Gen. Kyanda explained that AFALU is not accountable to anyone and their excesses are blamed on the Fisheries Protection Unit personnel who in most cases not aware of their unscrupulous operations.
Patrick Ochieng, a resident of Singila village accused some FPU officers of conniving with their civilian counterparts to confiscate their fishing nets and charge them between 200,000 and 300,000 to recover them.
The deceased has been only identified as Kumakech, a fisherman attached to Mbegu landing site in Kabaale Sub county Hoima district. His other colleague who survived the boat accident is only identified as Opio.
Project X youth innovators is a team of six university graduates who devised means of earning income by introducing unique water transport devices within the country. This time around, they designed a bicycle with two light pipes at the sides which enable it to keep afloat along the lake.
They argue that the uncontrolled levels of pollution have deterred several fish species from multiplying because their breeding areas are contaminated with unspecified amounts of acidic waste from factories. The fishermen pinned Nile Agro and Skyfirt Leather Industries for establishing an extension of 50 meters into Lake Victoria.
State Minister for Fisheries Hellen Adoa Says that many of the encroachers have failed to heed to calls to vacate the shoreline, threatening the natural resources and their habitats. According to Adoa, all the lakes are now covered with floating islands that descended from the weakening shorelines as a result of human activity.
By this morning, a number of gardens and pig houses were floating on parts of the lake that are adjacent to Masese landing site, Rippon falls and Rock. The same villages are also threatened by the rising water levels which are seemingly threatening to guzzle the Lake Victoria shoreline.
Maj. Joseph Ssebukera, the Commandant of the UPDF Fisheries Protection Unit on Eastern Lake Victoria, says the impounded nets carry electric current, which peels off fish skin causing it to die and float on the lake.
According to the fishermen, it is hard to predict where they will find the hyacinth as they set off for fishing deep in the lake or transport people from Kayunga to other places such as Luweero and Nakasongola districts.
Akandwanaho notes that cases of illegal fishing practices have increased and over 2500 illegal boats commonly referred to as “bao tatu” and 800 beach seines have been impounded in the past seven months.
Francis Bagumire, a fisherman faults government for failure to institute measures on safe pesticide and chemical usage. He says that the incident is a big challenge to the fishermen since they rely on fishing for their livelihood.
The grenade burst and shuttered Gavuma’s body to pieces this morning while pushing his boat into River Nile. Fishermen normally connect homemade grenades on their boats and link them to small bulbs to attract more fish.
However, the boat engines were recovered by the Congolese authorities in Ituri province Governor in the Democratic Republic of Congo-DRC following an engagement between the Ugandan and DRC officials.
