Local leaders of Mbarara Municipality have on July 18 launched a campaign to remove water hyacinth from River Rwizi and developing the entire area at large.
The campaign involves local beneficiaries of the wetlands including homesteads, schools and businesses.
Speaking during the launch at River Rwizi, Emmy Kateera, the Mbarara Deputy Resident District Commissioner said that involving the ordinary people came after officers who were first entrusted with the job of restoring the river failing to register any success.
“We want the ordinary people to get involved in saving their environment because we have seen that when we begin from the top, using authorities, the exercise has not been successful. When we involve the LC systems and do it as social work (bulungi bwansi) it will actually succeed,” he said.
Katere said the river would have been freed of the hyacinth much earlier had people had their country at heart.
“If everyone was really accountable, having this country at heart, I don’t think this hyacinth would still be existing so there must be something that went wrong somewhere,” he said.
Kateera said he had seen social service work effectively in Kigali, Rwanda, where every first Saturday of the month, residents, with their president, get involved in cleaning the country.
