When the fish don’t swim straight, the fisherman must be ready to set the net right, and in the heart of Greater Masaka, a storm is brewing over allegations of misconduct involving a key political figure, Richard Kimera, the chairperson of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) in Bukakkata Sub-county.
Uganda’s Minister of Internal Affairs, General Kahinda Otafiire, has instructed the Greater Masaka police to arrest Kimera after he was accused of abusing his position in multiple ways.
Kimera, who also leads the Association of Fishers and Lake Users of Uganda (AFALU), is facing serious charges of misconduct that have upset the local fishing community.
The accusations against Kimera are not small. Fishermen claim he has been unlawfully taking their fish as they transport it to markets, justifying his actions as a fight against illegal fishing practices.
However, the local community believes that his true aim is to control the fish trade for personal gain.
Kimera is also accused of using his political clout to seize public land, which he allegedly turned into coffee and tree plantations.
At a community gathering at Lambu landing site on January 27, Otafiire addressed the concerns directly, reminding the public that no one is above the law. “NRM went to the bush in the 1980s to restore law and sanity in Uganda. No one is above the law,” he asserted firmly.
The fishing community has been suffering under Kimera’s actions. Several fishermen have spoken out about how Kimera, with the assistance of soldiers from the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU), has been seizing their fish and causing harassment.
This has led many to struggle with loan repayments, and in some cases, they’ve even lost their homes and property.
However, Kimera has denied all these accusations. In his defense, he claimed that the information reaching the minister was false, explaining that the land he has developed was granted to him by the National Forestry Authority (NFA), as part of an initiative to restore the forest cover in the region.
Whether Kimera’s political influence will be enough to shield him, or will the law, like the ever-flowing river, find its way to justice remains to be seen, and only time will tell.
