Environmental and climate justice groups have called on the government to ensure that newly proposed lake landing site committees are genuinely community-led, transparent and accountable, warning that cosmetic reforms will not address long-standing abuses faced by fishing communities.
The call follows President Yoweri Museveni’s December 26 directive to dissolve what he described as “abusive” lake landing site committees and establish new management structures.
The directive also proposed disbanding the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU), which has for years been accused of rights violations against fisherfolk. Fishing remains central to the culture, food security and livelihoods of millions of Ugandans living around Lakes Victoria, Albert and Kyoga, vital ecosystems that directly employ more than 1.3 million people across fishing and fish value chains.
An estimated seven million Ugandans depend on the lakes for daily sustenance, while the sector remains a major source of foreign exchange. However, activists say fishing communities continue to face environmental degradation, market instability and human rights abuses, particularly in regions affected by large-scale oil and gas exploration and drilling.
In a joint statement, Climate Rights International and the Environment Governance Institute (EGI) said abuses linked to oil developments operated by TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) have compounded long-standing governance failures around lake management.
“We welcome the government’s announcement to disband the Fisheries Protection Unit and all landing site committees on Uganda’s lakes,” said Samuel Okulony, director of the Environment Governance Institute.
“But this must result in an end to abuses and genuine community-led decision-making, or it will amount to nothing more than a pre-election stunt.” Okulony added that the new committees should be constituted quickly and inclusively.
“To demonstrate seriousness, the new committees should be formed within 15 days, not three months,” he said.
Oil projects and rights concerns
In October 2025, Climate Rights International and EGI published a report documenting how communities living around the Kingfisher oil project area along Lake Albert were subjected to military-enforced payments to access fishing grounds, arbitrary arrests, and confiscation of boats for alleged non-compliance.
The Kingfisher project is operated by CNOOC and jointly owned by CNOOC, TotalEnergies, and the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC). The organisations said that despite formally writing to CNOOC outlining the allegations, they received no response.
Earlier, in September 2024, Climate Rights International released a 156-page report detailing widespread human rights violations linked to Uganda’s oil and gas developments.
The report cited coercive land acquisition, delayed or inadequate compensation, intimidation of critics, and restrictions on freedoms of expression and assembly.
In several cases, community members reported being pressured to accept compensation under threats of project delays, loss of livelihoods or state intervention. Others who raised concerns said they faced harassment and reprisals.
The abuses highlight how extractive investments, when not governed by strong human rights safeguards, can deepen inequalities and weaken community control over land and natural resources.
Concerns over investor involvement
The government has proposed that investors, including oil companies, be included as members of the new landing site committees, a move activists strongly oppose.
“Allowing investors, particularly from the oil and gas sector, to sit on these committees would likely undermine customary land and water rights, erode cultural practices linked to fishing, and silence community dissent, ” said Okulony.
He argued that investors should not sit on governance committees because of their profit-driven interests, which could conflict with community rights and environmental protection.
Key recommendations
Climate Rights International and EGI urged government to draw lessons from the Kingfisher project and embed enforceable human rights standards, genuine community consent and independent oversight into the new governance framework.
They called on government to ensure new landing site committees are formed through transparent, community-ratified processes reflecting the diversity of indigenous fishing populations, establish binding safeguards to protect community land rights, cultural heritage and environmental integrity from undue investor influence.
Other recommendations are, build the capacity of community representatives, including training in governance, negotiation and rights protection, guarantee full public disclosure of investor agreements, subject to independent review and community consent, and remove the military from landing site operations, ensuring law enforcement roles are handled by appropriate police units.
“Human rights abuses against fisherfolk and other local residents remain widespread in lake regions affected by oil and gas operations,” said Brad Adams, executive director of Climate Rights International.
“Without strong protections, the new committee structure risks repeating patterns of economic coercion, elite capture and marginalisation of indigenous livelihoods. Indigenous fisherfolk’s voices must not only be heard, they must be decisive.”