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President Museveni yesterday chastised Ssenyonyi and other leaders for misleading the locals and also wrongly placing the blame on NEMA.
He noted that while the environmental body might have delayed or made mistakes in preventing wetland encroachment, people should have known better not to build in the swamps in the first place.
“I heard somebody called Ssenyonyi, he is an MP,” Museveni said.
“Ssenyonyi was saying that when these people went to the swamps, why didn't NEMA stop them? But that is the wrong question…the bigger question is, should going in the swamp be a small issue you can ignore?” remarked the president.
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“Should NEMA be the one to stop them? Don't you have eyes to see the swamp? Even if NEMA is lazy and not doing their work, there is no way you can say that since they are not doing their work, let us all die”
Read: Anita Among slams police for teargassing Ssenyonyi; explains MP Akamba’s arrest
President Museveni made these remarks while officiating at the 3rd Annual Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Conference and Dissemination of the Local Government Management of Service Delivery Report and Parish Development Model (PDM) Implementation held at Speke Resort, Munyonyo.
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President Museveni and Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja at the SDGs conference
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Ssenyonyi however, hit back at the president, noting that his concerns were beside the point.
“Sir, the questions I asked were valid,” wrote Ssenyoni on X.
“Why did the government let people put up structures in those areas over many years, including businesses from which the government has been collecting taxes for long, only to wake up now and demolish?” he noted
“Why the double standards of targeting some and not others? There is a police station right in the middle of that area, a fuel station and other structures which have not been demolished.”
President Museveni in his remarks, told NEMA to carry on with the evictions but to be less brutal.
“I don't want the law enforcement to use too much force; they should give people time to move,” he said.