Kampala, 27/11/07
 
LAKE VICTORIA IS NOW DECLARED PROTECTED COMMONWEALTH LAKE RESERVE BY UGANDA

By Leo Odera Omolo
 
Lake Victoria featured prominently during the just concluded summit of he Heads of Commonwealth Government in Kampala Uganda.
 
The government of Uganda has gazetted 80 square miles of its 26,800 square miles as a reserve in the honour of Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting 2007.
 
Uganda’s Minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry and fisheries Hillary Onek and the Minister of State for Fisheries Fred Mukisa last Saturday signed  the statutory instrument that makes it prohibited for anyone to conduct or carry out commercial fishing in the gazetted areas.
 
The two officials said sport fishing would only be allowed in the gazetted areas under strict conditions. The two Ministers disclosed Uganda’s first Lucustrine Protected Area (LPA) in a press statement they jointly released to the media.
 
“Protection of species within the LPA will begin in December 2007 where LPA is activated in honour of the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting “the LPA will be known as the” Commonwealth Lake Reserve “ the press release stated.
 
The LPA ,which is situated close to Entebbe and Kampala ,will promote spot fishing as one of Uganda’s tourists attraction as the first post-CHOGM benefit.
 
It explained that the LPA initiative is as a result of the concern resulting from depletion of the wild Nile Perch and other valuable fish stock in Lake Victoria.
 
It is aimed at creating a conservation area in which biodiversity (variety) of plants and animals will be protected.
 
The ministry says the LPA will allow fish to breed undisturbed hence excess fish population within the LPA which will in time migrate or spill out into  the nearby commercial fishing grounds thereby increasing the catch for neighbouring communities on sustainable basis.
 
The government of Uganda also said the initiative would create an area in which scientific research can be carried out undisturbed and encourage the growth in number of other  species that have been put under pressure as a result of the effects of commercial fishing such as otters and hippopotamus and various bird species.
 
Meanwhile Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwell who were also on a tour of Uganda visited the source of River Nile in Jinja town, located about 45 miles east of the capital, Kampala last Saturday to see for themselves a site that once mesmerized legions of British explorers obsessed with finding the beginning of Nile River.
 
The Prince and his wife Camilla Parker Bowles arrived at the Speke Memorial, across to the river from the tourist viewpoint. They then got on to a boat and took the short trip across to the landing, where they briefly toured the site and attended a short ceremony that included cultural dances
 
The visit was largely symbolic giving the Royals couple an opportunity to see some of Uganda’s cultural sites during their stay in the country.
 
They paused at the Gandhi Memorial and also at the newly built monument to the Commonwealth countries that was put in place in time for CHOGM.
 
The Royal couple then walked to a waiting audience who watched the cultural performance .The Prince and Duchess then drove away shortly in after a 15 vehicle convoy. The Prince didn’t say much during the brief visit, but he just waved to the people and smiled broadly at them.
 
The royal couple was welcome to Jinja Uganda’s second largest city by the mayor Coun Muhammed Baswale Kezaala and other local officials.
 
Earlier, the prince of Wales visited Amref sponsored project in Kawempe. Kampala and St.Joseph Secondary School Naggalala in Mukono district.
 
Prince Charles visit to Uganda during the Commonwealth heads of Government summit has been considered by the British press as a move to boost his profile on the world stage on preparation for his ascension to the throne.
 
For countries, explorers dreamt of funding the source of the Nile. Many failed in their efforts until British explorer John Speke  “discouraged” the site in the middle of the 19th century.
 
The claim has been challenged several times because some believe the true source of the Nile is in Rwanda ,at the end of an isolated river that feeds into Lake Victoria
 
Ends
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