Struggle Over the Nile

Frank Muramuzi: Sustainable development

‘There are a lot of problems that are going to happen, not only in Uganda, but also in other countries.’

Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and one of the most renowned sources of the Nile. Yet it is slowly – and gradually – shrinking.

The increasing number of hydro-power stations on the Nile in Uganda is drawing ever greater amounts of water out of the lake to move the turbines generating electricity.

The Ugandan government is keen to exploit the fast-flowing waters to generate power.

The Bujagali Dam, a new hydro-power station being built in Uganda, will flood the rapids and create a man-made reservoir.

Another hydro-power station is planned at the Karuma falls – another project that threatens the natural flow of the river.

Frank Muramuzi, the executive director of the National association of Professional Environmentalists in Uganda, advocates the sustainable use of natural resources in the area of energy and water to ensure transparency and accountability in the development process. 

He says: “Poverty does not mean lack of cash, of money, papermoney or coin money or the dollars. Poverty to my own understanding is when you don’t have food to eat, when you don’t have water to drink, the lakes and rivers have dried up, or the water here is contaminated and you cannot take it … if you run short of the basic needs, water, shelter, food, medicine, then you are gone.”