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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | City lawyer Male Mabirizi has filed charges against Rajiv Ruparelia, the manager of Speke Hotel before Entebbe Chief Magistrate’s court by way of private prosecution for degrading the Lake Victoria shores in Kitubulu, Katabi town council.
According to the charge sheet, Mabirizi accuses Rajiv of undertaking activities in a protected zone contrary to Section 53 of the National Environment Act, 2019. This particular section provides for the protection of river banks, lakeshores, and natural beaches.
In the particulars, Mabirizi alleges that on November 1, 2021, with the help of heavy machines under the guard of Uganda Police and multiple private security guards, Rajiv started filling up stones and rocky soil on Lake Victoria shores adjacent to Busiro block 443. He told URN that he wants the magistrate to issue criminal summons for Rajiv to answer the charges.
According to Mabirizi, he moved to initiate the private prosecution against Rajiv Ruparelia as a responsible citizen because the National Environment Management Authority-NEMA and the police have failed to act.
Mabirizi says Ruparelia Group has been notorious for degrading Lake Victoria shores and this is an opportunity to punish one of its managers. Ruparelia Group has in the past been accused of encroaching on Lake Victoria shores during the construction of Munyonyo Resort Beach and Rosebud Flower Farm Ltd in Namulanda, Katabi town council.
Mabirizi’s application comes a week after NEMA ordered Speke Hotel (1996) Limited to remove all the soil dumped into Lake Victoria before it can be allowed to resume the construction works in Kitubulu. NEMA issued the directive following a meeting with officials of Ruparelia Group, which owns Speke Hotel at the NEMA head offices in Kampala on December 15, 2021.
According to NEMA, Speke Hotel acquired a permit to build a hotel where Ssese Gateway Beach was previously located on condition that they maintain the buffer zone of 100metres as provided for in the Riverbanks and lakeshore use regulations, 2020. The hotel also applied for a permit to build a marina in the same place, which the regulator turned down.
Rajiv Ruparelia says Speke hotel wants to construct a resort and convention centre on Lake Victoria shores in Kitubulu. The project estimated to cost US$ 100 million (about Shillings 355 Billion) will comprise a resort with 350 rooms, a convention center, and a conference center with the capacity of hosting 3,500 guests. The project is currently at the excavation level.
NEMA halted the project on December 10, after a video showing trucks dumping soil into the lake went viral on various social media platforms. NEMA claimed the developer had started the activities without obtaining a permit for developments on a lakeshore.
The regulator adds that there were concerns of lakeshore degradation from soil siltation into Lake Victoria contrary to conditions of approval in the Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) Certificate No. NEMA/EIA/11651 issued to the developer in 2020.
Mabirizi has lauded Maria Assumpta Nakamya, who recorded the video of trucks dumping soil in the lake and shared them on various social media platforms, saying that he is also doing his part as a lawyer by suing Rajiv Ruparelia. “We must do what we can do within our means to fight environmental degradation,” Mabirizi says.
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The court should exercise justice.