Obstacles and opportunities for a negotiated approach to
IWRM
Chapter Uganda, Lake Albert Catchment
BothENDS
Author: Susanne Maenen
31 July 2013
1
This chapter focuses on the Lake Albert Catchment in Uganda. The Directorate of Water
Resource Management of the Government of Uganda (GoU) divided the country in four
Water Management Zones (WMZ). Each WMZ is divided in different catchments. The Lake
Albert Catchment is part of the Albert Management Zone and this specific area will be
analysed in this chapter. As shown on figure 1, The Lake Albert Catchment consists of the
districts: Buliisa; Masindi; Hoima and Kibaale and the much smaller districts: Kyegegwa;
Kyenjojo; Kabarole and Ntoroko. This chapter will have its main focus on the larger districts
of Hoima and Buliisa.
Figure 1:
1
1
MWE, DWRM, 2010. Operationalisation of Catchment-based Water Resources Management: figure 3
2
The field research was conducted in the Lake Albert catchment, specifically in the districts
Hoima and Buliisa and the cities of Kampala and Entebbe between February 14nd and April
11nd in 2013. Different data sources are used during our fieldwork, mainly observation,
interviewing and literature research. Most of the literature research was done before and after
the research in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Institutional support of key value for our research was provided by several national NGO’s
based in Kampala, three of which coordinate their activities under the umbrella of the
Ecosystem Alliance. These three NGO’s are the Africa Institute of Energy Governance
(AFIEGO), Uganda Wildlife Society (UWS) and the National Association of Professional
Environmentalists (NAPE). Another important NGO that supported us was the Nile Basin
Discourse (NBD) and its national office in Uganda, the Uganda National Discourse Forum
(UNDF).
The NGO's hold different positions for a negotiated approach in IWRM. They’ve not (yet)
implemented the full negotiated approach as developed by BothENDS, but they place a big
emphasis on participative and sustainable projects. Most of all, they try to empower local
communities in on different matters. For example communities who became unsolicited
involved by suddenly uprising development interventions such as a booming oil industry in
the Lake Albert catchment. But also other emancipatory and empowering projects such as
supporting local civil society organisations (CSO’s) find their attention. Beside community
based work they stress a more sustainable use of the environment and natural resources, for
example by sensitising fishing communities about sustainable use of fishing gear and
wetlands.
3
PART ONE: ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE POTENTIAL
Figure 2.
2
Physical characteristics of the lake Albert catchment
2
http://www.worldofmaps.net/en/africa/map-uganda/map-regions-uganda.htm [Accessed 29 July 2013]
4
Figure 3.
3
The Lake Albert catchment compromises the part of the Great Rift Valley around lake Albert
on the Ugandan side and is dominated by this great lake. Most streams and rivers in the
catchment (figure 3) originate from the highlands of the Rwenzori mountains and the Rift
Valley and drain into Lake Albert. Subsequently, Lake Albert drains into the Nile. Lake
Albert is fed in the south by the Semuliki river, flowing from lake Edward into lake Albert
and in the northeast by the Victoria Nile. The Albertine Nile drains from lake Albert in the
north. The main delta in Lake Albert is the Semuliki delta which is located for about 90% on
Uganda territory. The other main delta is the Victoria Nile delta. Despite the small size of its
delta the Victoria Nile caries more water to the lake, nevertheless its ecological influence is
minor to the Semuliki, because the point of entry in the lake and the drainage point are close
together. The Semuliki provides most sediment and water into the lake ecosystem. Besides
these two major rivers small streams and rivers around the lake coming from both Uganda and
the DRC have a significant but minor impact in both water and sediment flow to lake Albert.
Other important rivers in this catchment are Sambiya, Wambabya, Hohwa, Waiga, Muzizi,
Sonso, Waisoke and Waki river. Besides these rivers there are also numerous seasonal gullies
and erosion valleys which discharge the runoff in rainy periods. Most of this water drains into
Lake Albert, but an unknown but significant part infiltrates into the ground water of the rift
valley4.
3
4
NEMA, 2010. Environmental Sensitivity Atlas For The Albertine Graben. 2nd edition: Map 7
ibid: p.6-11
5
Key climatological and water related characteristics of the catchment area
Figure 4.
5
General and uniform information about some of the water related characteristics are scarce,
this is mainly caused due to the high geological variation and limited research resources. The
western part of the lake Albert water catchment has the lowest annual mean rainfall between
500 and 750 mm a year (figure 4). Rainfall is increasing toward the east to amounts up to
1250 mm a year. Seasonal variations in rainfall are mainly caused due to the shifting of the
Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The two seasons that have the highest amounts of
rainfall are linked with the passing of the ITCZ mainly between April and May and in the
months from August till October. June and January are the driest months in the year6.
The increased melting of snow on the Rwenzori mountains causes an increase in the flow of
the river Semlike, which causes erosion and widening of the river banks at a pace of 10
meters a year causing a decrease of valuable arable and agricultural lands (Nema 2010 P6)..
The local climate can be described as humid and hot and the annual variations in temperature
are small. The yearly average temperature varies between 27 and 31 degrees Celsius.
Maximum temperatures vary between 30 and 38 degrees and minimum temperatures vary
between 16 and 18 degrees. Humidity is highest during rain seasons; May is the most humid
month of the year and December and January the lowest. the monthly average is about 60%
to 80%.
5
6
NEMA, 2010. Environmental Sensitivity Atlas For The Albertine Graben. 2nd edition: Map 5
Ibid.: p. 7-10
6
Figure 5.
7
As explained above, the lakes and rivers are the most significant sources of surface water in
the catchment. The geology of the region (figure 5) is the main reason why the soil in the area
does not contain large amounts of ground water. This is caused by the lack of aquifers, which
are layers of water bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials. The aquifers that are
around are usually small and local. These aquifers are usually already utilized by local
communities e.g. for wells and boreholes. Usually these areas have a high water table and is
relative easy to access for the communities. The topography of the region also has a direct
effect on the catchment size, which is relative small due to the rugged terrain; therefore the
hydrological potential is also relative small8.
Infrastructural developments in the catchment that effect water quantity and quality
7
8
NEMA, 2010. Environmental Sensitivity Atlas For The Albertine Graben. 2nd edition: Map 4
Ibid.: p. 12
7
Figure 6.
9
In 2006 oil was discovered in Uganda and is currently estimated at 3,5 billion barrels of crude
oil. Most of this oil is discovered in the sensitive and biodiversity hotspot of the lake Albert
catchment (figure 6). This development potential brings, together with economic
opportunities, a serious threat to the different species and livelihoods in the catchment. The
development of the oil industry is mostly concentrated in and around the Murchison Falls
9
NEMA, 2010. Environmental Sensitivity Atlas For The Albertine Graben. 2nd edition: Map 3
8
national park, in the North-Eastern region of Lake Albert. Other oil exploration hotspots are
located in Buliisa and more over Hoima district and in the lake itself.
Effect of oil industry on water quality
The commercial exploitation of oil already has a negative influence on the quality of water,
and poses an even greater risk to the environment in the future. No effective solution has been
found for the waste disposal of the oil industry. Toxic water and mud are side effects of oil
exploitation and local communities and NGO's suspect oil companies of waste dump in the
river. The exploitation of oil is still extensive and on relative small scale, but is expected to
have a rapid growth which makes appropriate measures urgent.
Together with the oil booming industry came infrastructural developments, to facilitate the oil
drilling exploration and future exploitations. Important infrastructure for the oil industry are
mainly the building of hydraulic energy generators like dams, the building of roads for
different sorts of transport and electricity poles. Some oil companies also build schools and
medical clinics for local communities in the region. These are however not always as efficient
as they often lack medical or educational staff. Some of these companies also provide
boreholes to local villages, which often evoke more enthusiastic reactions of local people.
They claim to fall ill less frequent now new boreholes are being put in place.
Effect of hydraulic energy generations on water quality and quantity
The infrastructural developments that come along with the oil industry can also have a big
impact on the water quality and quantity. The dams that are build for electricity generators
also manipulates the river flow and migratory routes for fish. The Kabelaga dam that is being
built in Buseruka, Hoima, uses 80% percent of the water quantity of the river before it flows
into Lake Albert. This makes it harder for fish to enter the lake. There are also other impacts
of dams on the water quantity and quality. The flow of sediment and nutrients along the
catchment gets blocked by dams. Also the dynamics and variations in water flows due to
seasonal changes, which results in bio-diverse ecosystems such as delta wetlands, are
stabilized by dams, decreasing the river dynamics and gradients.
There are plans for the construction of at least three other dams in the region: Waki
hydropower station in Butiaba, Buliisa; Muzizi hydropower station in Ndaiga, Ntoroko and
Karuma dam in Masindi district. The latter will be constructed at the point where the Victoria
Nile enters the Murchison Falls National Park. In july 2013 the contract for the construction
of the dam has been given to the Chinese firm Sinohydro. 400 households need to be
displaced for the Karuma dam project. The households have petitioned the Electricity
Disputes Tribunal, to halt the construction of the dam until compensation rates have been
agreed on. The communities argue that the compensation rates are not reasonable and do not
indicate the right value of their property10. At the time this report was written the petition
procedure was still in progress.
10
Ssekika, E., 2013. Karuma Villagers want dam halted. The Observer, [online] 9 July. Available at:
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=26320:karuma-villagers-want-damhalted [Accessed 28 July 2013].
9
Effects of population growth and agriculture on river degradation
Another development accompanying the oil industry is the recent population growth, now that
job seekers seek their fortune in the growing potentials of the area. The food demand rises
which causes the agricultural field to expand and slowly transforms its production from
subsistence crops to cash crops. The expansion of commercial agricultural can be a threat to
water quality and quantity of the rivers. Forests along the riverbank are being cut and
transformed into farmland which has several impacts on the local environment. It degrades
the river banks, causing riverbank erosion, which broadens the rivers and make them
shallower. The widening of the river together with the warming up of the river surroundings
caused by deforestation makes the rivers evaporate larger amounts of water. Because of this
rivers dry up faster during dry seasons and harvests decline because of the dehydration of the
soil around the rivers. River degradation affects the water quantity, but also the water quality.
The erosion of the riverbanks causes degradation of the water quality because of the high
levels of silt being released into the river. This makes the rivers muddier, which causes plants
to die because they don’t receive enough sunlight. A decrease in river plants does not only
affect the water quality but also the population of fish and other animals in and around the
river. Another threat that rises out of the release of silt into the river is a less effective working
of the dam. The river banks of river Wambabye are partly eroded, which leads to a flow of silt
getting blocked behind the dam. The reservoir behinds the dam, necessary for the storage for
sufficient water in order to continue the generation of electricity during dry periods, runs full
of silt and makes the dam less productive11.
11
Dickens Kamugisha, AFIEGO; Benon Tusingwire, NAVODA Interviewed: 28th of March, 2013, Hoima
10
Changes in surface water and groundwater flow
Figure 7.
12
The surface water flows (figure 3) in the catchment might be expected to be affected by the
construction of new dams in the near future. Ground water flows (figure 7) like explained
above can be considered mostly local, therefore the effects are also local13.
The local ground water tables have been negatively affected by the over exploitation of
boreholes and wells for agricultural and infrastructural use1415. The water table has dropped
causing several boreholes to become dysfunctional.
12
NEMA, 2010. Environmental Sensitivity Atlas For The Albertine Graben. 2nd edition: Map 36
Ibid.: p. 10-12
14
Ibid.: p. 12
15
NEMA, 2012. The Environmental Monitoring Plan for the Albertine Graben 2012-2017: p. 3
13
11
Environmental degradation in the lake Albert catchment caused by local communities
Besides the oil industry and the accompanying infrastructural developments, a lot of
environmental degradation is also caused by local human hands. The most significant impacts
on environmental degradation caused by local communities and local people are
deforestation, overfishing, wetland encroachment, overgrazing and erosion of riverbanks.
Trees are cut to sell or to use as firewood or charcoal burning. Trees are also cut to create
more land for agricultural developments. Deforestation heats up the environment which
causes the soil to erode and dry up more quickly.
Overfishing of lake Albert has become a more serious problem now that a lot of people live
next to the lake and are depending on fish for their livelihoods. Illegal fishing gear is being
used which also causes a serious decrease in the fish population.
Wetland encroachment happens in several ways, cattle keepers allow their cattle to graze and
drink from the wetlands. Wetlands are sold by the government and are being transformed into
agricultural land. Local people take reed from the wetlands to build their huts and roofs.
Wetlands are an important breeding ground for fish and its degradation is another reason of
the declining fish population. The wetland also functions as a sponge; it has the ability to store
large quantities of water. It has an important function to stabilize the impact of flood in the
rainy season but it also functions as a water buffer in dry periods.
12
Areas of particular significance in the lake Albert catchment
Figure 8.
16
16
NEMA, 2010. Environmental Sensitivity Atlas For The Albertine Graben. 2nd edition: Map 28
13
Figure 9.
17
17
NEMA, 2010. Environmental Sensitivity Atlas For The Albertine Graben. 2nd edition: Map 10
14
Figure 10.
18
The lake Albert catchment has a number of ecological significant areas. Murchison Falls
National Park, Bugungu Wildlife Reserve, Karuma Wildlife Reserve and Kabwoya Wildlife
Reserve are the most important for global biodiversity19 (see figures 8,9 & 10). The Albertine
Rift is home to the largest number of vertebrates on the African continent e.g. 40% of all
African mammals and 50% of all African bird species20. Concerning biodiversity this is one
of the prime hotspots worldwide, especially lake and forest species are very diverse. This
makes this region a very important place for biodiversity conservation.
18
NEMA, 2010. Environmental Sensitivity Atlas For The Albertine Graben. 2nd edition: Map 25
Ibid.: p.19-21
20
Ibid.
19
15
Figure 11.
21
The biodiversity conservation can go hand in hand with the high tourism potential, since
Uganda's tourism potential is strongly linked with nature. The tourism industry could actually
be considered as nature-based. About 80% of the tourism revenue is coming from tourist with
the main purpose to see wildlife and natural scenery. The catchment around Lake Albert is
harbouring a large number of protected areas important for biodiversity and therefore tourism.
About 65 to 70% of all 82,000 to 130,000 tourists between 2003 and 2006 went to Murchison
Fall NP22.
Impacts of climate change on the water resources of the area
The key climate change and climate variability impact according to the Uganda Ministry of
Water and Environment are becoming evident in the weather extremes. This can be drought,
whether or not combined with high temperatures, or heavy precipitation in the form of hail or
rain. These heavy rains can cause landslides. According to the ministry of Water and
Environment these climate changes are a significant problem for the economy of Uganda and
the livelihoods for its inhabitants.
Some examples of the impact caused by droughts are crop failures which may lead to food
insecurity, loss of income and malnutrition. Droughts may also lead to a decrease of ground
21
22
NEMA, 2010. Environmental Sensitivity Atlas For The Albertine Graben. 2nd edition: Map 15
Ibid.: p. 26-28
16
water and lowering of the ground water table which may also lead to the drying of sources of
water for agricultural of household use. Since the local climate may become dryer, it may lead
to an increase of drought related diseases like meningitis and respiratory diseases.
Melting icecaps on the Rwenzori mountains can lead to a decrease of water coming down
from these mountain range in the future, which is therefore impacting biodiversity and
farming.
Floods caused by heavy rains can have severe impacts on agricultural lands because of mud
streams and landslides. These flash floods and landslides can also destroy infrastructure like
roads, bridges and buildings and affect sanitation in the area23.
There’s a debate between different environmentalists whether the droughts and the raise in
temperature are caused by global climate change or mainly caused by deforestation and illegal
logging. Many older people told us that they saw the climate warmed up, harvests declined
and fertile soil became scarce together with the encroachment of forests, wetlands and
riverbanks. This encroachment is commonly the result of population pressure and an influx of
refugees from the DRC and other regions.
23
GoU, MWE, 2012. Uganda Water and Environment Sector Performance Report 2012: p. 172-174
17
PART TWO: LIVELIHOODS GENERATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN
THE CATCHMENT
Categories of livelihood generation
The main sources of livelihood generation are fishing, crop farming, mining and cattle
keeping. Fishery is still the main source of income in the area but due to overfishing this
position is fragile. Although tourism doesn’t play a significant part in the livelihoods of local
people, a couple of the most famous touristic national parks of Uganda are present in the lake
Albert catchment.
The poorest in the region are dependent on firewood and grass collecting which they
sometimes sell for a small price. Some more developed villages have a few shops, bars and
places to eat. In some area’s people distil liquor and do cash cropping besides subsistence
farming. Coffee and tobacco are the most popular cash crops in the catchment while casave
and matoke are produced for subsistence farming24.
Gender divisions
There are significant gender divisions in the various categories of livelihood generation.
In fishing villages it are the men who fish while the women stay on shore. The women
monger the fish, usually separate from their husbands. It’s their way to try to make a living.
At some landing sites the women are the ones to bring the fish to the market, on foot. The
markets are often far away which causes the children to be left alone when the men are out for
fishing.
Also cattle keeping is done by men. They also receives the income from the cattle, women are
not involved in this. Usually the women take care of the household. They fetch water and only
some young men are willing to fetch water for the household.
Crop farming is done by both men and women but the land is usually owned by the man,
which allows him to receive the profit. Both men and women work in shops and restaurant,
but the gender division here is unclear. In general men owns and controls the family income
and makes all decision on how and what to spend it on.
Both men and women in several places made the remark that women work harder than men.
When these comments were made it was commonly followed by manly laughter, although
younger men in their twenties often stressed that the times are a changing. Many young men
are being sensitized by NGO’s who convince them of the modern way to help their wives in
the household. Without shame they told us how they supported their wife by doing the dishes
and sweeping the house, also in most rural areas25.
24
25
NEMA, 2010. Environmental Sensitivity Atlas For The Albertine Graben. 2nd edition: p. 20
Kaseegu Eliakimu, Chairman of fishing village Kissmo. Interviewed: 2 March 2013, Kiismo
18
A local CSO26 in Buliisa that focuses on the welfare of women stresses that the negative
impacts of gender inequalities, especially in relation to power differences, should be
overcome. They estimate that 90% of the people in the Buliisa district are HIV positive with
only 50% being aware of their illness. The women are in a difficult position since they often
have little say over their own body when their husbands claim it. It’s difficult to persuade the
husband to use precautions against HIV like the use of condoms, contingency or at least
monogamy.
CSO’s try to reach and sensitize men and women about the risks and possibilities and receive
all kinds of different reactions along with it.
Another complaint often heard by women is that men get drunk and spent all the money,
which leaves the wife and children without any money to buy food. Various NGO’s and
CSO’s are trying to provide alternative income for women, like fruit tree planting or
sensitizing about other job opportunities.
Importance of water: “Water is Life”
Water is very important to all sorts of livelihood activities in the catchment. “Water is Life” is
a phrase often heard.
Obviously there would be no fishing without water. Crop farmers often farm along with the
seasons and are mostly depending on rainfall. Some farmers also take water out of the rivers
or lake during the dry season. Cattle keepers let their cattle drink from boreholes, river banks
or lakeshores. When dry seasons are intense and last longer than average, cattle keepers risk
losing their cattle when they don’t migrate to riverbanks and lakeshores.
The availability and access of water resources differs per technology and per district:
Acces to water (rural and urban combined)27:
All Lake Albert Catchment Districts:
61-80%
Population of people served by deep boreholes28:
Kyenjojo, Kabarole, Ntoroko:
0-20%
Buliisa, Masindi, Hoima, Kibaale:
21-40%
Population of people served by protected springs29:
Buliisa:
11-20%
Other Lake Albert Catchment Districts:
21-40%
Population of people served by public tap stands30:
26
Justine Kyamanywa, Ex. Dir. of woman CSO active for emancipation. Interviewed: 4 March 2013, Buliisa
MWE, 2010. Uganda Water Supply Atlas 2010. p. 12
28
Ibid.: p. 20, map 6
29
Ibid.: p. 21, map 8
30
Ibid.: p. 23, map 12
27
19
Masindi, Hoima, Kibaale:
Kyenjojo:
Buliisa, Nabarole:
Ntoroko:
0-5%
6-10%
11-20%
41-65%
Population of people served by shallow wells (/boreholes)31:
Ntoroko:
11-20%
Hoima, Buliisa:
21-40%
Masindi, Kibaale, Kyenjojo, Nabarole:
41-60%
Functionality of water resources32:
All Lake Albert Catchment Districts:
71-80%
The main part of water collection is used for domestic purposes. People who live in dry areas
like the people in Buliisa cannot afford to fetch water several times a day because boreholes
are often far away. This forces them to use water sparely, which lead to a serious obstacle in
their development opportunities.
The main distance to different types of water resources differs for each household as the water
resources are irregularly scattered over the catchment and sub-counties. An illustration of the
placement of each type of water resource is shown in the following figures (figure 12-20) and
takes the districts Hoima (figure 12-14), Buliisa (figure15-17) and Kibaale (18-20) as
examples. The figures also illustrate the differences in access to the water resources between
the sub-counties and districts and it shows the different reasons for the non-functionality of
the water resources per district. The main reasons for non-functionality of the water resource
vary from dry/low yielding, technical breakdown and poor water quality.
31
32
Ibid.: p. 22, map10
Ibid.: p. 18, map 3
20
Hoima:
Figure 12: Water resources distribution33:
Figure 13: Acces to water resources per subcounty34:
33
MWE, 2010. Uganda Water Supply Atlas 2010. Hoima, p. 304, map 4
21
Figure 14: Reasons for non-functionality of water resources35:
Buliisa:
Figure 15: Water resources distribution36:
34
MWE, 2010. Uganda Water Supply Atlas 2010. Hoima, p. 303, map 2
Ibid.:, p. 304, chart 4
36
MWE, 2010. Uganda Water Supply Atlas 2010. Buliisa, p. 290, map 4
35
22
Figure 16: Acces to water resources per subcounty37:
Figure 17: Reasons for non-functionality of water resources38:
37
38
Ibid.: p. 289, map 2
MWE, 2010. Uganda Water Supply Atlas 2010. Buliisa, p. 290, C4
23
Kibaale:
Figure 18: Water resources distribution39:
Figure 19: Access to water resources per subcounty40:
39
40
MWE, 2010. Uganda Water Supply Atlas 2010. Kibaale: p. 340, map 4
Ibid.: p. 339, map 2
24
Figure 20: Reasons for non-functionality of water resources41:
Opportunities for economic activities in the catchment
At this moment the area is still very poor and underdeveloped, one can hardly speak of any
serious economic activity contributing to the region. Most livelihoods produce on subsistence
level. Households do hardly make hardly any financial profit, lastly to say this profit would be
of any contribution on the economic development. A lot of the tax earnings and other local
levies are retracted by the central government and not transferred back into the regional
economy of the catchment and districts. There are not many current activities in the Lake
Albert catchment that significantly contribute to the local economy, however the oil industry
in Hoima does flourish and offers opportunities. There are also opportunities in fishery and
tourism but these are not yet reflected in practices.
Fishery
Although fish is the second commodity export product in Uganda, the Department of Fishery
is still underfunded. According to Richard Rugadya, Principal Fisheries Inspector at the
Ministry of Fishery, his department of Fishery hardly shares in the profits gained by fishery.
The central government transfers less than 1% of his profits back to the Department of
Fishery. Rugadaya is unaware of where the other 99% of the money gets transferred to. He’s
worried that the fish production will dry up because of environmental degradation of Lake
Albert and is concerned that fishery seems to have no priority for the government.
National Parks
The national parks like the Murchison Falls National Park do not appear to have a big
influence on the local economy, or at least not yet. Entrance park fee is collected by the
41
MWE, 2010. Uganda Water Supply Atlas 2010. Kibaale: p. 340, C4
25
Uganda Wildlife Authority. Some park adjustment communities share in this profit but are
still amongst the poor villages in the catchment. There are also a lot of park-edge
communities who are unknown by the local government and who do not receive any of the
park benefits or compensations. Instead they are bound by all kind of rules42, which prevent
them to go into the park to collect natural resources for their livelihoods. The tourist industry
promises local job opportunities but little local people actually find a job in the tourist
industry. It’s discussable to what extent the tourist industry contributes to the local economy
at all. According to the minister of Tourism43, tourism alone brings in 900 million US dollars
a year into the national economy.
The oil industry
The booming oil industry and the accompanying infrastructural developments creates
interesting and complex opportunities for economic development in the region. For example
now that new roads are build, people come all the way from Kampala to buy fish in the
catchment. This increases the price for fish. Fish is the number two export product of Uganda,
although this statistic does not reflect in the welfare of the daily lives of the local fishing
communities who still struggle to survive.
The city and district of Hoima is the current benefiter of the economic development rush.
Most important parts of the oil industry are situated in Hoima, which gives opportunities for
more commercial enterprises in town, like investments in the catering and hotel sector.
NGO’s like AFIEGO also see opportunities for investments in livelihood development. It’s
planning to support local communities in the future to sell fruits at the local markets once the
market demand rises and the yields of the fruit trees will be high enough to make surplus. The
fruit trees are already facilitated by AFIEGO in several participatory community projects, in
response to current developments.
A problem often heard by local governments, NGO’s and other stakeholder is the transfer
from local gained financial resources flowing to the central government. Levies, taxes and
other financial resources gained in the Lake Albert catchment do not flow back into the region
or to the institutions withdrawn from. Local governments and institutions do not have enough
resources because of this bottom-up flow of financial resources. The politics of
decentralisation from the central government are not easily detected from this point of view.
42
Uganda Wildlife Act 2005(c.200), Kampala: GoU
Minister M. Mutagamba, former minister of Water, Environment and Land. Current position as minister of
Tourism, Antiquities and Wild Life. Interviewed: 4 April 2013, Kampala
43
26
Poverty statistics compared
Figure 2144 shows the percentages of rural subcounty population below the poverty line in
2005.
With an average of 15-30 percent of the population living below the poverty line, the Lake
Albert catchment seems to be less poor than other parts of the country. Especially in
comparison with the Northern and Eastern parts of Uganda, where as many as 60% of the
population lives under the poverty line. Buliisa makes an exception in the relative welfare of
the Lake Albert catchment with 30-40 percent living under the poverty line.
Figure 21.
44
World Resources Institute, 2009. Poverty Rate in Uganda: Percentage of Rural Subcounty Population Below
the Poverty Line, 2005. [online] Available at http://www.wri.org/map/poverty-rate-uganda-percentage-ruralsubcounty-population-below-poverty-line-2005 [accessed on 29 July 2013]
27
Figure 22 45 shows a comparison of economic profiles between the different Water
Management Zones and catchments. The Lake Albert catchment (LAEC) scores high on
irrigation/commercial farming, low on hydro-electric power production, very low on
industrial development, moderate on urban development, very high on mining (oil) industry
and moderate on tourism/recreational opportunities.
Figure 22.
Livelihoods affected by infrastructural developments and environmental
degradation
Infrastructural developments
Not many specific categories of livelihood generation have been affected by the
infrastructural developments in the catchment. As already mentioned, fishery has become
more profitable for some fishermen now that new roads in the area facilitate an easier way to
attract buyers and sellers. It are not as much specific categories of livelihood generation that
have been affected by the infrastructural arrangements, as the influence on individual or
communal livelihoods itself.
Together with the oil booming industry in the Lake Albert catchment, the infrastructural
developments come to rise. Isolated communities suddenly become connected through the
building of new road networks. Some villages were not known by the local government until
construction workers stumbled upon them. The emerging oil industry facilitates in schooling,
health clinics, boreholes and roads. At the same time infrastructural development is priority
over specific catchment interests such as interests of the local communities and the catchment
45
Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE), Directorate of Water Resources Management (DWRM), 2010.
Operationalisation of Catchment-based Water Resources Management: p. 25-27, table 2-1
28
environment. Many individuals and communities have lost (parts of) their land to give room
to infrastructural developments such as new roads and electricity poles. Further elaboration on
the issue of land grabbing will be provided later on in this chapter.
Environmental degradation
Earning an income gets harder for fishermen now the fish population in Lake Albert
decreases. Besides overfishing, another reason for the decrease in the fish population could be
caused by wetland degradation around the lake, which has an important function as breeding
rooms for fish. Due to deforestation the region is warming up and gets dryer. It gets harder for
herdsman to water their cattle in the dry season. Also farmers notice the change in weather
and environment and see their crops dry out earlier with little rainfall.
Rights of natural resources in relation to oil, land and water.
Short history on land rights
Before boreholes came into use people were used to fetch their water from rivers and lakes.
The country was once divided in four kingdoms, Buganda, Ankore, Toro and Bunyoro 46. The
Bunyoro kingdom still covers a large area of the Albertine catchment, the districts Buliisa,
Hoima, Kibaale, Kiryandongo and Masindi. The natural resources belonged to the kingdom
but people often used it communally. Now the boreholes are often managed by Water User
Groups, with slight differences in regulations between each community.
After the colonisation prime-minister Obote proclaimed Uganda a Republic with a new
institution in 1967. This institution abolished the kingdoms and gave more power to Obote.
The land ownerships stayed the same until Idi Amin came to power and abolished everything.
From 1975 all the land in Uganda belonged to the state. When Museveni came into power in
1986, the kingdoms were restored together with the communal- and freehold land 47 . The
kingdoms did not get back their political powers. The Bunyoro kingdom is now treated as an
civil society organisation by the government of Uganda.
Claims to land rights have become more complex and controversial over the years.
Traditionally local communities and traditional leaders have land rights and regulations for
the use and ownership of the land. Especially since the development of oil in the Lake Albert
catchment, rights to land have become controversial. Places where local people aren’t allowed
to settle or even enter because of their environmental vulnerable status are now sold by the
government to investors. Rich people who are not from the region are getting privileged. The
government and the investors are the winners and the local communities can be seen as the
losers of this power play over land rights.
Community evictions and land grab
46
Prof. Emanuel Kasimbazi, Water Law Expert at the University of Makerere. Interviewed: 3th of March
201,Kampala
47
Ibid.
29
The treat of oil taking over the communal lands is feared and not without reason. We visited a
meeting with several members of different communities in Nydiihre, Hoima 48 . Their
livelihoods are threatened by land grab from the moment the oil industry became interested in
the land. The government now tries to claim the land, motivated by the possibility to make
money out of selling of land to the oil industry. Government officials paid the communities a
visit to inform them that they had to leave the land in two months. The communities were told
they had the choice of either being moved to a very poor and disreputable area, or to find
themselves new land to settle down on their own. Only the second option offered
compensation for their valuables. There was no third option to refuse or negotiate. It was also
hard for the local people to ask questions to the officers and the officers showed no interest in
answering them. The advice offered by the officials to the communities was to stop growing
long-term crops, since the communities were told to be evicted in two months.
The first visit of the officials was in March 2012 and until our visit in April 2013 one year
later, the communities where still there. The officials returned to the villages every two
months bringing the same message time and time again. We found the communities in a state
of disorder and unrest. People who took the advice of the officials ran out of food, young and
motivated people cannot finish their education and the communities are scared of what the
future will bring them. The insecurity is agonizing because they do not know what will
happen to them and their families. They are in no position to negotiate, afraid of getting
imprisoned when they refuse or object to leave their grounds. Most of the people are not
aware of their rights and the few people that are aware of their rights do not know how to
claim them. Another problem is that most people in these rural areas do not speak English or
Luganda, the national languages. This makes it hard for them to communicate with the
outside world and with the government officials. National NGO’s like NAPE and AFIEGO
assist the communities by empowering them through the support of lawyers and petitions.
They communicate with some young men who learned English in school, which they
unfortunately had to stop because of the announced eviction.
Cases like this are quite common in these rural areas. Rural villages with low development
skills often fall prey to investors and politician who seek to make easy money. The local
people feel like their ignorance is being used against them and get’s benefitted by those who
want to enrich themselves. The promised compensation is another reason for dispute. The
taxation of valuables is done by the government officials themselves who are not trusted by
the local communities for having a fair judgement in valuing their property. In many cases
compensation is not distributed at all even after compensation commitments are made49.
The obstacles that make the local communities struggle is their ignorance about the legal
system, the inability to make themselves heard and their weak position in this power-play.
Without serious attempts of community empowerment and capacity building by NGO’s, it
might soon be too late for these local communities affected by oil development to make a
stance.
48
49
Community Nydihiire, Hoima, Threatened by forced eviction. Meeting: 27 March 2013, Hoima district
Fred Magambo, former chairma district council Buseruka.Interviewed: 28 March 2013, Buseruka
30
PART
THREE:
GOVERNANCE
LAWS,
POLICIES,
INSTITUTIONS
AND
Legal frameworks governing the management of water resources in the Lake Albert
Catchment.
Due to various reforms in the water sector policy starting in the mid ‘90s, Uganda currently
has a broad range of frameworks governing the management of water resources. Three
important policy initiatives have laid the foundation for the development of the legal
frameworks 50.
1: The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995. The Constitution laid the basis for all
the laws and regulations that address the water sector. Objective XIV states that: “the state
shall endeavour to fulfil the fundamental rights of all Ugandans to social justice and economic
development and in particular ensure that all Ugandans enjoy rights and opportunities and
access to education, health service, clean and safe water”.
2: The Environment Management Policy 1994 and Statute 1995. The Statute establishes and
empowers the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) as the overall
responsible body to coordinate and monitor all environment management affairs in Uganda. It
also supports the mandatory conduction of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) for
projects that have a possible impact on the environment51
3: Decentralization policy adopted in 1993. The decentralization policy gave way for decision
making on sub-national levels. According to NEMA it aims at: “...strengthening local
governance structures by devolving service delivery, promoting participation and empowering
local people”52.
Important institutional frameworks that rose out of these three initiatives were the Water Act
(1995), the Water Action Plan (1995), the Water Statute (1995) and the Local Government
Act (1997). This paved the way for a more participatory, sustainable and decentralised
approach in policy. In 1999 the National Water Policy followed from these initiatives. The
National Water Policy states that the water sector aims “to manage and develop the water
resources of Uganda in an integrated and sustainable manner, so as to secure and provide
water of adequate quantity and quality for all social and economic needs of the present and
future generations with the full participation of all stakeholders”53.
50
PROTOS, 2005. Study on IWRM Legislation: p.5
UNESCO, 2005. National Water Development Report:Uganda: p. 16
52
NEMA, 2012. National Report on Progress on the Implementation of the Rio Commitments on Sustainable
Development in Uganda: p. 12
53
MWLE, 1999. A National Water Policy: p. 8
51
31
Legal frameworks governing natural resources in the area
Other legal frameworks governing natural resources besides the National Water Policy are:
The National Environment Management Policy, The National Wetlands Management Policy
and The Fish Farming Policy54.
Besides these policies the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is set in place as an
important method aimed to facilitate a more participatory and sustainable approach to new
development projects in Uganda that can have a possible influence on the environment55. The
EIA is an important measure especially for the oil booming regions of Buliisa and Hoima
where new projects are applying on a day-to-day basis. The EIA is the only legal framework
created to have the power to control the impacts and settlements of new economic and
infrastructural projects and to give power to local stakeholders in the decision making
process. The EIA is used as a case example to show the deficiencies in implementation and to
explain the gap between practice and policy, as seen in more often in Uganda.
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
The EIA policy and framework
The Environmental Impact Assessment is established in the Environmental Impact
Assessment Regulations (1998) and the National Environment Act 1995. If a developer wants
to execute a project, he has to follow the steps of the EIA in order to get permission from the
EIA practitioner to pursue the planned project.
In the following process of the environmental impact assessment, different guidelines like
“the participation of the public, especially those most affected by the project in the
assessment”56 must be adopted.
There are inconsistencies between the Act and the Regulations. The EIA Regulations leave
out the environmental impact assessment that is referred to in the Act. Also mitigation
measures described in the project brief as a method to allow a developer to start the project,
are not mentioned in the Act but only in the Regulation. Finally the nuance made in the Act
between the considerations of the probabilities of the possible impacts on the environment
that the project can have, has disappeared in the Regulation.
The practice of the Environmental Impact Assessment
The local people, organisations and officials express that the EIA framework does not
withstand the practices of daily realities. In several meetings local communities and local
people who were supposed to participate in several EIA’s, told us about multiple problems
involving this legal framework. One of these meetings consisted of members from the
Bunyoro Kingdom57 who informed us about lack of access to the EIA documents for relevant
54
UNESCO, 2005. National Water Development Report:Uganda: p. 13-14
Kakuru, K., Musoke, R.O., Kyakuwaire, I. 2001: A Guide to the Environment Impact Assessment Process in
Uganda: p.3
56
NEMA, 1998. The Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation, S.I. No. 13/1998: part 19: 8c.
57
March 26, 2013: Hoima
55
32
public. The EIA often find difficulties around publishing, according to the Bunyoro kingdom
and several other people we spoke with. Sometimes they are not published at all, other
problems in publishing vary from illegibility, to incomprehensible ways of publishing, for
example by scarce resources such as the internet. Because of this people are most often not
aware of new projects. Some EIA documents are not allowed for the public to see at all. The
local people feel that their rights are infringed most of the time, but they do not know what to
do about it or they do not have the capacities to do anything about it. Court cases are
unreliable and can take years, in the meanwhile the projects can continue.
Lack of basic knowledge and resources
In our meetings with civil society- and non-governmental organisations we learned more
about a range of other obstacles for a coherent implementation of the EIA framework. The
lack of knowledge about the EIA framework and the lack of basic resources that the EIA
practitioner is put up with are of great threat to a just implementation of the EIA framework.
The EIA practitioner in Hoima is the environmental officer of the district and confirmed this
lack of knowledge and lack of basic resources to us. She’s not aware of what the checklists
are for the EIA, this makes the reviewing hard for her. Also her resources in time, money and
personnel are restrained, this weakens the capabilities of her function. She has just time to
review the EIA’s at all, since she is the only environmental officer of the Hoima district. She
is limited by a narrow budget of UGX 8.462.00 ($3.258) per year for the whole district, which
makes her dependant on local non-governmental organisations, to transport her to the field for
example.
In a study held amongst EIA practitioners, environment specialist and member of the Uganda
Association for Impact Assessment (UAIA) Apophia Atukunda confirms that these problems
are not kept exclusively for Hoima but are much more of a general problem in Uganda. One
of the biggest weaknesses he sees in the application of EIA as a decision-making tool is “that
EIA practitioners produced poor quality work and seemed to only carry it out as a business,
doing it to fit the requirements of the developer”58. Atukunda shows that 98% of the projects
that underwent the EIA process were approved. He also shows that the environmental officer
in Hoima is no exception. Out of 40 EIA practitioners interviewed, only four of them had
training on how to qualify the EIA and none of the practitioners had a degree in EIA.
Concluding the EIA policy and implementation
There’s a large gap between the EIA framework and the actual implementation in the field.
This gap should be considered as a big obstacle for a more participatory and sustainable
approach to integrated (water) resource management. The EIA is a good example of a
common gap between policy and practice. The framework has been installed for many years
now which gives the opportunity to analyse the shortcomings in implementation more closely.
These shortcomings and inconsistencies are more general to the implementation of other
policy frameworks, as they find the same obstacles on it’s way from legislation to
implementation. It also shows what kind of difficulties are met to provide an open access to
58
Atukunda, A., 2009. EIA for Decision-making? A capacity Building Case for Uganda, 29th Annual Conference
of the International Association for Impact Assessment. Accra, Ghana 16-22 May 2009. Fargo:IAIA
33
information for the public on government policies and actions with regard to natural resource
management that affects the catchment.
National policy on Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)
The Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) manages all water and environmental
resources in Uganda. It comprehends three directorates: The Directorate of Water Resources
Management (DWRM), the Directorate of Water Development (DWD) and the Directorate of
Environmental Affairs (DEA).
After the Water Reform Study (2005) there came a new national strategy in place for
Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) under the Directorate of WRM 59 . To
actively manage the water resources, a new approach was needed and a new basin planning
was set in place. A paradigm shift took place from a government top-down approach to a
more de-centralised approach, which facilitated the inclusion of multiple stakeholders in the
new policy. The Operationalization of Catchment-based Water Resource Management
(2010)60 was written to achieve the new IWRM approach. This Operationalization gave room
for the establishment of new institutions charged with the management of water at the
catchment level.
An overview of the institutional structure relevant for IWRM implementation:
Government of Uganda (GoU):
Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE):
1. Directorate of Water Development (DWD);
2. Directorate of Environmental Affairs (DEA);
3. Directorate of Water Resources Management (DWRM);  Water Reform Study 2005
 IWRM
DWRM/IWRM:
Four Water Management Zones (WMZ) Teams:
Catchment Management Organization (CMO):




CMO Secretariat;
Catchment Management Forum (CMF);
Catchment Technical Committee (CTC);
Catchment Management Committee (CMC):
o
Water User Association (WUA):

59
60
Water User Groups (WUG).
GoU, MWE, 2012. Uganda Water and Environment Sector Performance Report :p.11
MWE, DWRM, 2010. Operationalisation of Catchment-based Water Resources Management.
34
Decentralised water management institutions.
The new policy divided the country in four river basin zones (figure 1)61. These zones are: 1:
Albert Water Management Zone; 2: Upper Nile Victoria Water Management Zone; 3: Kyoga
Water Management Zone and 4: Victoria Water Management Zone 62 . The WMZ level
promises to “provide the interface between the top-down (central planning) and bottom-up
(public interests) arrangements”63.
Figure 1
64
61
Dr. C. Tindimugaya, Water Resource Specialist. Head of Department for Water Resources Planning and
Regulation. Interview: 5 April 2013, Entebbe
62
L. Mwebembezi, Status of Catchment based Water Resources Management in Uganda: pp. 5-6
63
MWE, DWRM, 2010. Operationalisation of Catchment-based Water Resources Management.
64
Ibid.: figure 3.
35
Water Management Zone (WMZ)
Every Water Management Zone (WMZ) has it’s own WMZ Team. The WMZ Team is
composed by senior staff from the MWE and is supported by other technical staff. The WMZ
Team is responsible for the planning and coordination of the IWRM in the WMZ. Each zone
is than again divided in separate catchments. As shown on figure 1 The Albert WMZ is
divided into 4 catchments: Semuliki, Kafu, Kamdini and lake Albert.
Catchment Management Organization (CMO)
Each catchment has a Catchment Management Organization (CMO), which is composed of a
Catchment Management Committee (CMC), the Catchment Management Forum (CMF), the
Catchment Technical Committee (CTC) and the CMO Secretariat65. The CMC is supported
by the WMZ Team which guides the CMC in the preparation and implementation of IWRM
plans in the CMO and the WMZ. It also supports the CMC in the enforcement of bye-laws,
regulations and guidelines66. The CMC exist of between ten to twenty persons who represent
important catchment stakeholders such as the local government, the private sector, ngo’s,
district chairman, special interest groups, etc. The CMC meets every month and is set in place
as a consultative institution and is supposed to capture the views of the stakeholders and
transforms it into action67. Catchment Management Plans are created by the CMO wherein all
stakeholder input should be included. This is the main channel for stakeholders to express
their opinion about water resource management. The CMO Secretariat has an administrative
supportive function for the CMO, while the CTC is the technical supportive arm of the CMO.
The CMF facilitates the broad representation of basin stakeholders and meet once a year68.
Local level management bodies
The Water Statute (1995) is a part of the legislation of the National Water Policy and
established The Water Users Association (WUA). The WUA assist the CMC and coordinates
the implementation of the catchment management plans (CMP) as decided in the CMF and by
the CMC. The WUA exists of representatives of local Water User Groups. The Water User
Group is the most local segment of the framework and consists of individual water users. The
groups are set-up in villages and communities and are supposed to manage and control the
water resources they use, mainly boreholes. The Water User Group is the main channel
through which local people can provide input on water related issues. Another way for the
local people to have input on all sorts of issues is through the LC 1 – LC5 system.
65
Ibid.: 43-44
L. Mwebembezi, Status of Catchment based Water Resources Management in Uganda: pp.13
67
Dr. C. Tindimugaya, Water Resource Specialist. Head of Department for Water Resources Planning and
Regulation. Interview: 5 April 2013, Entebbe
68
MWE, DWRM, 2010. Operationalisation of Catchment-based Water Resources Management:
p. 43-44
66
36
A long way to full implementation
The decentralisation measures are relatively new and are a long way from full implementation
and daily practice. During our field research these frameworks and institutions where hardly
traceable and when we did trace them they were often found in bad shape. The environmental
officer in Hoima discussed earlier is a good example of this. Several NGO’s have little trust in
the effectiveness of the CMC’s and the CSO’s. They’re believed to have little political power
when they’re mostly needed. Examples of this are the efforts made by the Belgium NGO
PROTOS to shut down an illegal landing site that catches its fish in an environmental
sensitive zone in Lake Albert. The government promised to close this landing site, but during
elections this promise was withdrawn out of populist considerations. There’s fear that the
landing site will be legalized in an off-record setting. This way the government can work his
way around an EIA whereby the other landing sites could have a say in the decision making
process.
One can ask itself when and how these legal frameworks are put in order and what and whose
interests they mainly serve. When the central political power maintains to be strong enough to
work their way around their own policies, it is questionable how credible the policies and
institutions truly are.
Another common problem is that the local levies obtained by the CMC’s are directed to the
ministry and hardly flow back to the region69. Also financial flows generated out of natural
resources are being transmitted to the central ministries and government. The poor financial
condition of most districts in the Lake Albert catchment or caused by these problems.
River- versus catchment basin planning
The DWRM mainly sets its targets at catchment management planning over river basin
planning. Several NGO’s have been active to develop projects for river basin planning.
PROTOS created the “Long Term CC [Climate Change] and IWRM Action Plan” for the
Mpanga river basin70. The objective is to involve “local communities in preparing a long term
CC and IWRM action plan to enhance their adaptive capacity to CC, and integrate improved
water management in the Mpanga Catchment of the Nile Basin in Uganda”71.
The WWF-Norway and NORAD funded the Semuliki river catchment and water resources
management project. It’s purpose “was to contribute towards functionality of integrated water
resources management through establishment and implementation of sub-catchment plans for
at least two sub-catchments feeding the Semuliki River; and later to provide guidance to the
roll out of the national IWRM process planned after 2012”72.
69
L. Peeters, PROTOS coordinator Uganda-Fort Portal. Interview: 5 April 2013, Kampala
PROTOS, Mpanga River Catchment in Uganda, Long Term CC and IWRM action plan. [online] Available at:
http://www.protos.be/water-en-klimaat-en/cc-iwrm-mpanga-introduction [Accessed 12 July 2013]
71
PROTOS, Mpanga Introduction. [Online] Available at: http://www.protos.be/water-en-klimaat-en/cc-andiwrm-mpanga-uganda/mpanga-introduction [Accessed 12 july 2013]
72
Barker, J., 2009. Lake Albert Eastern Catchment Management Initiatives, Uganda: p. 3-4
70
37
Vehicles for the coordination of natural resources governance
There are several vehicles for the coordination of natural resources governance between
various lines of departments.
The Policy Committee on the Environment (PCE) is the highest environmental policy making
organ. The PCE is composed of eleven ministers of the government. The PCE formulates
environmental policies and implementation. It also works together with the cabinet on
environment issues73. The PCE approves eight members in the Board of Directors, which has
to oversee the implementation of the environmental policy. It also oversees the National
Environment Management Authority (NEMA) in his operations, rules and procedures and
budgeting 74 . NEMA is responsible for the management of the environment in Uganda. It
monitors and coordinates all environment activities.
The Water Resource Regulations and the Water Act established the multi-sectoral Water
Policy Committees (WPC), as mentioned earlier. The Water Policy Committee is put in place
as an advisory organ to the MWE and to facilitate inter-ministerial and inter-sectoral
coordination75. It promotes the IWRM at national level.
To increase trans-ministerial and donor dialogue, a review forum was initiated called the Joint
Sector Review (JSR). This review is annually held and joined by different sector ministries,
civil and political leaders, local government and donor organisations. The forum is set-up to
identify problems and possible solutions and to discuss sector policies and to review
progress76.
JSR reviewed by former minister of MWE
Despite these measures, the coordination between different sectors is still badly planned.
Former minister of MWE and current minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage
Mutagamba77 comments on the joint sector review as a review on something that has already
been implemented. The JSR “…can say what kind of things went wrong, but at the end it
cannot change things”. The JSR can only recommend but the final way of doing things is
eventually a sector issue. She gives the example of the building of new roads which have an
impact on all sorts of sectors, but these sectors are not involved. However the institution is
already here to coordinate these new projects along different sector lines through the EIA and
NEMA, she speaks of a bad implementation of these institutions. She says that the institution
is not strong and can get easily ignored. She stresses that empowerment of NEMA is not
enough; it also needs to be open and more engaging. They’re not being pro-active but sit still
and wait for people to come to them. Another important critic is that it should be more
transparent. The ministry of finance does the planning for NEMA without engagement of
other ministries.
73
UNESCO, 2005. National Water Development Report: Uganda: p.101
Ibid.
75
GoU, MWE, 2012. Uganda Water and Environment Sector Performance Report 2012: p. 10
76
O’Meally, S., 2011. Uganda and rural water supply: Major strides in sector coordination and performance. p.
9-10
77
Minister M. Mutagamba, former minister of Water, Environment and Land. Current position as minister of
Tourism, Antiquities and Wild Life. Interviewed: 4 April 2013, Kampala
74
38
She indicates that the lack of a coordinated, trans-sectoral planning is a serious obstacle to
good resource management and planning.
Efforts made to involve citizens in the formulation of a vision on livelihood development
and water resources management
Efforts made by the government
There have been little efforts made by the government to involve citizens in the formulation
of a vision on livelihood development or water resources management in the catchment.
Beach Management Units
The fishing villages have their own local institution for managing their livelihoods and the
water resources from the lake. These are called the Beach Management Units (BMU). The
BMU’s work together with the local councils and the Water User Groups. The BMU’s were
once managed by the Ministry of Fishery but due to the decentralisation politics the control
was given to the local fisheries. The BMU’s are supposed to have an influence on the
government as a bottom-up approach, but it mainly cooperates with NGO’s. BMU’s have
little political power to lobby for their needs and declare that they hardly ever receive any
feedback of their letters send to the government asking for support.
The chairman of Buliisa tells us that the best way to ask something from the government is
during elections and that they hardly get any response in other periods78. The BMU’s are
supposed to follow and enforce environmental laws for fishery, but often they’re not equipped
enough to do so. An important law that the BMU’s try to assert is to abandon illegal fishing
nets with small mazes which catch more fish. This law is created to prevent overfishing in
Lake Albert. It is difficult to enforce this law for the BMU’s, not only because the purchase of
new fishing gear is something most fishermen cannot afford, but also because they need to
catch the fish in order to assure their own survival and that of their families. The BMU’s are
being sensitized by various NGO's to practice a more sustainable approach in fishery. The
NGO's provide them with sustainable fishing gear and also try to give them an alternative
livelihood, like the planting of fruit trees.
Fishery patrol enforcement units
The government uses a different measure to enforce the law. Several BMU’s, village and
district chairmen told us about the fishery patrol enforcement units. According to the
chairman of Buliisa 79district the enforcement units take over the BMU’s. He says that there
has been no consultation between his office and the ministry of fishery about this
measurement but that the plans are implemented without any agreement. From different local
politics in the whole range of LC1 to LC5 we came across such stories. Local rumours say
that the patrol units bring a lot of problems and that they are very corrupt. They demand
money from fishermen when they’re caught with illegal fishing gear. The fishermen must
bribe the patrol unit or else they’re being harassed, abused and put in jail. In the districts of
78
Richard Rugadya, Principal Fisheries Inspector/Controller at Ministry of Fishery. Interviewed: 13 March
2013, Kampala
79
Chairman Buliisa district council, interview: 4 April 2013, Buliisa
39
Hoima and Buliisa we heard stories about people getting killed by the patrol units. The
chairman of Buliisa raised questions and complaint about these practices to the ministry and
the parliament, but there’s no solution yet. The enforcement officials are protected by the
ministry of fishery. The response we got from the ministry of fishery 80 about this matter is
that there are too little resources to train the enforcement officials properly. The fishermen are
taken for wealthy people who can easily bribe the enforcement units. He sees the project as
ineffective “we’re not controlling what we’re supposed to be controlling”.
Rugadya, principal fisheries inspetor of the Ministry of Fishery says that it’s a real challenge
to coordinate the BMU’s. They try to train them and monitor them. He admits that his
ministry is not very effective because they have a little resource envelope to train 600 BMU’s
every two years after election. Their co-management with the BMU’s and the legislation
should be reviewed.
The effectiveness of this political approach of law enforcement can be seriously placed in
doubt. It’s questionable whether this is to be seen as just another burden the local people are
being put up with or as a serious attempt to promote a sustainable approach to the natural
resource use of Lake Albert and its environment.
Efforts made by NGO's in formulation of a vision on livelihood development
National NGO’s work a lot with local civil society organisations and together with them they
try to envision another, sustainable way of living together with the environment. Three
important NGO’s that are active in various parts of the catchment have formed the Ecosystem
Alliance. The Ecosystem Alliance is formed by AFIEGO, UWS and NAPE.
The Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) offers the local people an alternative
livelihood by facilitating fruit tree planting. This project has three different objectives:
planting trees to fight environmental degradation like river erosion, deforestation and
overfishing, tree planting to give fishermen and other local people an alternative income and
to relieve the pressure on the environment. AFIEGO also tries to empower the local
communities about their rights and how to claim their rights. AFIEGO is most active in the
district of Hoima81.
The Uganda Wildlife Society (UWS) aims at a harmonious relation between the local
communities and the environment through different programs and projects. They work
together with many local civil society organisations and try to empower the local communities
by making them heard by the local governments. At the same time they try to raise more
awareness about sustainable use of natural resources by local communities as well as private
corporations and local governments. UWS is mostly active in Buliisa82.
80
Richard Rugadya, Principal Fisheries Inspector/Controller at Ministry of Fishery. Interviewed: 13 March
2013, Kampala
81
www.afiego.org
82
www.uws.or.ug
40
The National Alliance Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) is active in the Kasese
district and seeks to develop sustainable solutions for environmental impact caused by
economic development in the region. They do a lot of research and educate and
sensitize the local communities, private sector and local governments about their
impacts on the environment. They also work together with a lot of local civil society
organisations and they monitor government actions and plans83.
Efforts made by NGO's in formulation on a vision for water resource management
International ngo’s such as PROTOS and WWF have actively involved local communities by
the envisioning of water management planning in the catchment.
The WWF envisioned the planning and objectives of the Semuliki river project together with
the local people. They undertook several steps to involve the local people in the project
planning. K4 tells that they held a lot of meetings with local people. To get to know about
environmental changes, they asked the older people about changes over longer periods of
time. They also gathered a lot of historical knowledge about the river. They held a lot of
interviews and the local knowledge was used as the base for activity planning. The whole
analysis of water changes was done by different groups of local people. They worked as much
as possible with CSO’s for the envisioning of plans84.
PROTOS develops IWRM plans together Water User Associations and Water User Groups85.
PROTOS has a lot of community meetings to set up the IWRM planning. During the meeting
they sketch a map of the village together with all the participants. Based on this map they
discuss the problems and possibilities. PROTOS facilitates but the planning is done by the
local people, however sometimes it’s necessary to bring in suggestion about topics like
riverbank erosion for example86.
83
www.nape.or.ug/nape/aboutus.php
Kaija, G., Forest governance officer, & Asiimwe, K. M. Project Manager Sustainable Forest Management.
WWF, Interview: 15 March 2013, Kampala
85
L. Peeters, PROTOS coordinator Uganda-Fort Portal. Interview: 5 April 2013, Kampala
86
Ibid.
84
41
CONCLUSIONS ANS DISCUSSION
In this chapter a broad spectrum of elements belonging to the Lake Albert Catchment are
analysed. The main focus was on the environmental condition of the catchment, the
livelihoods of the local people living in the catchment and the several institutional
frameworks for an Integrated Water Resource Management. Within each element there has
been attention for the opportunities of negotiation and involvement in project planning for the
local communities and other stakeholders.
Key drivers of change
During the research there were key drivers of change with a positive impact on the catchment,
emphasising a negotiated approach to project planning for IWRM. Different categories of key
drivers of change were to be found, but the most important were the local, national and
international CSO’s and NGO's.
Local NGO’s
The local NGO's, more often referred to as CSO’s, did important work for a negotiated
approach for the catchment. National NGO's such as AFIEGO and UWS brought us into
contact with a lot of local CSO’s like the Navigators of Development Association
(NAVODA) and the women CSO in Buliisa. The collaboration between the CSO’s and
national NGO’s works very well. In most cases it can be seen as a perfect example of how
decentralisation politics can work in productive ways. The CSO’s were not only the eyes and
ears of the NGO's, but moreover they have specific local knowledge and connections that are
helpful for the local capacity building projects. The CSO’s guides the NGO's as often as the
other way around and they need each other for different kind of knowledge and capitals.
National NGO’s
Some of the national NGO's we’ve mainly worked with, AFIEGO, UWS and NAPE have
come far in envisioning livelihood developments together with the local people, through the
CSO’s. They deal with multiple sorts of issues, AFIEGO sensitizes communities about their
rights in times they mostly need it. Also the fruit tree planting project seems to take off very
well and is mostly guided with the help of local communities and organisations. UWS tries to
maintain a fair relationship between the environment and the local people living in it through
the production of multiple Memoranda of Understanding. They also empower local CSO’s by
supporting them in their needs as much as possible. NAPE monitors the government and
action plans and has capacity building programs for local communities to empower them
against misdoings against them and the environment.
International NGO’s
International NGO's such as PROTOS and WWF with office in Uganda, have been and are
still of great importance for their input for a negotiated approach in IWRM. These NGO's
have their own view and conception of a negotiated approach to IWRM. PROTOS works
close together with local communities in the development of IWRM planning. They help the
communities to draw a map of the village, through which the community identifies the
42
problems. The role of PROTOS is to facilitate, the IWRM planning is mostly done by the
local people themselves. The WWF have done and cooperated in important IWRM
development programs in the Lake Albert catchment and other regions of Uganda. They are
very outspoken about the effectiveness of a negotiated approach to IWRM and claim to use it
as often as possible. They undertook various steps to involve the communities into IWRM
development plans. In some projects they solely based their knowledge on the local
knowledge of elderly persons in the region, who were first witness in environmental changes.
They envisioned their plans together with CSO’s and other local communities.
The government has also made an important effort of envisioning an institutional framework
for IWRM. The legal structures that are created in the new policies try to give more room for
the input of local communities. The division of Uganda in different Water Management Zones
which are again divided into water Catchment Management Committees, shows an important
emphasis for a catchment based orientation in water management.
Obstacles to IWRM
Obstacles to a full scale, participatory approach to IWRM in the Lake Albert catchment are
mainly political.
Gap between policy and practice
The most important obstacle for a fully operating IWRM is the lack of a comprehensive
implementation of all the different IWRM and environmental policies and regulations. The
institutional frameworks have a great envisioning of plans and rules but on the ground the
policies don’t stand. The gap between policy and practice is very wide.
This is due to several reasons, most government departments, local as well as central lack the
(mostly financial) resources to implement the policies. The departments are understaffed and
the staff is often not properly educated in the tasks they have to perform.
There’s also a high level of corruption and a lack of transparency in the practices of the
government. Jurisdiction is often obstructed by high placed political people who can work
themselves a way around their own policies, one way or another.
Lack of education
The local people are often very ill-educated and some rural people are hardly aware of the
legal structures of a democracy and their legal rights system. Poor education is a big obstacle
in a full and participatory IWRM in the Lake Albert catchment. Local communities often
can’t find their way to the channels to provide input and to make their voice count. Another
problem is that a lot of rural and poor people don’t speak or understand English or Buganda,
which makes it difficult to adapt to the changes around them.
The need and obstacle for a united civil society
43
Many people we spoke with, from district chair persons to local farmers and from executive
directors of CSO’s to officials working for the MWE, stressed the need for a united and
uprising of civil society. Government officials gave advice on how to throw over the central
government and stressed that the current political divide and rule strategy worked very well in
favour of the ruling elite. It’s exactly this strategy that keeps the people of Uganda
underdeveloped, unaware of their rights and alone in their poverty.
Civil society needs to unite itself and stand up for the rights and interests of the people of
Uganda. An obstacle for this uniting is the existence of a culture of distrust where several
people referred to 87 . There’s much agreement on the fact that local people should unite
themselves to stand stronger and to be able to raise their voice, but this will need a big
mentality change to happen. People are suspicious towards each other due to decades long of
deeply rooted corruption.
Credibility of NGO’s
But not only do people have little trust in each other, this is also the case for the government
and NGO’s. We heard many complaints from local people about NGO’s setting up projects,
involving communities and then “suddenly” leave, leaving the local people with nothing but
questions but no one to answer them. Many local people also complained about the endless
range of questions and promises made to the local people by NGO's and researchers like us,
but who never returned after leaving the people with hope in their hearts.
IWRM as a development “project”
Another serious obstacle for a good implementation for IWRM is that it’s still approached and
funded as it where a development project, which it’s not. Development institutions that fund
IWRM project should be more aware about the long breath it takes to implement a strong
IWRM with a negotiated approach88. IWRM is bound to failed when tried to imply via topdown measures. It needs strong community awareness about the possibilities and applications
of the IWRM. Communities need to be sensitized, educated and united together 89 . This
process of empowerment takes much longer than mainstream development measures sign for.
This is another reason of why it should be seen as a method for the management of water,
instead of as being a development project with a fixed time frame and project outcomes. It’s a
process of empowerment that evolves over time and cannot be forced to people to be adopted
and fully comprehend through neat project planning. “It is a process that each individual has
to do at her or his own pace. Because of this, there is a temptation [of NGO's] to work with
people who have already a degree of self-confidence. This is one of the reasons that even
empowerment-focused programmes often fail to engage with the poorest and most
marginalised” (Jo Rowlands, 1995: 105)90.
Data sharing between NGO's and government
87
Benon Tusingwire, NAVODA, Fred Magambo, former chairman Buseeruk, Richard Rugadya, principal
fishery inspector, chairma Buliisa.
88
George Kaija, Forest Governance Officer WWF, Interviewed: 15 th of March 2013, Kampala
89
Lieven Peeters, coordinator Uganda PROTOS, Interviewed: 5th of April 2013
90
Rowlands, Jo. 1995. Empowerment examined. Development in practice. 5 (2): 101-107
44
Another obstacle for a functional IWRM is the distance kept between international NGO's.
Almost all the foreign NGO's working in IWRM in Uganda work in relative isolation off each
other. Whereas national NGO’s are united in umbrellas such as the Nile Basin Discourse and
the Eco-system Alliance, international NGO’s seem to coordinate their projects only within
their own organisation and local partner NGO’s. They do not easily share their data resources
and base their planning on the inputs of local people, but not with fellow international NGO’s.
It can happen that a certain NGO that stayed in a specific field coordinating a project for
years, leaves and get’s followed up by another NGO who starts the whole process all-over.
Important resources are lost and new investments have to be done by the new NGO, unaware
or stubborn to the fact that some frameworks are already (and carefully!) been put in place by
its predecessor. Different sorts of examples of this where given in several interviews with
local as well as international NGO's91. Some NGO’s complained about a lack of transparency
and exchange of data between several NGO's working in the same region92. This is not only
mentioned by NGO's but also different government officers complain about the lack of
communication and exchange between government and NGO's that are active in the same
areas93. Other NGO's like NAVODA94 see an important role for themselves as supportive to
the local government by facilitating several resources in support of the implantation and
enforcement of sustainable and participatory policies.
There are as many possibilities for a negotiated approach to IWRM as there are obstacles. The
process of unfolding the IWRM in the Lake Albert catchment is one to be done with care, and
a lot of time and patience. Priorities will have to be made, how can one respond in a patient
way to fast development in an oil booming region. Urgent threats to the environment and
livelihoods should be prioritised, now the region is so rapidly changing. (International)
Measures should be taken to put pressure on the juridical system to enforce the law and
enhance the power of important tools such as the EIA. This needs to be prioritised, but along
with that focus other measures should be taken to empower communities in a reasonable pace
for a more truly sustainable and participatory approach to IWRM.
91
George Kaija WWF; Benon Tusingwire NAVODA
George Kaija WWF
93
Chairman Buliisa; Eng. Ronald Kato Kayizzi, Principal Agricultural Officer, Ministry of animal industries
94
Benon Tusingwire, NAVODA, Interviewed: 28th of March 2013, Hoima
92
45
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