Fishermen Decry Exploitation

The government has been asked to consider investment into fish processing to save the fishermen from exploitation.

Fishermen at Kasensero landing site in Kyotera district, are complaining that despite the increasing volumes in fish catch, they are yet to make reasonable earnings from fishing activities.

Joseph Kabugo, the LC5 councillor for Kasensero town council and vice chairperson of Kasensero Fishermen’s Association says that fishermen are not protected from exploitation by owners of processing factories who enjoy total liberty of determining market prices right from the landing sites.

Kabugo says the fish processing and export market is dominated by Asian multinational investors who keep fluctuating the market prices to the disadvantage of fishermen who incur high costs of obtaining fishing gears.

 //Cue in “eby’enyanja bwebili….. 

Cue out; …. gwetutalinako buyinza.”//

Kabugo also argues that unlike the other sectors of the economy that operate on the market forces of demand and supply, the fish industry in Uganda is deliberately manipulated by investors who are solely after satisfying their selfish interests.

Peter Kalingoma, one of the biggest fishermen at the landing site, says the industry is also infiltrated by speculators who he claims are deliberately deployed by the investors to frustrate the business.

He wants the government to consider direct investments into the fish trade or support some local investors to construct factories as a way of protecting the local fishermen.

//Cue in “ebbeyi erimu….   

Cue out: ……is y’amutwalo.”//.

Hajj Abdul Ssekima, the Chairperson of Kasensero Beach Management Unit-BMU says that some of the fishermen have even started dropping out of business.

Hassan Dran Ajeendran, a manager at Aak-wood fish factory in Jinja, denies that allegations of exploitation. He explains that their pricing rates are determined based on the world market figures.