33 jailed in crackdown on forest encroachers | Land Portal

Two people have been sentenced to six months in prison for encroaching on Mount Kei Central Forest Reserve on the border between South Sudan,  Koboko and Yumbe districts.

Thirty-one others were charged with carrying out prohibited activities in the forest and remanded until June 24.

The suspects appeared before Koboko Grade One Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday presided over by Mr Peter Gukiina.
The two suspects pleaded guilty to the charges but the others denied them.
 
The 33 were arrested during a three-day operation led by the National Forestry Authority (NFA), Police and UPDF.

Those arrested were found cultivating, burning charcoal and cutting down trees for poles and firewood in the forest.
Mr Samuel Abwang, the Koboko District Police Commander, led the operation.

“Most of these people we arrested were got farming, cutting down trees and burning charcoal in the forest contrary to Section 32 of the National Forest and Tree Planting Act,” he said.

Mr Abwang said the eviction notice was issued on February 12 but many did not heed the call and this forced NFA to issue another one, which expired on April 12.

The police commander, however, expressed frustration with local politicians, whom he said were siding with the encroachers to block the eviction.

Last month, Daily Monitor reported that some families who were settled in the forest were resisting eviction because they did not have alternative land for resettlement.

The NFA range manager for West Nile, Mr Robert Owiny, said after the operation, they have managed to recover eight of the 25 hectares of the forest land.

“We are still continuing with this operation for the whole of this month until we recover all the total area lost. And we want the people to comply peacefully without force,” he said.

Mount Kei central forest reserve, the largest in West Nile with 4,689 hectares, was gazetted in 1938 to help in protecting diversity, different animal species such as  white rhinos and gorillas, and tree species, including Afzelia Africana, Shea nut and mahogany.

However, with human activities, more than 25 hectares of the forest reserve have been encroached on and degraded.

 

Copyright © Source (mentioned above). All rights reserved. The Land Portal distributes materials without the copyright owner’s permission based on the “fair use” doctrine of copyright, meaning that we post news articles for non-commercial, informative purposes. If you are the owner of the article or report and would like it to be removed, please contact us at hello@landportal.info and we will remove the posting immediately.

Various news items related to land governance are posted on the Land Portal every day by the Land Portal users, from various sources, such as news organizations and other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. The copyright lies with the source of the article; the Land Portal Foundation does not have the legal right to edit or correct the article, nor does the Foundation endorse its content. To make corrections or ask for permission to republish or other authorized use of this material, please contact the copyright holder.

Share this page