The world this week celebrates UN Wildlife day. This year’s world theme is focused on our children.
Youths represent over half the world’s population and they represent the future for our wildlife. We should not only listen to their views on wildlife, but take responsibility for empowering them to protect our environment.
Uganda will, therefore, join in this global effort to support youth in what is expected to be a fun-filled showcasing of our nation’s natural beauty. Many youths recently turned up to participate in the wildlife marathon and the wildlife quiz competitions for primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. There will be wildlife exhibitions, public lectures, sculptures and posters all promoting the fascinating wildlife we steward in Uganda.
Come and learn more. Uganda’s wildlife populations are booming. According to National Geographic, Uganda is one of few countries in Africa where elephant populations are surging. Over 4,800 elephants exist in Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls national parks alone, and thousands more exist in Kibale and Kidepo.
We remain the primate capital of Africa, hosting some of the largest communities of chimpanzees ever recorded, and don’t forget the mountain gorillas that tourists travel the world to see.
We also boast phenomenal birdlife with over 1,000 species, some only found in the Albertine Rift area, of which Uganda is a part. Our protected areas have landscapes with unparalleled nature and beauty. It’s no wonder that Google recently partnered with the Uganda Wildlife Authority to provide views of our parks on Google maps so that everyone in the world can see our country’s magnificence just by clicking on them.
Everyone should join in the efforts to protect wildlife. With new amendments on the Wildlife Act recently approved by cabinet, deterrent sentences to wildlife crimes will be available to punish offenders. Court will, for example, be able to give a life sentence for serious wildlife crimes. The fight for our wildlife is now in overdrive.
Tell your friends and family how much wildlife means to you and this country. Climate change is real. Do small things around home to reduce pollution – use less polythene bags, recycle bottles, and bury garbage instead of burning it.
Reduce the use of pesticides and herbicides in gardens because they are washed into the water and can harm animals. Slow down when driving upcountry especially in forest and savannah areas to avoid road killings.
Proactive conservation of wildlife not only guarantees that our children will have wildlife in their future to cherish and conserve our amazing biodiversity, but also enables tourism, our biggest foreign income earner, to flourish.
Simplicious Gessa,
Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Where is the govt on expensive schools?
On February 21, 2017, I dropped off my nephew at one of the government-aided high schools in a Kampala suburb, to start S5. But what shocked me was the number of items each student had to be saddled with before being allowed to access the dormitories.
The items include scrubbing brooms, a dozen counter books, reams of printing and ruled paper, textbooks, etc. As a result, there was a spectacle of an equivalent of truckloads of scrubbing brushes and reams of paper, being ferried to the stores!
To make matters worse, except the scrubbing brooms, if a parent had cheaply procured his/her child’s 12 counter books from elsewhere, she is compelled to buy another set from the school.
Unless there is a syndicate between the schools and stationers and/or hardware traders, how many scrubbing brushes does a school need per term? How many sheets of paper does a student need for tests or exams per term?
I, therefore, asked myself, why do Ugandans pay high taxes and receive nothing in return?
If we are in an absentee state, who will save Ugandan taxpayers and parents from extortion by government-aided public and private schools?
Raymond Otika,
otikaraymond@gmail.com.
Kudos to Kagina
The World Bank decided to resume funding on the road projects in Uganda after the government made progress on the environmental and social issues that led to the ban originally.
I attribute this to the prudent management of Allen Kagina, the executive director of Uganda National Roads Authority.
Mercy Abio,
Kampala.
Parents should know their roles
Parents are legally required to support their children by providing food, clothing, shelter, education and medical care. Such duties only cease to exist when the child is emancipated, which generally occurs at the age of 18, or when the child graduates from high school or when they marry.
Some time back, when the first lady and minister of education stated that parents should buy food flasks for their school-going children, many people complained. But one reason children fail in school is because they study on empty stomachs. It is a parent’s responsibility to provide this food.
The first lady later told parliament that government has no money to buy sanitary pads for school children. This raised condemnation again. But I know that there are several other ways that can be used to deal with menstruation.
Ugandans should try to be innovative and stop this issue of expecting everything from government; parents should know their roles and stop leaving them to government.
Michael Woira,
Kampala.
Police officers are forced to desert
You Observer people, what you posted on your website about police officers deserting and joining boda boda or any other business is very true. They are kept poor so that they use this desperation and anger on civilians.
Police constables get Shs 366,933 per month. But when the state realized that a wise constable can decide to save part of that money for at least two years and lay a foundation for other things, they decided that Shs 50,000 must be deducted every month and credited to the police Sacco, which also has a lot of complications.
It is another frustrating scheme just! The aim is to make officers poorer so that they serve the force for long. In such a situation, the only way out is to desert.
Concerned police officer.
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