Legislators in the August House have accused the International University of East Africa (IUEA) for dealing in massive commercial charcoal burning in Nakapiripiriti district.
Moses Aleper (Chekwii County) said during Thursday plenary that IUEA was reported to have once transported 700 bags of charcoal to Kampala following massive charcoal burning in Nakapiripiriti district. He accused Sam Cheptoris, Minister of Water and Environment for working with the University to aid in the ferrying of charcoal.
“This act of massive land clearance will clearly deplete the already disadvantaged vegetation in Karamoja and will obviously lead to catastrophic consequences of land degradation and this will be evident by this current climate change challenges confronting the world. The Minister should come and explain himself over this matter. The Speaker should constitute an ad hoc Committee to investigate this matter and find out how the investor was able to acquire this land and able to carry out this indiscriminate vegetation clearing,” he said.
Speaker Among advised Aleper to write a petition about the matter to her or the prime minister so that it is given sufficient time noting that trees cut in Nakapiripiriti have a ripple effect on Bukedea that she represents in parliament.
“That is a very important aspect, you bring it as either a petition or motion that we would give you sufficient time, or, you would write to the Prime Minister on that aspect so that you get sufficient response on that because it is a very serious matter. So I want you to bring this as a petition or write to the Prime Minister, who will in turn, tell her Minister to come respond to it. If it means going on ground and having that clarified, it will be done. Because if you cut tries in Nakapiripiriti, it affects me in Bukedea,” she said.
MP Aleper explained that University embarked on charcoal burning following letters written on 27th September 2023 and 9th April 2024, by Minister Cheptoris to the Deputy Resident District Commissioner of Nakapiripiriti, on which he offered guidelines concerning the clearance of symbiotic burning of charcoal which saw in once incident, the University transport over 700 bags of charcoal from Nakapiripiriti to Kampala.
However, the Resident District Commissioner of Nakapiripiriti in his letter to 27th September 2024 to the Minister said that the authority has been misconstrued by the investor and has embarked on mass clearance of land vegetation to carry out commercial charcoal burning under that guise and pretext, which breaches and defies the laws of conservation and management of the environment.
