Investor fined shs200 mln for depositing murrum in wetland

MUKONO. The Standards Utilities and Wildlife Court has sentenced Kerim Ray, the Director of Yamani Construction Limited, to pay a fine of  200 million shillings. He was also ordered to restore the Lwajjali Wetland in Mukono.  Kerim Ray is through his company accused of having encroached upon and deposited murrum in Lwajjalli wetland.

The court, presided over by Chief Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu, found Kerim Ray guilty of violating environmental laws and sentenced him to a fine of shs150 million and in default, five years in prison for the first count.

He was ordered to pay 50 million shillings for depositing murram in the wetland, and in default, serve two years in prison for the second count. The sentence on money is cumulative while the jail term is to run concurrently.

The court also ordered Kerim Ray to restore the wetland within 30 days from the day of sentence under the inspection of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).

The case against Kerim Ray stemmed from an inspection report that found that his company had started clearing vegetation and back filling murram in the wetland area.

Kerim Ray was in particular convicted following his plea of guilt of failure to comply with the conditions stipulated in the Certificate of Approval of a project brief of environmental social impact assessment, contrary to the National Environmental Act.

The court heard that on June 30th, 2024, at Gongobe village, Seeta Goma division, Mukono District, Kerim Ray failed to comply with the conditions of the environment and social impact assessment certificate number 18516 issued to Yaman Construction Limited by extending beyond the area authorized in the certificate of approval.

It was the Prosecution’s case that on the same day, the convicts deposited murram into a section of Lwajjali Wetland system measuring 0.8 acres without authorization from the lead agency.

While sentencing Kerim Ray, Gladys Kamasanyu considered the fact that the convict pleaded guilty to the offenses and spared him the maximum penalty of paying 2.6 billion shillings in fines or serving 26 years in jail. The magistrate reasoned that Kerim Ray did not waste the court’s time and resources and therefore earned himself a lenient sentence.

Kerim Ray was jointly convicted with a Ugandan national, Eric Avunalo, who was sentenced to a caution after he pleaded that he did not know that the area where he was backfilling with murram was out of the approved area since he was acting on the instructions of his employer.

The court observed that wetlands are very important in people’s lives since they filter solid waste, drain water, and are home to aquatic life.

Their destruction is therefore linked to numerous consequences, including floods which Kamasanyu said have recently locked up Kampala City whenever it rains.

“Uganda has suffered the consequences of destroying wetlands such as floods even in the heart of the city, there is plenty of evidence, people have lost lives and property,” said Kamasanyu.

She added that wetlands reduce the effects of flooding, they retain waste, reduce the speed of the floor of water, and hence restore water while releasing it slowly.

“Wetlands are also fish and wildlife and other microorganisms even those we don’t see with our eyes,” added Kamasanyu.

The court further observed that Kerim Ray should be helped to change and respect the laws of Uganda in case he has a future project to run. He was advised that he has a right to appeal within fourteen days from today.

Meanwhile, the same Court has remanded seven Chinese to Luzira Prison on charges of disturbing a wetland by drilling.

The Court heard that Liang Cheng Wu , Ui Wen Hu, Lian Cheng Xiang, Hu Dong Xu ,Ge Xing Liang , Wang Peichuan and others still at large on July 8th, 2024 at Kamuwunga village Magezi Kizungu Parish Lukaya Town Council Kalungu district, disturbed Lwera wetland by drilling it in a manner that is likely to destroy it.

Prosecution’s Judith Nyamwiza told the Court that the inquiries in the matter were incomplete and it would take two weeks to finalize them. She prayed for a shorter adjournment to organize the sureties. They were accordingly remanded until July 30th for fixing for hearing and for the bail application.