A dispute over money collected from fishermen using River Ntungwa has left the Banyabutumbi community in Rweshama fishing village demanding answers from a local resource committee.
The fishermen allege that each of the 80 members has been paying Shs50,000 every month to the committee for access to the river, a charge they say is different from what was agreed upon in an arrangement with the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
The dispute was discussed today, Wednesday, during a meeting attended by the fishermen, local leaders, UWA officials and members of the local resource committee.
According to the fishermen, they previously approached UWA over access to River Ntungwa, which is within the Queen Elizabeth National Park area.
They say an agreement was reached under which the local fishermen would help report suspected poachers and illegal activities in the park in return for permission to carry out limited fishing activities along River Ntungwa.
They are now questioning how the charges changed and where the money collected from them has gone.
The fishermen also want the local resource committee to provide full accountability of the money collected.
Among those who attended today’s meeting with officials was Akiiki Apollo, founder of the Banyabutumbi Cultural Heritage Organization, which works with and supports members of the Banyabutumbi community around the Rweshama fishing site..
Unfortunately, the meeting was not open to the media.
