Africa-Press – Uganda. FISHERIES |The Commander-in-Chief, President Yoweri Museveni, has replaced the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) commander. Lt Col James Nuwagaba with Lt Col Dick Kirya Kaija.Nuwagaba confirmed the news when contacted by New Vision.”I am going to be deployed somewhere else. I thank the President for having entrusted me with that responsibility, for which I am very proud. You have seen many fish factories open and foreigners chased off our lakes,” he said. The FPU, for which Nuwagaba was its pioneer commander, was formed by President Museveni in January 2017 to crack down on illegal fishing activities on Ugandan water bodies, which was blamed for the dwindling fish stocks in the country.However, the unit has over the last few years come under heavy criticism with accusations of being high-handed in its operations.The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, in December last year, directed FPU to halt its operations on all water bodies in the country for alleged mistreatment of fishing communities. The high-handedness of the unit has also become a campaign issue.Campaigning in Teso sub-region, the Alliance for National Transformation presidential candidate, Mugisha Muntu, lashed out at the Government for deploying the army on the lake, saying their training makes them suitable for war and not for enforcement of the law. He said this explained the accusations of brutality that have been levelled against the unit over the last few years. “Kenya and Tanzania do not use the army; they instead use civil means in enforcing the regulations of fishing. So, the problem is because the regime does not care about the methods it uses to settle any issue,” he said last week. Evaluating FPULt Col Henry Obbo, the spokesperson for Land Forces, told New Vision that a seven-man committee headed by the chief of staff Land Forces, Maj. Gen. Leopold Kyanda, is re-evaluating the FPU activities.The committee, which also comprises Chief of Defence Forces of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, Gen. David Muhoozi, will examine and streamline the operations of the FPU on all the major water bodies of Uganda.”In order to consolidate the achievements of the FPU, the strategic leadership formed this committee to implement the structuring of command of the task force at all levels. The committee was also formed to ensure that individual task force personnel who could have made some mistakes in the course of their operations are held accountable. It will also help in the establishment of structures to ensure effective civil-military co-operation and reporting lines,” he said, quoting the commander Land Forces, Maj. Gen. Kyanda.Obbo said the FPU has made a lot of achievements over its three years of operation, including increasing fish stocks in the lakes due to the decline of acts of illegal fishing.”In 2017, the Government collected sh400m revenue from fish through licensing. In 2018, revenue collection through licensing alone was at sh800m, while in 2019 it shot up to sh2.7b,” he said.Obbo said there was also a remarkable reduction in deaths and other crimes on the waters as a result of the FPU deployment.”The visibility of FPU personnel on the waters helped to control overloading of boats/canoes that used to result in various marine fatal accidents. Control of cross-border aggression by armed bandits, as well as the quality of fish and size on the open market, has greatly improved,” he said. “We thank the leadership of the FPU at all levels for the continued support to the UPDF in executing our mandate for not only combat operations, but also other operations such as fisheries enforcement.”These were aimed at restoring the fish stocks in our water bodies, further contributing to Uganda’s revenue collection as well as providing a peaceful fishing environment,” Obbo added.
