Mayuge, (UG):- The fishing communities in Mayuge district have asked President Museveni to support them with recommended fishing gear if the government is to successfully fight bad fishing methods on Busoga waters, specifically in Mayuge district.
The desperate members of the fishing community were on Wednesday raising their concerns to the NRM officials during their visit to Lwanika landing site, Bukatuube Sub County in Mayuge district where they accused security of reportedly torturing them.
The NRM members who conducted the mobilization meeting at Lwanika landing site were led by the Director for Mobilization in the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Hon. Rosemary Seninde Nansubuga.
The visit comes after the NRM top leadership agreed to directly engage leaders and locals in Busoga who are being affected by a number of challenges which reportedly led to poor presidential performance in the 2021 general elections.
The fishermen say they are being asked to use specific fishing gear which is expensive and they asked the government of Uganda to support them with such gear instead of giving them direct PDM funds. Others have since asked the president to provide the fishing nets on loan such that they can pay back on instalment basis.
“We ask the government to support us with recommended fishing nets because the fishermen cannot afford to procure such nets. By doing this, the bad fishing methods will stop but without that, we shall continue seeing the same,” the area LC1 chairperson Lwanika A Mr. Ojwang Joseph said before accusing security of asking money from fishermen whenever they conduct operations.
Some of the youths told this publication that they are forced into criminal acts because the government has employed stringent measures on the waters where they used to earn a living. They asked the president to withdraw the soldiers from the lakes and reserve them for their constitutional mandate.
The youths in the fishing community of Lwanika fumed at the start of the mobilization meeting, accusing the Fish Protection Unit (FPU) of persecuting and torturing them whenever they were found on the water. A one Ikoba Joel from Kabaganja said they are forced into criminal acts because of the tough measures on the waters.
However, the mobilization meeting which at first started with pressure from the fishing community ended in calm and apology when at least six youths were arrested while applying bad fishing methods with illegal nets. They were presented before the NRM officials who forgave them on condition that the community won’t fall the same anymore.
The Director for Mobilization in NRM, Hon. Rosemary Seninde Nansubuga assured the community that the government is in process of addressing the challenges that made the president perform poorly, however, they identified a number of baseless allegations from the fishing community.
“As far as the issues of fishing are concerned, we have been able to identify that some of the allegations that people make, may not necessarily be all true because we have even had young people who were found practising bad fishing on the lake,” Hon Nansubuga said.
Meanwhile, Maj. Joseph Cherop Lubu, the intelligence officer in the Fishing Protection Unit (FPU) said they were deployed on waters by President Museveni in 2027 to fight the bad fishing methods. He accused the fishermen of failing to adhere to the fishing guidelines reflected in the Fisheries and Aquatic Act 2023.
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