Fishermen at Kikondo landing site in Nyenga Division in Njeru Municipality in Buikwe district have pinned two Uganda People’s Defense Forces-UPDF officers under the Fisheries Protection Unit-FPU for bribery.
The implicated officers are Lance Cpl. Ismael Kirimangata and Capt. Serian Muhangi, the head of fishery operations in Buikwe, Jinja and Buvuma. The fishermen pinned the duo during a public meeting convened by the State Minister in charge of the Office of the Vice President, Diana Mutasingwa following a public outcry on bribery.
They accused the officers of only allowing those who can pay bribes to fish for longer hours while locking out others. Denis Sserumaga, a fisherman and boat owner, says that they pay the required taxes at the district as well as the license fees to the central government.
But to their surprise, officers also force them to pay between Shillings 20, 000 and 100, 000 purportedly to facilitate their monitoring activities. He notes that the officers ground the boats for those who fail to pay and at times arrest some of the fishermen.
Yokosafati Male, another fisherman says that once they are denied the chance of fishing during night hours they miss out on catching fish in plenty.
Lance Cpl. Isma Kirimangata denied all the accusations levelled against him.
Capt. Serian Muhangi, the head of the fisheries operations in the area, said that he has never registered cases of bribery among his officers. He promised to investigate the complaints and prosecute those found guilty.
Minister Mutasingwa promised to forward the fishermen’s complaints to the relevant authorities. She ordered Capt. Muhangi to listen and rectify the matters brought up by the fishermen and refund all the monies lost by the fishermen through extortion.
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