The National Forestry Authority (NFA) has rejected plans by Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA to use part of the Buto-Buvuma central forest land in Buyala as a landfill.
During an interview with a local radio station on January 2, 2025, NFA Acting Executive Director Stuart Maniraguha stated that KCCA’s proposed landfill site was illegally acquired, as it lies within a protected forest reserve.
“We are fully aware most of the land titles in this forest were illegally created, and we asked the Ministry of Lands to cancel them because all the demarcations and boundaries are very clear,” Maniraguha said.
According to Maniraguha, NFA has had several engagements with KCCA to avoid the possibility of illegally acquiring forest reserve land through fake land titles by unscrupulous individuals.
He added that, NFA submitted all the tittles to the Ministry of Lands for verification, and the first batch of 438 were confirmed to be located in forest reserves.
“The titles are mainly located in forests in Wakiso, Kayunga, and Kampala,” he revealed.
He noted that in a bid to address the garbage challenge faced by KCCA, NFA can amicably avail a site for waste management, not dumping, following a stringent impact assessment program to allow the coexistence of conservation efforts while effectively managing the city garbage.
Buto-Buvuma Central Forest Reserve is a main catchment area for River Mayanja, a key contributor to Lake Victoria, and its destruction has ripple effects on the entire Victoria basin biodiversity ecosystem, experts warn.
