An NFA spokesperson Julliet Mubi says Entebbe College School was built on the borders of Kitubulu Forest Reserve and that Joshua Ssenkungu was given a lease of 28 years in 1998 to carry out forest activities in the reserve.
The
National Forest Authority-NFA with support from the army and
Environmental Protection Police Unit has today demolished a fence
erected in parts of Kitubulu Forest Reserve, Entebbe Municipality.
Juliet
Mubi, a public relations officer at NFA says the move was in response to an alert from one Maria Assumpta Nakamya, who posted videos and pictures of a fence being erected
in parts of the forest reserve and repeated calls from local leaders about the same issue. The reserve which was gazetted in 1932 covers 80
hectares and is currently divided by Entebbe Express highway.
Mubi says the authority is yet to determine how much was
fenced off and who is behind the development.
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Simon Peter Okoshi, Acting Commandant Environmental Protection Police Unit says two acres of the forest reserve was fenced off.
Mubi says police officers will be deployed to safeguard the reserve as investigations into the incident commence.
Okoshi says the demolished concrete pillars will be used as exhibits against suspects who are yet to be identified.
Mubi lauds the local community led by Maria Assumpta Nakamya, the responsible citizen who alerted the authorities about the developments in the forest reserve.
Nakamya says she was concerned after seeing the pillars on Thursday.
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Other
residents who live near the forest reserve led by Joyce Nabatta Namuli
and Edward Mutebi are outraged, saying the community planted the trees
in the reserve from the 1930s. Mutebi says he was among the residents
who planted more trees in 1982.
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Gerald
Kasujja, the Katabi-Kitubulu village chairman and Isma Ssenfuka, who is in
charge of defence in the same village accuse one Dennis Ssenkungu of
masterminding the development. He is a son of the late Joshua Ssenkungu,
the proprietor of Entebbe College secondary School that was over a decade ago.
Kasujja
and Ssenfuka say they stopped Dennis Ssenkungu on January 19, 2022 from
erecting permanent structures in the forest reserve in vain.
They
want NFA to investigate and inform the local leaders and community on
who has leases in the forest reserve for transparency.
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Mubi
says Entebbe College school was built on the borders of Kitubulu Forest Reserve and
that Joshua Ssenkungu was given a lease of 28 years in 1998 to carry
out forest activities in the reserve.
Mubi
says the developer is however carrying out illegal activity by
erecting permanent structures in the forest even though the lease will
expire in 2026.
Charles Magumba the Entebbe Town Clerk and Charles
Kabwama, the deputy Mayor Entebbe Municipality, said the council was not
aware of the development and urge NFA to do more than it is currently
doing to protect natural forests.
