By Mulengera Reporters
Since the year 2018, the Ministry of Water & Environment has annually been holding the Uganda Water & Environment Week (UWEWK).
It’s always held in March and the one of this year 2025 was held last week at the Luzira-based Ministry headquarters where, gratefully, the leadership has put in place excellent conference facilities-and thereby saving hundreds of millions that would have been spent on hiring of space at city hotels. The theme for this year was: “Water & Environment Resources for Enhanced Resilience & Improved Incomes & Livelihoods.”
It’s a big event for the water & environment sector which is why interest in participation and partnering has steadily been growing ever since the inaugural event in 2018. According to Permanent Secretary Dr. Alfred Okidi, as of 2018 the event had only 10 partners coming in to sponsor. Today, 8 years later, the UWEWK event has more than 90 organisations coming on board to partner with the Ministry to pull it off.
Indeed, during this year’s water week, a lot of keenness was exhibited not just among the partner organisations but also individual participants. The individual participants were in hundreds and filled the Ministry’s state of art conference hall to capacity. Many, especially those who came late, had nowhere to sit and couldn’t even get where to park their cars.
The audience and participants comprised of state and non-state actors. You had Rev Father John Peter Musumba (the Director Nsambya-based Caritas) coming to represent the Catholic Archbishop of Kampala, Paul Semogerere who was unable to personally come. The Archbishop’s written message, calling for everybody’s involvement in water and environmental conservation efforts, was read out. And the audience received it with enthusiasm.
Cultural institutions from across the country were represented as were numerous CBOs and Civil Society Organisations. The academia was equally represented. Yet that wasn’t all.
The Parliament of Uganda (whose Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa was the Chief Guest and represented by Rt. Hon Kasule Lumumba) was also vastly represented with the Natural Resources Committee Chairperson Herbert Edmund Ariko leading a bi-partisan delegation of several other committee members. These were both NRM and opposition. Ariko spoke and made it clear that as Parliament, they are more than prepared to support the Ministry amplify the Water & Environment sector issues using their platform as the legislature.
As was explained by Dr. Okidi, and later on elaborated upon by State Minister Beatrice Anywar, this annual event is a platform for bringing together all stakeholders (state and non-state ones) to reflect on the challenges constraining the citizens access to water & environment-related services while chatting some way forward on the mitigation measures than can be taken.
The same event is also an advocacy platform in order to enable the academia, CSOs and other actors outside of the formal state aparatus to influence resources’ allocation and formulation of the relevant policies.
“Each time we converge for this flagship event, we engage in knowldge-sharing and advocacy as we learn from each other as stakeholders,” Beatrice Anwyar observed in her opening remarks. “We are also here to collectively reflect on the progress that has been made on the previous year’s event resolutions for our sector.”
She thanked participants like political leaders, academia, researchers, development partners & UN agencies representatives, cultural and religious institutions’ representatives for gracing the water week in such large numbers. Outside the conference hall, was an exhibition ground where products and outcomes from the latest research and sector innovations were showcased. This too attracted large number of people coming around to learn more.
Climate change, which has seen Ugandans endure extreme weather conditions such as excessive sunshine and heavy rainfall resulting into lives being lost to flooding in Kampala and other places, was also discussed at length. You also had physical participants in the conference hall and an even larger number participating virtually via zoom technology.
And gratefully, participants came from the whole country, not just Kampala or Central region. Anywar thanked the technical leadership and managers at the Ministry’s 6 regional offices for the pre-event activities that were staged in the respective regions as a way of creating visibility and awareness about the annual water week. The six Ministry of Water regional offices are located in Moroto, Lira, Fort Portal, Mbale, Mbarara and Wakiso for Buganda region. 
The Minister in charge of General Duties in the OPM Rt. Hon Justine Kasule Lumumba commended the organizers for such a diverse gathering and audience of stakeholders that were brought together. She promised to remain supportive and an outspoken defender of the Ministry of Water and the entire sector’s right to get better and more resourced by the GoU through the appropriation process in Parliament.
The Water Resources Institute, which is domiciled in the Ministry of Water & Environment, was commended for effectively coordinating the water week event without ever failing, for the last 8 years.
And some of the pre-event activities included the 12 days 317kms walk to publicise the cause for climate change from Buliisa to Kampala; regional youth debates in all the 6 water/environment regions; environmental restoration, cleaning & awareness activities; participation in the Buganda Kingdom water day in Ssisa Busiro; Ministry staff participating in clean up exercise in the Luzira township and prayers for the water week under the UJCC framework.
RICH PANEL DISCUSSIONS:
And to their credit, the organizers lined up several speakers who would submit views in between plenary sessions (a lot of them kept their word and came, a few others didn’t). And the discussions went on for the entire week from Monday to Friday.
Some of the big-name speakers the organisers had in mind and indeed invited included the following: Leonard Zulu the UN Resident Coordinator, UNICEF representative Dr. Robin Nandy, PBU MD Julius Kakeeto, UNDP representative Dr. Patrick Moriarty, Prof Alex Ariho, UNHCR’s Simon Odong, WWF’s Ivan Tumuhimbise, UWASNET’s Yunia Musaazi, Emmanuel Muliisa, Prof Charles Nuwagaba and Pamela Katooro Nyamutoka..
Others were Moses Egaru, Eng Diana Kwesiga, UNICEF’s Eng Wilberforce Kimezere, SDG’s Secretariat’s Dr. Albert Byamugisha, NWSC’s Dr. Irene Nansubuga, Prof Nicholas Kiggundu, Walter Osigai Etepesit, Buganda Kingdom’s Oweek Mariam Mayanja Nkalubo, FAO’s Dr. Rosemary Burungi, water expert Sam Mutono, CSO’s Patrick Allan Awene, Global Lead’s Dr. Rao Nagaraja, IRC’s Jane Nabunya Mulumba, UBC DMD Maurice Mugisha, Denise Ayebare, Cate Nimanya, Anne Namakula and lawyer Howard Mwesigwa.
There was also UNEP’s Dr. Joachim Harlin, UNOC’s GM Dr. Michael Nkambo Mugerwa, Gareth O’hagan, Gen Felix Kulaigye, NBI ED Dr. Florence Grace Adongo, NEMA ED Dr. Akankwatsa Barirega and Global Center for Climate’s DMD Sarah Rosengaetner.
Other sessions were meant to be addressed by the likes of Dr. Daniel Ddiba, PS Dr. Diana Atwine, UBL MD Andrew Kilonzo, Dr. Chiji Ojukwu, Fred Onduri, GiZ’s Mary Namukose, IWMI’s Dr. Abdulkarim Seid, Margaret Athieno Mwebesa, Makerere’s Prof Edward Bbale, Uganda Youths Go Green’s Edwin Muhumuza, Mubs’ Dr. Fred Muhumuza, Peter Kuria, Enterprise Uganda’s Charles Ocici, Uganda Bankers Association’s Willbroad Owor, WaterAid Uganda’s Dr. Joyce Mpalanyi Magala, IOM’s Crispus Mwemaho, NWSC’s Dr. Rose Christine Kaggwa and finally NWSC MD Eng Dr Silver Mugisha. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
