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³ National Wetlands Conservation and Management Programme (NWCMP), Phase I Review and Phase II Proposal, 10 1991, IUCN Regional Office for Eastern Africa, Ministry for Water, Energy, Minerals and Environment Protection, Kampala, 1991, 16;Google ScholarTaylor, A. R. D. and Mafabi, P. G., “Wetland ecosystems of Uganda”, in Finlayson, G. M. and Pomeroy, D. E. (eds.), Wetlands and Waterbirds in Eastern Africa, IWRB, Slimbridge, England, 1990;Google ScholarUnited Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Strategic Resources Planning in Uganda: Wetlands, UNEP, Nairobi, 1987.Google Scholar

⁴ National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) Task Force on Wetlands, Water Resources, Fisheries and Aquatic Biodiversity, Draft Topic Paper on Water Resources and Aquatic Biodiversity, Kampala, 1992, 23.Google Scholar

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⁸ Muthuri, F., “Wetlands for water purity”, (1990) 1(3) Resources, 35–36.Google Scholar

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¹⁰ Anonymous, , “Lake faces death threat”, New Vision, 7 10, 1992, 12;Google ScholarOwuor, O., “Will Lake Victoria survive?” Sunday Nation, 20 09, 1992, 6.Google Scholar

¹¹ 2 February, 1971, 996 U.N.T.S. 245 (1976), reprinted in 11 I.L.M. 969 (1972) (done at Ramsar, Iran).

¹² World Commission on Environment and Development, Oar Common Future, Oxford, 1987, 310;Google ScholarWorld Conservation Union (IUCN), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, 1991, 67–69.Google Scholar

¹³ Ntambirweki, J., Review of Existing Legislation in the Field of Environment and Draft Framework for Environment Legislation, Kampala, 1992, 2.Google Scholar

¹⁴ See especially Wunsch, J. S. and Olowu, D., The Failure of the Centralized State: Institutions and Self-Governance in Africa, Boulder, Colorado, 1990.Google Scholar

¹⁵ The new commitment to environmental management in Uganda has been noted by a number of commentators: see Lazrus, D., “Uganda's eco-rebirth”, (1991) 3(1) Our Planet, 8–9.Google Scholar

¹⁶ See generally Golding, S. L. T., “Beyond the Ramsar Convention: A proposal for the international protection of wetlands through binding regional agreements”, (1992) 3(1) Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy, 359–380;Google Scholarde Klemm, C., “Conservation of wetlands, legal and planning mechanisms”, in Proceedings of the Second Conference of the Conservation of Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl 7–12 May 1984, Groningen, The Netherlands, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, 1984, 219–246.Google Scholar

¹⁷ In an attempt to clarify understanding of this provision, the 1987 Regina Conference recommended a set of guidelines for the wise use of wetlands: see Ramsar, Convention Bureau, Proceedings of the Third Conference of the Conservation of Wetlands of International Importance as Waterfowl Habitat, Regina, Canada, 27 May–5 June, 1987, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, 1987, Recommendation 3.3.Google Scholar

¹⁸ The role of customary law and land use is dealt with by a number of authors: see Lawry, S. W., and Bruce, J. W., Land Tenure and the Management of Natural Resources in Africa, Land Tenure Centre, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1987;Google ScholarElias, T. O., The Nature of African Customary Law, Kampala;Google ScholarObol-Ochola, J. Y., Customary Land Law and Economic Development Uganda, LLM thesis, University of Dar-es-Salaam, 1971.Google Scholar

¹⁹ NWCMP, op. cit., 4.

²⁰ The existence of a national ban on wetlands drainage has not precluded some specific small scale agricultural developments of wetlands taking place. One of the current schemes is the “Development of Small Scale Irrigation and Swamp Reclamation” project, sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture for the Lake Victoria Crescent: see Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Rehabilitation and Development 1991/1992–1994/1995, Vol. II Priority Projects, Entebbe, 1992, 63.Google Scholar

²¹ In addition to MWEMEP, the ministries with membership on the IMCW are: Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities; Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries; Finance and Economic Development; Local Government; Health, Foreign Affairs; Justice; and Lands Housing and Urban Development. The following government departments and parastatals are also represented: Uganda Freshwater Research Organisation; Makerere University Institute of Environment and Natural Resources; and Uganda National Parks.

²² NWCMP, op. cit., 6–7.

²³ ibid., 37.

²⁴ A study was commissioned to identify the major existing laws which have a bearing on wetlands: see Ssekagya, M., Review of Existing Legislation with Relevance to Wetlands, Law Development Centre, Kampala, 1991.Google Scholar

²⁵ Amooti, N., “Environment Plan Unveiled”, New Vision, 17 08, 1991, 3.Google Scholar

²⁶ NEAP Secretariat, Draft Terms of Reference for Task Forces, Kampala, 1991, 13.Google Scholar

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²⁹ Cujus est solum ejus est usque ad coelum et ad inferos.

³⁰ See Lawry and Bruce, op cit., 3.

³¹ NEAP Task Force on Land Tenure and Land Management, Report on Land Tenure and Land Management Problems, Kampala, 1992, 19.Google Scholar

³² “Mailo” means a square mile of land.

³³ Amooti, N., “Land Reform Decree blamed”, New Vision, 27 03, 1991, 1, 12.Google Scholar

³⁴ Agricultural Policy Committee, The Report of the Technical Committee on the Recommendations Relating to Land Tenure Policy, Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Kampala, 1990, 4–11.Google Scholar

³⁵ NEAP Task Force on Land Tenure and Land Management, op. cit., 20; see also Odeke, A., “New land laws proposed provisions”, New Vision, 23 09, 1992, 12.Google Scholar

³⁶ Under the Public Lands Act, it is estimated that 86% of Uganda's area is now public land: see United States Committee for Man and Biosphere, Draft Environmental Profile of Uganda, Washington D.C., 1982, 39. Section 44 of the Public Land s Act defines public land as: “any land vested in the Commission or a public body, or granted in freehold under the former laws”.Google Scholar

³⁷ Sir Gibb, A. and Partners, Water Resources Survey of Uganda, 1954–55 Applied to Irrigation Swamp Reclamation, London, 1955.Google Scholar

³⁸ Kasfir, N., “Land and peasants in Western Uganda: Bushenyi and Mbarara Districts”, in Hansen, H. B., and Twaddle, M. (eds.), Uganda Now: Between Decay and Development, Heinemann, Nairobi, 1988, 169.Google Scholar

³⁹ Cited in ibid.

⁴⁰ ibid., 170.

⁴¹ Amooti, N., “Government moves to save wetlands”, New Vision, 18 03, 1991, 6–7.Google Scholar

⁴² World Bank, Uganda: Agricultural Sector Memorandum. The Challenge Beyond Rehabilitation, Washington D.C., 1984, 39.Google Scholar

⁴³ Interview, Minister of Lands, Kampala, 16 03, 1993.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ NWCMP, op. cit., 5. See also Azabo, J., “Butele cautions on wetland protection”, New Vision, 11 02, 1991.Google Scholar

⁴⁵ This requirement is pursuant to s. 13 of the 1967 Ugandan Constitution.

⁴⁶ Interview, Ministry of Justice, Kampala, 17 03, 1993.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ A study on land tenure by the Makerere Institute of Social Research and the Land Tenure Centre, University of Wisconsin, cited in NEAP Task Force on Land Tenure and Land Management, op. cit., 10.

⁴⁸ Agricultural Policy Committee, op. cit., 34.

⁴⁹ The Wildlife Clubs have been involved in some wetlands issues, such as a census of crowned cranes which are an important indicator species of the health of wetlands, see: Mafabi, P. G., “The role of public awareness in wetland management”, in The People's Role in Wetland Management, op. cit., 463.Google Scholar

⁵⁰ It was estimated in 1971 that 70% of the total arable land of Uganda is held under customary tenure, see Obol-Ochola, J. Y., op. cit., 3.Google Scholar

⁵¹ Middleton, J. and D., Tait (eds.), Tribes Without Rules, London, 1958.Google Scholar

⁵² Nkwi, P. and Toornstra, F., “Overview paper: Traditional uses: Risks and potentials for wise use”, in The People's Role in Wetland Management, op. cit., 343.Google Scholar

⁵³ Lwanga, M., Special and Cultural Values of Wetlands, M.Sc. thesis, Makerere University, Kampala, 1991.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ ibid., 72.

⁵⁵ ibid., 80–81.

⁵⁶ ibid., 88–98.

⁵⁷ ibid., 98.

⁵⁸ Amooti, N., “Conservationists seek best solution”, New Vision, 15 05, 1991, 8–9.Google Scholar

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⁶⁰ Lwanga, op. cit.

⁶¹ Nganwa Kamugasha, B. V., and Wasawa, D. P. S., Strategic Resources Planning in Uganda: Land Tenure Systems and Environmental Laws, UNEP, Nairobi, 1988, 2.Google Scholar

⁶² ibid., 18.

⁶³ This view has also been promoted by the international aid community: see United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO), Africa Survey Report, UNFAO, Rome, 1962.Google Scholar

⁶⁴ Quoted in Brock, B., “Customary Land Tenure, ‘individualization’ and agricultural development in Uganda”, (1962) 2 East African Journal of Rural Development, 1–27.Google Scholar

⁶⁵ Government of Uganda, Land Tenure Proposals, Entebbe, 1955, s. 2(iii). The proposals were enshrined in the Crown Lands (Adjudication) Rules, 1958 whereby a person declared to be the owner of a plot under customary law could register their title as freehold under the Registration of Titles Ordinance.

⁶⁶ Public Lands (Restriction of Customary Tenure) order, 1969.

⁶⁷ Law Reform Commission, The Land Reform Decree 1975, Entebbe, 19775, 2.

⁶⁸ This provision occurs in the Judicature Act, 1962, s. 8(1); Magistrates Courts Act, 1964, s. 15. It appears never to have been used to strike down a customary environmental management practice.

⁶⁹ (1965) Eastern Africa Law Reports, 278.Google Scholar

⁷⁰ (1944) 11 Eastern African Court of Appeals Reports, 34, at 37.Google Scholar

⁷¹ At 285; see also Joswa, M. Kivu v. Rex per Luküko (1936–1951) 6 Uganda Law Reports 109; Wakihugoto Kigozi v. Lukiiko per Simeoni Katende (1936–1951) 6 Uganda Law Reports 113.Google Scholar

⁷² Agricultural Policy Committee, op. cit., 61.

⁷³ Onweng, T., “Socio-economic considerations for groundwater development in Uganda: A comparative analysis of the Aroca and Nyubisheki catchments”, in A Hydrological and Socio Economic Examination of Groundwater Resource Management in Uganda, Makerere University, Kampala, 1992, ch. 3, at 9.Google Scholar

⁷⁴ Further, rule 3 of this law prohibited the pollution or interference with water bodies used for domestic and agricultural purposes.

⁷⁵ West, H. W., The Mailo System in Buganda, Entebbe, 1964, 38–40.Google Scholar see also Low, D. A. and Pratt, R. C., Buganda and British Overrule 1900–1955, Nairobi, 1970, 111–14.Google Scholar

⁷⁶ ibid., 8.

⁷⁷ Although the Agreements facilitated the concept of land as a marketable commodity, this conception of land was in fact earlier introduced by Arab traders who arrived in Buganda after the 1850s: West, H. W., Land Polity in Buganda, Nairobi, 1972, 130.Google Scholar

⁷⁸ ibid., 57.

⁷⁹ Interview, Technical Committee on the New Draft Tenure and Control of Land Bill, Ministry of Lands, Kampala, 11 03, 1993.Google Scholar

⁸⁰ ibid.

⁸¹ Centre for Basic Research, “Land Tenure: Search for Social Justice,” New Vision, 10 February, 1993, 11.

⁸² Interview, Ministry of Lands, Kampala, 16 03 1993.Google Scholar

⁸³ ibid.

⁸⁴ Dugan, P. J., (ed), Wetland Conservation: A Review of Current Issues and Required Action, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, 1990, 83.Google Scholar

⁸⁵ The importance which the protectorate government attached to local government is reflected in the comprehensive inquiry into local government it commissioned: see Wallis, C. A. G., Report of an Inquiry into African Local Government in the Protectorate of Uganda, Entebbe, 1953.Google Scholar

⁸⁶ See Southwold, M., Bureaucracy and Chiefship in Buganda, East African Institute of Social Research, Kampala, 1961;Google ScholarBurke, F. G., Local Government and Politics in Uganda, New York 1964.Google Scholar

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⁸⁹ See His Excellency the Governor of Uganda, “Indirect rule in Africa”, The Uganda Herald, 1 July, 1936, 10–11. The Governor stated: “The native administration of each area is responsible, to the extent of the devolution to it in each case, for law and order, the collection of revenue, the construction and maintenance of roads, hospitals and dispensaries, schools, farms and so on; the natives enforce the law—the customary law of the people as modified from time to time, and such legislation as they may be empowered to enforce, as well as rules and orders made under statutory powers by the native authority. The native treasuries receive revenue from various sources and make all necessary payments…. These activities are all under the general supervision of the British administrative officers, whose ultimate relation to the native authorities may be compared to that of the Ministry of Health to local government bodies in England…. The supervision given may amount to no more than advice from time to time, the functions of an appellate and revisionary court, and audit: or it may have to go much further and be a close and real control…” [depending on the perceived degree of administrative competence of the community in question].

⁹⁰ Orech, M., “Decentralisation of services to legal authorities”, Circular, 24 06, 1992, Kampala;Google ScholarNviri, E., “Local government reform launched”, New Vision, 3 October, 1992, 1–2.Google Scholar

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⁹³ Mamdani, M., Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Local Government System in Uganda, Entebbe, 1987. The RC system did not arise out of any national political consensus in Uganda, but was an organizational tool of the NRM in the civil war situation. Further, the idea on which the RC system is based come from a proposal of the 1979–80 interim government to introduce a “Mayumba Kumi” system of representation for every ten houses: interview, lecturer, Department of History, Makerere University, Kampala, 15 03, 1993.Google Scholar

⁹⁴ The government has proposed to abolish some of the local administration tiers, in particular RC 4 (county) and RC 2 (parish) bodies, as well as the position of sub-parish chief.

⁹⁵ Interview, Decentralization Secretariat, Ministry of Local Government, Kampala, 18 03, 1993.Google Scholar

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⁹⁸ For example, in February 1993 the Kampala City Council approached the DEP for advice about the environmental appropriateness of a proposed “allocation” of a wetland site to a private individual: Interview, Department of Environment, Kampala, 18 03, 1993.Google Scholar

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¹⁰² Interview, Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Kampala, 11 03, 1993.Google Scholar

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¹⁰⁵ NWCMP, op. cit., 3.

¹⁰⁶ Samuel Byaruhange, “Strategies on how to achieve effective involvement at the district level”, in Mafabi, op. cit., 51–52.

¹⁰⁷ Interview, National Environment Information Centre, Kampala, 18 03, 1993.Google Scholar

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¹⁰⁹ Interview, NEAP Secretariat, Kampala, 18 03, 1993.Google Scholar

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¹¹¹ Customary law” is defined in s. 37 as “the rules of conduct established by custom and long usage having the force of law and not forming part of the common law nor formally enacted in any legislation”. This requirement of “long usage” is not consistent with the idea of dynamic and quickly evolving customary law in response to new environmental problems.

¹¹² PresidentMuseveni, Y., “Why our law should be reformed”, New Vision, 3 03, 1987, 7.Google Scholar

¹¹³ Interview, Department of Politics, Makerere University, Kampala, 15 03, 1993.Google Scholar

¹¹⁴ Interview, NEAP Secretariat, Kampala, 18 03, 1993.Google Scholar

¹¹⁵ Interview, Department of Environment Protection, Kampala, 18 03, 1993.Google Scholar

¹¹⁶ ibid.

¹¹⁷ Interview, Department of Environment Protection, 17 03, 1993, Kampala.Google Scholar

¹¹⁸ Asedri, V., “Apac forests depleted”, New Vision, 22 09, 1992, 2.Google Scholar

¹¹⁹ Delius, A., “The Resistance Councils and Committees (RCs), in Uganda: An appraisal of a policy of democratic decentralisation: Problems and prospects”, MA thesis, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, The Netherlands, 1989, 76.Google Scholar

¹²⁰ Interview, Department of Political Science, Makerere University, Kampala, 15 03, 1993. See alsoGoogle ScholarMakara, S., The Role of Resistance Councils and Committees in Promoting Democracy in Uganda, Makerere University, Kampala, 1992.Google Scholar

¹²¹ Each RC embraces executive (Committee), legislative (Council's bye-law making powers) and judicial powers (RC Courts).

¹²² Mukalazi, S., “RCs sell land in Mburo Park”, New Vision, 18 04, 1991, 1, 16.Google Scholar

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¹²⁴ Interview, Department of Politics, Makerere University, Kampala, 15 03, 1993.Google Scholar

¹²⁵ See Tumwine, H., “RCs to go to Kyankwanzi”, New Vision, 24 09, 1992, 3 (refers to cadre training of RC officials at the National School of Political Education);Google ScholarBakandema, W., “RC5s reject parties”, New Vision, 24 09, 1992, 1 (RC official support government's suspension of traditional political parties).Google Scholar

¹²⁶ See Expedit, D., Popular Forms and the Question of Democracy: The Case of Resistance Councils in Uganda, Centre for Basic Research, Kampala, 1989, 43.Google Scholar

¹²⁷ de Soet, M. C., and de Wit, A. E., “Overview paper: Conflict handling in wetland management”, in The People's Role in Wetland Management, op. cit., 637–644.Google Scholar

¹²⁸ Bromley, D. W., Environment and Economy: Property Rights and Public Policy, Oxford, 1991, 21–31.Google Scholar

¹²⁹ ibid., 10.

¹³⁰ Bromley, D. W. and Cernea, M. M., The Management of Common Property Natural Resources: Some Conceptual and Operational Fallacies, The World Bank, Washington D.C., 1989, 17.Google Scholar

¹³¹ Dryzek, J. S., Rational Ecology, Environment and Political Economy, Oxford, 1987.Google Scholar

¹³² The importance of enhancing the role of customary law in land use planning has been noted by the United Nations Food an d Agriculture Organization (UNFAO), The Role of Legislation in Land Use Planning for Developing Countries, UNFAO, Rome, 1988, 82–86.

¹³³ Bromley, and Cernea, , op. cit., 12–13.Google Scholar

¹³⁴ IUCN, UNEP and WWF, op. cit., 57 and 69.