Word From the President

Mariam Kitti Namayinja

They were foreigners, and knew little to nothing about the land and its occupants; they chose to call it The Dark Continent, ignoring the fact that through centuries it teemed and thrived with both animal and plant life. Thick forests and wide hard to navigate rivers and wetlands made the African continent hard to penetrate.

For millennia past, day-in-day-out our ancestors saw trees, shrubs, rivers, lakes, brooks and streams, and took them for granted, simply because these just existed.  It never crossed their mind that one day the very existence of these and their livelihood as native people would be endangered.

It’s centuries later, and coming in late March. It’s the expected rain season as had been for centuries past, a time of the year when peasant farmers normally plant crops. The skies have remained clear of rain clouds for longer than usual. The land is very dry, and there is growing concern.

Kitti Community Mobilization for Environmental Preservation

This dry stretch which started in December of the previous year is now getting into April. It’s difficult to find pasture for livestock. Herders have to sell them off cheaply before they die of starvation. This wasn’t so some decades back. My grandmother says. “Rain always came in season and we never lacked food. In fact we had a lot in surplus”. She looks up to the sky and hopes that “Ggulu Ddene”, a reference to the creator, will have mercy on the land.

She tells of how they used to go into the forest to get firewood in preparation for the rainy season. But the forests are no more. She blames the situation on the young generation. “They have angered the ancestral spirits (-Misambwa), by cutting down special trees the spirits lived in, and farming in the swamps dedicated to ancestral spirits. The ancestors are angry because they have been violated. We and those before us never did that and we lived in peace and plenty”.

Grandma’s generation and those before didn’t know the science of climate and weather; yet they knew not to engage in reckless tree-cutting and unfettered wetland encroachment. She is right, this generation by cutting trees and encroaching on wetlands has triggered imbalances in our natural environment currently affecting our weather and climate.

In light of all this, I call upon all to come to join efforts with Kitti Community Mobilization for Environmental Preservation (KICOMEP) in afforestation, reforestation, and wetland reclamation.

Together let’s green up our land. The greener the ground, the better our tomorrow.

Yours Sincerely

Mariam Kitti Namayinja, BBA

President & Founder KICOMEP