By Alex Mugisha
apearlnews.com
A geography teacher and Environmental activist ambushed, beaten to death for defending wetlands.
Hilary Barigye a passionate young environmental Defender and a geography teacher at Kigezi High school is nursing serious injuries at Kabale regional referral hospital private wing after being attacked and beaten up by unknown people.
It is known that when schools were first closed in March 2020, Hilary Barigye thought that the way people Will be in lockdown, they would resort to destroying the environment by looking for what to put on their tables for survival.
He embarked on a weekly radio program teaching students on how they shouldn’t engage in informal activities in wetlands and entire environment that may lead to environmental degradation.
The teacher who later was joined by other few concerned teachers started putting up posters mounted on poles near wetlands warning people to vacate such places.
The posters that were mostly mounted near washing bays in wetlands and where brick making but this did not go down well with the people occupying the wetlands.
In June this year, Hillary started receiving threats from some occupants of wetlands and was later attacked and his gadgets taken away.
According to the Environmental police department of Kabale police station, Hillary had reported that he was receiving threats from anonymous people.
The efforts by police to track down suspected attackers have been fruitless.
Kabale municipality and Kabale district in general have suffered have suffered destruction where by some do no longer exist.
Wetlands which includeKiruruma, Rwakaraba, Bubare, Nyagande wetlands have been depleted and occupied by well-placed people over 15 years as the authorities look on.
On 14th April,2021Assure Uganda another Youth led organization launched the campaign in Kabale municipality to engage young people to take action on protecting the environment during and after COVID 19 pandemic.
Kabale district is place of hilly and fragmented pieces of land and people resort to look for survival in low lands.
On average, a family in Kabale has 6 to 9members which is hard to develop because Kabale farmers practice substance farming.
Hillary is not the first environmental activist to be targeted.On the 16 of June 2021 Alozious Bitakamanyirwe 68, a resident of Buterere cell in Ibingo Town Council in Rwampara distruct was killed by unknown people.
Samson Kasasira Rwizi, the Rwizi Region Police Spokesperson says that Bitakamanyirwe was attacked inside his house and stabbed several times.
Bitakamanyirwe was the Chairperson of the Rwampara Wetlands Eviction Committee that was set up to evict encroachers on wetlands and restore wetlands in Rwampara district.
The committee was established by the National Environment Management Authority-NEMA and supported by the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE)
According to Kasasira, two people have been arrested in connection with the murder. He however refused to disclose the identities of the suspects.
Kasasira says at the time of his death, Bitakamanyirwe and his committee were finalizing plans to evict wetland encroachers in Rweibogo-Kibingo Town Council.
Joconious Musingwire, the National Environment Management Authority-NEMA regional manager in south-western Uganda says that Rweibogo – Kibingo Town Council has lost 150 hectares of the Ihoho wetland to encroachers.
