The love- hate relationship between the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and the Local community is far from coming to an end.
A big part of the district is surrounded by Mt. Elgon Forest Conservation Area and locals in an attempt to survive often encroach on the forest resources- land, firewood, grass, wild animals and timber.
UWA operates within a legal framework enacted by parliament in which areas gazzetted as forest areas are not to be encroached for human activities.
In the fresh raw, locals of Chesower, Tulel who were recently displaced by landslides/ mudslides and now camped in a holding ground as per Presidents directives have out of desperate means to find grazing pastures for their cows pushed their animals to the forest area.
This is especially so because there is no grazing land at the holding ground and their permanent residences have been condemned as unfit for human settlement.
Under the UWA legal set up, every animal found being grazed in the park is to be impounded and only released upon payment of ugx 50,000 to UWA by mobile money.
There are currently 50 cows impounded by UWA rangers at Kapkwata
Just last Week UWA made a generous donation of 450 blankets to persons affected and displaced by the landslides/ mudslides.
The locals now complain and claim that UWA made a donation of blankets with “the right hand and is collecting it back with the left hand in thru fines” imposed on the landslide victims who have no alternative grazing land for their animals.
Bukwo RDC George Owanyi has called for a harmonious win- win engagement between UWA and the locals.
“We are dealing with a un unprecedented condition of landslides, which should not be managed using the normal approach”, but again we should be conscious of conserving the environment for the future generations remarked RDC Owanyi.
We need to conserve the forests but in the short run we need votes for NRM and for HE the President. We cannot afford to see the precious votes slip off our hands
RDC
