Some of the elephants at Murchison Falls National Park that regularly cross into human habitant. Photos by Simon Wokorach
By Simon Wokorach and Arnest Tumwesige
Nwoya: The government through the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has resumed the installation of electric fences at Murchison Falls National Park, to prevent marauding elephants from invading the community lands.
The construction of an additional 40 kilometers of electric fence started in Purongo two weeks ago and is expected to be completed before the end of the 2023/2024 financial year.
In 2022, the government installed 44 kilometers of electric fence around Murchison Falls National Park. Nwoya district was allocated 29 kilometers and Oyam got 15 kilometers.
However, the exercise was halted due to a lack of environmental impact assessment from the World Bank under which the fund for the development was secured.
The Chief Warden of Murchison Falls National Park, Wilson Kagoro, revealed in a recent interview that the environmental impact assessment has been released which is why the project has resumed.
More related work to end in two years
Kagoro said that the installation of a kilometer of fence costs shs63m, including bush clearing, procuring poles, and fences. The overall project will cost shs6.36b.
He further revealed that the government will start installing another 61 kilometers of electric fences in phases next financial year, and complete it in the next two years.
“We shall have 145 kilometers around Murchison Falls covered with electric fences in the next two years and we think that this will reduce cases of human and wild animal conflicts in the area,” Kagoro said.
Nwoya District has been allocated 20 kilometers in the current project. Installation of the fences started from Tangi village in Purongo Town Council and will connect to Wangkwaa in Got Apwoyo Sub County. Masindi and Hoima Districts were each allocated 10 kilometers for the same project.
Ben Okot, the chairperson of Purongo Town Council, revealed in an interview that about 120 community members have mobilized themselves and completed bush clearing last week.
Okot revealed that a team from UWA is conducting measurements before the poles are installed.
Demises due to elephants
He noted that two people were killed by elephants between August 2023 and March 2024, with several destruction of crops and houses in the Town Council.
He commended the locals for their commitment to clearing bushes to pave the way for the installations and is optimistic that the electric fences will mitigate the human-wildlife conflict.
One of the affected residents, Paska Lanyero from Lyec Cam Village in Purongo Town Council, said that an elephant had killed her 37-year-old son.
On March 3, 2024, Walter Opiyo, the deceased, was attacked by stray elephants at around 8 pm from Para Primary School as he returned home from Purongo Trading Centre.
Earlier in 2023, elephants destroyed seven acres of rice and six acres of maize belonging to Lanyero.
“I borrowed shs4.5m and invested in farming but now I have to sell land to pay the loan because all the crops were destroyed by elephants,” Lanyero said.
Justine Kitara, another resident of Lyec Cam Village, lost an acre each of rice and maize to marauding elephants in 2023. Kitara hopes that the electric fence will save them from more destruction.
“We have filed our complaints to the Uganda Wildlife Authority for compensation, but they haven’t communicated with us since last year,” Kitara further explained.
Expedite compensation
Emmanuel Orach, the Chairperson of Nwoya District Local Government, commended the government for considering the installation of electric fences in the hotspots around the park.
Orach said that 600 poles had been delivered to the installation site, and all the fences had been procured.
He further revealed that four people were killed by elephants between 2023 and March 2024 and urged the UWA to expedite compensation processes.
Responding to the grievances, Wilson Kagoro, the Chief Warden of Murchison Falls National Park, described the death incidents as unfortunate and said that the process of compensating the victims is ongoing.
Kagoro revealed that the compensation rate according to the Uganda Wildlife Act of 2019 varies depending on the magnitude of the damage caused.
Compensation for a person killed by an elephant is shs20m, permanent deformation is shs15m, and those who suffer minor incidents are paid 700,000 shillings according to Kagoro.
The Uganda Wildlife Compensation Regulation Scheme of 2022 provides for the financing of claims for injuries, deaths of persons or livestock, or damage to property caused by wild animals in outside protected areas.
The regulation provides that a person who suffers from an incident giving rise to a claim must report to the relevant authority within 72 hours, and the matter has to be investigated within 12 hours.
While handing over shs2.93b of revenue share to the districts neighboring Murchison Falls National Park in May 2022 from Masindi Hotel, the government committed to compensating victims of wildlife destruction.
The Executive Director of UWA, Sam Mwandha, announced that the government had earmarked shs800m for compensating the victims of wildlife attacks in the entire Country.
