President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has warned the organizers of next week’s anti-corruption march to drop their plans or face severe consequences.
In a national address on July 20th, 2024, Museveni issued a stern warning after activists vowed to march to Parliament on Tuesday, July 23rd, to express discontent over corruption within the August House.
The organizers have been mobilizing the public to join them and march in all major cities and towns across the country.
“Some elements, especially the opposition, are working with foreigners to ferment chaos in Uganda with illegal and inconsiderate processions. They should check themselves or we will have no alternative but to check them,” Museveni said.
President Museveni emphasized that it is wrong and foolish for some people to want to destroy what has been achieved by what he called “wealth creators.”
“When you hear people talking of demonstrations, when you do it in a place like Kampala where people are selling on the roadside, are you going to step on their products? You are playing,” he said.
The President advised the organizers of the planned demonstrations to use Kololo Independence Grounds and hold their protests there on a day like Sunday, which is not busy, because they cannot be allowed to trample upon people’s property in the name of protests.
Meanwhile, President Museveni has backed the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) in its ongoing evictions of encroachers in wetlands around the country, stating that only foolish people would destroy wetlands by encroaching on them.
“Those claiming they were born in the encroached wetland areas should be aware that we have records tracing the history of forests and wetlands. We know what exactly happened and when,” Museveni said.
President Museveni said no one should blame NEMA for allowing people to settle in the wetlands, as this does not exonerate the encroachers. “Are you a Ugandan or from Europe? It is the duty of everyone to protect the environment,” he noted.
NEMA has intensified operations against encroachers in wetlands over the past month, starting with Lubigi, where several properties, including houses, were razed. These operations have extended to other parts of the country, although some sections of the public have criticized NEMA for these evictions.
President Museveni insisted that NEMA is doing the right thing and that those asking for compensation should not waste time, as no one can be compensated for encroaching on wetlands.
“All the people in the wetlands, please leave peacefully. We cannot compensate you for breaking the law and not using common sense,” he said.
The President took his time to explain to Ugandans the benefits of wetlands, noting that destroying them could turn the country into a dry land.
“Wetlands are the source of 40% of our rain, and if you remove them, the whole of Uganda will be like Karamoja or worse. Where will the water come from if you have dried the wetlands? The water is from these wetlands. Swamps are also natural filters of water that goes into lakes. The swamp grasses are God-made filters, but now we are busy destroying them. We can’t allow this,” Museveni explained.
The President said that when the wetlands are destroyed, citizens are denied water for domestic use and for other important purposes like irrigation. Therefore, destroying wetlands will not be allowed while leaders sit and watch
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