There was drama on Friday morning when people engaged in the cultivation of food crops in Bugolobi Swamp stood their ground resisting eviction.
A group of purported farmers have for long cultivated maize, yams and potatoes in the Bugolobi Swamp, in Kampala. Some have been selling their harvests to their nearby Kinawataka slum.
But the farmer's hopes of reaping more yields are slowly fading. On Friday morning, the farmers gathered at the site following reports that an Asian was planning to displace them.
the farmers claims that they have received reports that ‘Export Promotions', an Indian owned company, had started clearing the area to construct an industry. Moses Bahati, the chairman Bugolobi Swamp Farmers Association, says that the farmers will not leave the swamp without compensation. Bahati says the farmers have been cultivating the swamps for the last 30 years, and any form of eviction is unacceptable.
// Cue in: "Now the problem ...Cue out: ...to pay the food." // meanwhile, Kampala Mayor Nasser Ntege Ssebagala, says export promotion is acting illegally by constructing a factory in a swamp. Ssebagala however says several parties had expressed interest in the swamp, a few meters from his Bugolobi residence. // Cue in: "We have been ...Cue out: ...anything." //
But George Kalibala, an official from Uganda Broadcasting Cooperation that formerly owned the land, says this is private land and developments should not be restricted. // Cue in: "All that land ...Cue out: ...33 acres." // Charles Owundo, representing Export Promotion says the company will compensate all the farmers.
// Cue in: "Me I have no ...Cue out: ...pays them." //
