By Chris Mugasha
President Yoweri Museveni has urged Ugandans to take up issues of environment seriously and stop what he termed as blame games.
Museveni said the issue of conserving the environment from the activities of degradation is now a responsibility of everyone. He said every Ugandan should take interest in supporting the conservation of the environment because it is key to everyone’s survival.
“I call upon each of you in your various capacities to stop pointing fingers and blaming the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) and the ministry of Water and Environment. Instead, support these institutions,” Museveni said in a message that was delivered by the Vice President Jessica Alupo who represented him during this year’s World Wetlands Day celebrations.
The celebrations took place at Katerera play grounds in Katerera town council, Rubirizi district. Different development partners/players/stakeholders in the environment sector converged and exhibited to celebrate the day.
Museveni said it is everybody’s responsibility to report and stop any person found to be degrading the Country’s protected natural resources especially wetlands. “Begin from within your neighborhoods,” Museveni I who declared 2025, a year of wetlands action countrywide suggested.
The President told people to leave the protected natural resources especially wetlands to perform their functions stressing that, “as a country, we stand to lose if we tamper with these ecosystems, and we will end up in problems.”
“Let us not be selfish and deny others and the future generations clean water, water for irrigation, wetland resources and food, healthy wetlands are key in rainfall formation, managing the water balance above the ground and below the ground,” Museveni explained.
The President said the latest global biodiversity assessment indicates that wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests explaining that, “this is confirmed in the recent natural national diversity assessment that places wetlands as the most threatened of all Uganda’s ecosystems.”
He warned that the consequences of environmental degradation are real and that everyone is now crying of high temperatures, erratic rains and crop failures among others.
“If you watch global news, you will know that many disasters have happened around the world in the recent months, including wildfires, cyclones, floods and hurricanes,” Museveni stressed.
He called upon the academia, research institutions and private sector to take keen interest and come up with new innovations and value chains to ensure sustainable use of wetlands to cause social economic transformation.
Museveni reiterated the NRM government’s full commitment to environmental conservation explaining how it has integrated this in all its major policies, starting with vision 2040, the NRM manifesto, the Paris development model, the National Development Plan among others.
“In addition, government is committed to promoting sustainable wetland management and human development through collective action, and to that effect, we have made several decisions as follows; in 2011 cabinet took a decision to create environmental protection police unit, the 2024 cabinet directive to cancel the titles erroneously issued in wetlands gazettement of all wetlands, wetland restoration and demarcation of wetland boundaries,” the President said adding that, “Government has recently approved an Environmental and Natural Resources restoration Action Plan, which builds on the UN Decade.”
He called upon the media to use the different success stories in wetland conservation to educate Ugandans. “So be the change agents,” Museveni appealed. End.
For Feedback, comments and inquiries call: +256 392 840 814
