The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has given encroachers on Mt Elgon National a new ultimatum to vacate the park.
UWA Acting Executive Director, Damian Akankwasa, said the encroachers have up to September 12th to vacate the national park or face forceful eviction.
Mount Elgon National Park was declared a forest reserve in 1938 and later gazetted as a national park in 1993.
Hundreds of people from Mbale, Sironko, Bududa, Kapchorwa, Manafwa, and Bukwo are reported to have encroached on Mt Elgon Parkland between December 2005 and March 2006.
Earlier on the minister of tourism trade and industry, Serapio Rukundo, had given the encroachers up to September 28th to vacate the park. Rukundo directed the RDC's and district chairpersons to implement the directive that was agreed upon in earlier meetings held with the affected communities.
The UWA Acting field operations Director, John Makumbo, said UWA will not compensate any person because they were given enough time to harvest and stop planting any more crops.
//Cue In: We don't want to harass#
Cue Out: #compensate on the ground. //
