The Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources has grilled lawyers of Aqua World Company over what they called their continuous illegal sand mining activities in Lwera wetland with Mpigi and Kalungu districts on Lake Victoria shores.

Pastor Samuel Kakande of the Synogue Church in Mulago who has been accused by MP on diverting from the original plan of digging fishing ponds to illegal sand mining.

The lawyers including former lands commission chairman, Joash Mayanja Nkangi and Bernard Mutyaba were given powers of attorney by Pastor Samuel Kakande and his wife to represent their company Aqua world, one of the companies under investigation over illegal sand mining activities in Lake Victoria.

The committee is accusing Pastor Samuel Kakande through his company of having dug fish ponds in less than 200 meters contrary to recommended 200 meters away from the lake shores.

Aqua world lawyers faced a hard time to cool down MPs who were visibly  angry over Pastor Samuel Kakande’s failure to appear before the committee in person after discovering that  the company owners have again started mining sand in Lwera without a permit from NEMA.

The MPs now want immediate suspension of Aqua world company activities and cancellation of its permit obtained from National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and they were furious why Pastor Kakande did not turn up for the meeting.

The committee was directed last month by Parliament to investigate what MPs saw as irregular activities involving big names in sand mining activities with threats of depleting the ecosystem like fish and Lake Victoria itself.

Sand mining.

MPs on the committee are concerned  that while Aqua World Company, an investment belonging to Pastor Samuel Kakande of the Synagogue Church of All Nations obtained a permit to carry out fishing by establishing  fish ponds around Lake Victoria, the company instead went into the business of rice growing and sand mining.

The district womanMP for Kyankwanzi district Anna Maria Nankabirwa queried Aqua world owners on why the country does not see the fish produced by this company since the last two years when they promised to start production.

She noted that when Aqua world was given license for fish farming they instead diverted to sand mining.

Ora MP Lawrence Biyika Songa argued that Sand mining in the lake is not a good activity because it disturbs the ecosystem especially disturbing the places where the fish lay their eggs.