Communities living in Mt. Elgon can breathe a sigh of relief following the signing of a Trans-boundary Biosphere Reserve agreement between Kenya and Uganda conserving the forest and the people living in the forest reserve.
The historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the conservation of Mt. Elgon Ecosystem that has taken over 10 years to be agreed upon, settles the dust on whether people living around the forest reserve will be evicted from their homes or not.
“We do not have to remove people from Mount Elgon for it to thrive. It is possible that Mount Elgon thrives and people live in there. So when we launch this MoU, it is not that one time we shall come one day and evict people forcefully,” said Silvia Museiya, Kenya’s Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage.
Doreen Katusiime, Uganda’s Permanent Secretary (PS), Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities said that the Ugandan Government was committed to preserve the Mt. Elgon Ecosystem for sustainable use.
“The authorities from the two countries have informally collaborated for quite some time but the appending of the signature on the MoU marks a significant step in the formulation of joint economic and development strategies and policies that are inclusive and promote regional economic-integration and strengthen our connectivity,” said Katusiime.
She added that Cooperation and coordination were essential to address the threat from climate change and all other human induced forces that seek to undermine and divert attention.
The MoU aims among others to;
- promote joint actions aimed at protection, conservation and sustainable management of Mount Elgon Ecosystem as a trans-boundary Biosphere reserve;
- Set up institutional arrangement for the joint action and management of Mt. Elgon Biosphere reserve; and
- Support eco-economic development through enhanced joint-tourism development and promotion, development of business opportunities and strengthening political ties.
It also lists areas of cooperation that include the parties collaborating and enhancing joint action by strengthening capacity of relevant institutions involved in the implementation of the MoU, formulation of joint plans, programmes, projects and undertaking to jointly allocate resources to facilitate the implantation of the MoU.
The agreement will also promote the management of Mt. Elgon Ecosystem as a water tower supporting the development and implementation of integrated water resource management for the good of the two countries.
Additionally the two neighbours will develop and implement coherent and harmonized trans-boundary strategies for the management and conservation of Mt. Elgon ecosystem.
Through the joint effort and collaborative strategies, the agreement seeks to control land degradation, pollution and waste management particularly plastics, responding to matters of climate change, protection, conservation and restoration of degraded catchment areas along water bodies and wetlands and the restoration of biodiversity loss in the trans-boundary landscape.
Mount Elgon is home to four tribes namely;
1) The Bagisu, a Bantu tribe
2) The Sabiny, a Nilotic tribe, part of the Kalenjin ethnic group on the Ugandan side
3) The Sabaot, part of the Kalenjin ethnic group on the Kenyan side of Mount Elgon
4) The Ndorobo, an ethnic minority
The Trans-boundary Biosphere Reserve agreement was signed by the two Permanent Secretaries (PS’s) on behalf of Kenyan and Ugandan government and is set to maintain and sustain good relationship and collaboration.
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