The first Deputy Prime Minister also Minister for East African Community Affairs Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga has revealed that the major cause of climate change and environmental degradation in Uganda are Ugandans with an ‘I don’t care mentality’.
While speaking at the closure of the East Africa Food Security Symposium & Expo 2022 on Sunday, the Speaker Emeritus of the 9th and 10th Parliament noted that the unregulated human practices have ruined the beautiful nature of Uganda.
She said most of the physical features that labelled Uganda as the Pearl of Africa are no more due to recklessness and the ‘I don’t care’ traits among Ugandans.
“While I was still young, there used to be a mass of water under the bridge and when you arrived there, you would automatically know that you were in Jinja but it’s no more. Another example is Mabira Forest, it used to be cold, whenever we reached there, no one would tell you that we are in Mabira, you would feel the coldness and it used to be dark. But today, you can even see the sky and trees are countable. Some government schools have been built in wetlands, this shows how we have continued to live recklessly thus damaging the environment,” she said.
The Kamuli Women Member of Parliament further stated that the damage to the environment has inversely affected food security in Uganda.
“In my grandfather’s house in Bugweri, there were three granaries, and there was always food in them, these are the things we have given up doing today. And the few who still do keep seeds and a portion of food in granaries always face the challenge of theft. These are things we used to do and kept us secure food was never a problem,” she added.
Pointing out the case study of Karamoja, Kadaga wondered why Uganda would be called a food basket for East Africa yet in one of its regions people are dying of anger. “People have sat in conferences, meeting about Karamoja but no solution. We can continue collecting food from churches, civil societies etc but as a government, we must find a permanent solution.”
Like many countries around the world, currently Uganda is experiencing significant impacts of climate change. Weather patterns are changing, and water levels in several water bodies are dropping. Extreme weather events such as floods, landslides, and prolonged droughts are becoming more frequent in the country, threatening people’s livelihoods.
According to a survey by Afrobarometer last month, Ugandans are familiar with climate change and 80 per cent of them want the government to take immediate action to limit climate change.
According to the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (2021), Uganda ranks as the 13th- the most-vulnerable country in the world to climate change and 160th out of 192 nations in readiness to confront the threat.
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