By Charles Odongtho
Ugandan President and host of this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), Yoweri Museveni has called on delegates to the People’s Forum to emphasize environment protection when their forum starts on Monday.
Museveni caused laughter in the large hall accommodating over 1,500 delegates when he called himself an environmentalist. The Ugandan leader is more known for his recent attempts to give away one third of the only natural forest in Uganda, Mabira, for sugar cane growing.
While environmentalists feared that the loss of hundreds of endangered species, increased erosion, the damage of livelihoods of local people, negative impacts on water balance and regional climate would result from cutting down the forest, Museveni and supporters hoped sugar cane production in the forest land would create more than 3,500 jobs.
The President suggested that a shift from subsistence agriculture to service provision in towns can be a way of getting the large rural population into the urban areas to work in hotels, banks and factories.
“In 15 years Uganda’s population will be 54 million and in 25 years we shall be around 130 million people. How can we get all these people out of the rural areas where they put so much pressure on land?â€
The president said one of the biggest challenges Uganda faces is contending with the nomadic lifestyle of the Karamojong cattle keepers in North Eastern Uganda. He said through over grazing they deplete the environment.
But yet more interesting in president Museveni’s speech was the way he ended his talk on environment protection.
He said, “Environmental damage in Africa is out of necessity. In developed countries it is out of greed. The developed world has greed for profitsâ€.
- Does Museveni’s conclusion mean a kind of justification for developing countries to deplete the environment for development purposes?
- Could it be understood to mean that Museveni wants the developed world to protect the environment more than the underdeveloped?
I do not like the way he insinuates that he is an environmentalist. The truth is that he is now getting scared since he has realised that he can not control nature. One important thing he forgot to comment about are the roaming ‘balalo’ pastoralists, and I wonder why he only mentions the Ngakarimojong who kindly agreed to be lawful giving up their guns (not joining rebellion with Kony) and live in their owned land (a hard environment) which forced them to move looking for pasture. The balalo do not own any land as yet but are wrecking havoc in some parts of Uganda. The Bagungu is one case. Tanzania chased them away, Rwanda only allows those with 400 cattle, and Uganda gladly accepts them!! Although Minister Onek has issued an ultimatum, the President must come out and draw the lines like he did with Obugabe in Ankole. Let him be on record and we confirm him for another term. One great thing he has said is the development of the service industry which must be encouraged to get more people out of the rural areas. His conclusion is also a good one. There are still greedy developed countries. I ask those countries to realise that Africa has the potential to get out their problems if left to govern themselves without unnecessary intervention. Listen, you from Britain, Canada etc developed Commonwealth countries, and take this message to your exclusive foras where you plan to plunder Africa. Aluta continua.
Well, enviromentalist or not, these words do not come as a suprise. they say, “when you go to Rome, act like the Romans.”
However, could what the President was trying to say be linked to the current flood rise within the city?
I’m beginning to think the whole thing is jinxed!
For the very first time again, after we migrated to various parts of the world where we live today, nature has again unequivicably spoken to us that we as human beings are truly one and that we are also one with all nature!! The problems that we face as humanity today know no borders!! We have learnt that a problem that even begins with just one individual (say a fire or even HIV/AIDS) soons becomes a problem of the whole world with burdens almost unbearable!! Irresponsible consumption and greed for power and supremercy in the developed world is responsible for the tragedy that confronts humanity today - climate change!! Extreme weather conditions continue to mete untold suffering to defensiless men, women and children in the developing countries (as well as some sections of society in the developed countries) - floods, drought, lack of food, disease and consequential poverty!!
With these glaring amount of knowledge we can not afford to also act iresposibly in our relationship with nature!! Nature is living and so are Human beings!! Nature beatifies us and we too make nature beatiful by our resoponsible human interventions!! We have to live as one community!! A community of human beings - ensuing at all times that our actions do not affect the wellbeing of the other!!!
I am definitely gladened that the President now realises that fact and is now calling for us to protect the environment!! I think such a person who just yesterday wanted to mowe down our greatest natural resource and natures baffer deserves some applause!! I know the challenges we curently face are huge!! Yet we must start somewhere and be ready to celebrate even the small steps, te small achievements, the small things!!
But ofcourse the frustration with all of us is the lack of willigness from the developed world to truly play their part in taking responsible steps to protect the environment!! Many of them still have an insatiable greed for dominancy - economic and political!! Whereas they speak of equality, freedom and respect of diginity of human life, their actions are just the opposite!! They should first realise that their very actions are destroying us and they should therefore support us in our endeavor to improve the quality of the lives of our people in a responsible way that does not damge the environment!!
Let the developed world ealise we are equal as human beings, let them be genuine in dealing with issues iof environemnt, let them know we have a right to good quality life and we have a right to wealth!!!
I hope this is what the president meant, but as far as protecting the environment is concerned, each of our actions are vital - not only ugandans or amiricans or british - but humanity as a community - for we live in one world - not many worlds!!!
Let us all protect the environment!!!
It is always amazing how even leaders like president Museveni can be sooooooooo ‘illiterate’ about pastoralism when he refers to the Karamojong as bringing the challenge of over-grazing.
Karamoja is semi arid; the amount of grass and water that can be abvailable at certain times and places throughout the year dictates on the movements of the karamojong pastoralists. The reasons the karamojong actually move is to aviod overgrazing and leave some areas to recover while they have moved on to some other locations.
Mark you, the grazing partens of the karamojong is systematicaly organized; they know where to move to at whatever times of the year in search of pastures. The karamojong greatest challenge has always been water, becuase there are situations where sometimes they have had to leave grazing areas in preference for places with water. As we may all know, karamoja is located in a raised place, so that all its water either ends up in Teso or Lango areas. it is the reason karamojong have been moving to these places and the only unfortunate bit about these movement to these locations was because of the illegal guns taken along and the subsequent havoc they wrecked on the people of lango and teso.
These days the karamojogn have openned up old dams that were dug during the colonial times and they have enough water to move around their own area. So there is no karamojong who is over-grazing any part of uganda as of now. Studies have also shown that movement is the most viable and cost effective way of utilising arid-lands.
If you fly over karamoja, the open space is really found around the settled areas such as the emerging trading centres. These concentrated settlements is where all the wood and charcaol to support their household kitchens have contributed to the cutting of all the trees around the trading centres. and as the towns are growing the open space is enlarging in proportion to the number of people living in those centres.
The president talks of service industries; to be located where? The Karamojong elite have on many occasions asked presidnet Museveni for power to be extended to Mt. Moroto for mining of marble and limestone. Instead he claims it is not economical. the whole mount moroto is full of marble and limestone, what is really uneconomical about having an industry in Moroto. May be it is uneconomical because it it located in karamoja, but if it was Mbarara, I guess he would act at the spead of lighting!
For now he preffers that Tororo cement factory exploits the poor karamojong who have to mine the stone on heir bare hands under the hot sun, and then Tororo cememnt takes a huge trailler of I don’t know how many tons just at the cost of mere Ushs. 30, 000/=! what an injustice!
Environmental protectionin karamoja should really focus on the settlement/ trading centres and towns. do not accuse and trouble poor pastoralists for nothing.