit, Ugandans allege that the rich are busy pouring murram to back-fill wetlands at night in high gear to construct their posh houses and factories. Certainly, it is very expensive to construct a building in a wetland; implying that only the rich can afford to do so.
Museveni, in his post-National Budget 2026/2027 speech on June 11, fiercely defended NEMA on wetland restoration policies, warning against “cheap politics” during his address; implying opposition politicians who came forward to sympathize with the vulnerable poor forcibly evicted without alternative settlement plans. A video circulated of an evicted mother being consoled by her little son not to commit suicide. Museveni explained that swamps are not designated for planting crops like yams or malakwang; a local green vegetable normally grown in drylands anyway.
His remarks build upon his long-standing calls for wetland encroachers to vacate fragile ecosystems and NEMA gazetted zones peacefully. The comments follow recent and ongoing sweeping NEMA wetland clearance operations in and around the capital, Kampala.
An April 16, 2014 Uganda Cabinet Directive instructed that all titles in wetlands on public land acquired unlawfully (after 1995) be cancelled. This is especially for land titles on the lakeshore protection zone. But the opportunity to enforce this instruction and promote compliance through education and incentives so as to compel behavior change remains misty.
The intact wetlands of Uganda currently cover a total area of 22,457.4 km (9.3% of Uganda’s surface area), according to the State of Wetlands Report 2022. This is up from the previous coverage of 21,526 km (8.9% of Uganda’s surface area) as recorded in the 2019 State of Wetlands Report, but down from 37,559.4km (15.6% of Uganda’s surface area) in 1994, indicating a decline in the last 30 years. The positive trend from 2015 is attributed to several efforts, including awareness raising, demarcation and restoration of wetlands.
(Aggressive back-filling of a wetland in suburban Kampala for factory construction in progress. Photos by Black Star.)
Wetlands in Uganda cover a very extensive area and serve several users with varied interests. Wetlands cover a total area of 33,762.6 square kilometres (13.9% of Uganda’s total surface area). The rest is under other forms of land use, majorly agriculture, settlements and industrial developments. The dense network of Uganda’s wetlands makes them an essential part of Uganda’s drainage system. These wetlands form part of the eight main drainage basins in Uganda: Albert Nile, Aswa, Lake Edward, Lake Kyoga, Kidepo, Lake Victoria, Victoria Nile and Lake Albert.
The 1995 Uganda Constitution recognizes wetlands and other natural resources as important assets that should be held in trust for the good of all citizens. The Uganda National Policy for the Conservation and Management of Wetland Resources (1995) defines them as “areas where plants and animals have become adapted to temporary or permanent flooding by saline, brackish or fresh water”.
According to the Water and Environment Ministry’s Wetland Management Department’s January 2026-published National Wetlands Strategic Plan 2026-2036, wetlands are among the country’s most productive and valuable ecosystems, providing a wide range of ecological, economic, and social benefits. They are estimated to contribute over US$1 billion per year to the country’s national income and provide water provision, purification and regulation: Wetlands purify water and directly supply fresh water, valued at US$25 million annually, to over 5 million rural residents. Wetlands contribute US$7.06 million for water recharge or regulation and US$1.70 billion for flood control annually.
When it comes to food security and livelihoods, the department adds, wetlands support over 80% of the population through agriculture, fishing, and resource harvesting and carbon storage: Wetlands store large amounts of carbon, with peatlands alone storing an estimated 192megatons of carbon, positioning wetlands as critical climate mitigation assets.
In conserving biodiversity, wetlands are critical habitats for many species including rare, endemic, migratory and threatened species, including the national bird—the Grey Crowned Crane—and underpinning Uganda’s 12 Ramsar sites as well as being of cultural and recreational value as many communities in Uganda attach strong spiritual, cultural and recreational values to wetlands. Uganda is a signatory to Ramsar. Some tribes, according to the department, have their totems as wetland animals while others perform spiritual rituals in wetlands.
Despite their immense importance, wetlands continue to face increasing pressures from land conversion for agriculture, industrial development and settlement, pollution, unsustainable resource use and climate change. These pressures are further compounded by inadequate funding, inadequate knowledge base especially on the economic value of wetlands and their contribution to GDP, weak institutional arrangements and conflicting policies and legal frameworks, thus making wetland management very complex.
The National Environment Act, 2019 defines wetlands as areas permanently or seasonally flooded by water, with plants and animals specifically adapted to this environment. Wetlands are usually located in upland valleys or transitional areas between dry lands and water bodies and are characterized by temporary or permanent water-logged grasslands, swamps, marsh, bogs, papyrus, grassy fens and fertile plains.
