The last few weeks in Uganda have been marked by a protest to protect the Mabira Forest Reserve from a sugarcane plantation and the World Bank’s decision to finance the Bujagali Dam on the Nile River by Lake Victoria. Both of these issues highlight the need for greater public voice in decision-making in Uganda. A long-time grantee, the National Association of Professional Environmentalists, is a key part of the movement there for accountability and citizen action.
This last month has proven difficult for the environmental movement in Uganda. First, a peaceful protest organized by the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), a long-time Greengrants grantee, and their partner Save Mabira Crusade, ended in violence as police fired live bullets into the crowd and arrested protest leaders, including Frank Muramuzi, head of NAPE. To find out more about the Mabira Forest Reserve, threatened by plans for a sugar cane plantation, and how activists are joining with government representatives to rally to the cause, click here.
The good news in this case is that as a result of the protest and continued education and mobilization efforts, official policy is slowly moving away from exploiting this diverse and vulnerable forest. However, charges remain against the leaders of NAPE and Save Mabira Crusade, and the hearing is schedule for late June. This week we made a grant to them to support the legal costs of the defense.
The double-blow for NAPE is that the World Bank approved financing and loans this week for the Bujagali hydropower project (a large dam) on the Nile River by Lake Victoria. NAPE has been campaigning against this project for years, which threatens the ecology of the river and lake and is not slated to provide electricity to the majority of poor Ugandans. We have supported them with eight grants since 2000 to fund analysis of the environmental impact statement of the project completed by investors, to initiate a citizen campaign against the proposed dam and distribute information about its impacts, and to create collaboration among civil society organizations, government officials, construction companies, and international funding organizations.
To read NAPE’s latest report on the Bujagali project, click here. To learn more about the Bujagali campaign from the International Rivers Network (one of our global advisors) click here. To access updates from Global Response, click here. To read Greengrants profiles on NAPE’s work, click here and here.
These two issues—the Mabira Forest Reserve and the Bujagali Dam—are related. Frank notes that “Preservation of Mabira Forest was put as a pre-condition by the World Bank for approval of the Bujagali hydropower project. Therefore, the government is caught in a give-away and abandon situation.” In other words, the government wanted to both dam the river and cut down the forest—despite a specific stipulation made by the World Bank in funding the Bujagali project. The pressures for economic and resource development are immense in Uganda, and project approval often comes at the cost of local oversight and public voice in decision-making.
Despite the setback on the Bujagali Dam, NAPE has succeeded in bringing increased public attention to the project. The movement they have created among citizens is what is leading their ability to effectively campaign for the protection of Mabira Forest. We will continue to keep you updated on their uphill battle for environmental health and human rights in Uganda.