People living in sub-counties neighbouring Murchison Falls National Park in Buliisa District are getting into food crisis as elephants invade and ravage their crop gardens.
The price of cassava flour has doubled. People’s movement at night has also been minimised for fear of being attacked by elephants in residential areas including those that are as far as four kilometres away from the conservation area boundary.
Mr Mereki Asiimwe, the Kigoya Village Chairman in Buliisa sub-county, says he registers at least five cases of elephant raids in his village per week leaving more than five acres of crops destroyed.
The chairman says despite notifying the district authorities about the matter, he has until now not seen any action taken to help the affected communities.
The increased frequency of elephant incursions find Buliisa crumbling with the Lake Albert flood effects, cassava diseases and slow down of the alternative fishing activities due to abolition of most traditional fishing methods that the government declared illegal.
Mr Asiimwe notes that even when game rangers respond with scare-shooting at the elephants, the animals vacate tactfully and return as soon as the rangers quit.
Mr Gerald Bigirwenkya, the area resident says they are now puzzled about handling the problem since the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has just continued threatening to jail whoever kills any wild animals.
Ms Frida Tindibyetegya, another local resident accuses leaders of silence as the problem continues.
Ms Doreen Babihemaiso, the Ag Buliisa District Agriculture Officer (DAO), acknowledges the problem as growing day-to-day to all sub-counties neighbouring the conservation area.
She says her office has been let down by UWA that is slow at responding to the problem.
However, the DAO promises to continue pressuring the District Vermin Control Officer and UWA to get a durable solution to the problem before communities are completely ruined of livelihoods and food.
Ms Babihemaiso says she has recorded 28 formal complaints of destroyed gardens in the past two months.
Reports show there are many others who do not complain because of transport costs and lost hope since those who complain are not compensated.
Kazi-njema News’ efforts to get afresh comment from UWA were futile as their promised response exceeded the editorial deadline for community issue stories.
But Mr Bashir Hangi, the authority’s Spokesperson, has always advised communities to always alert the game rangers on time so they can chase the animals back to the conservation area.
Mr Gilbert Mbihye, a resident of Kikoora village does not believe UWA is serious by advising disarmed residents to chase the second world’s biggest animal or call rangers who are few on ground and always complaining of ill facilitation.
In 1960s government could hold organised shooting to kill wildlife or chase them back to the park whenever they frequented invasions but never let the burden to citizens, according to Mr Mbihye.
“They would alert the rangers and organise an activity where they could shoot some elephants and take all the ivory. This is the first kind of invasion I have witnessed in the past 50 years,” he says.
Mr Maxwell Atuhuura, the environmental and human rights activist, calls upon all stakeholders to rise up and hold UWA accountable for the food crisis in Buliisa district.
He also wants UWA to explain to the public about the actual cause of frequent elephant invasions.
Mr Atuhuura says he sides with those who cast suspicion on the expansion of tarmac roads and other oil industry related activities in Murchison Falls National Park.
Analysis
Some people have attributed this abnormal human-wildlife conflict to the increased environmental degradation and the oil projects developments.
But the clear link to the oil projects may not be easily traced for now since the Tilenga industrial park development activities are not inside the conservation area for now. Its where the large surface area has been cleared than anywhere inside the conservation area.
However, the contribution of the oil industry development activities to the general environment and climate change that affects habitat and food for wildlife and man cannot be disputed with ease.
This feature has been pieced up by Kazi-njema News in partnership with TASHA Research Institute Africa, preceding a video documentary under production.
