The Director of Parliament’s Communications and Public Affairs, Chris Obore has been lauded for his Masters thesis titled: “NEMA board of directors’ practices on wetland protection in Uganda: A case of Kinawataka wetland”.
The thesis was marked the best in the School of Civil Service and Public Administration at Uganda Management Institute last year.
Obore presented the thesis on Wednesday at the 8th RSEP international conference on review of social issues and economic studies in Barcelona, Spain.
Dr James Nkata, the Executive Director of UMI and Obore’s lecturers, Prof Gerald Karyeija and Dr Maria Barifaijo were in attendance.
“We thank you Chris for ably presenting the paper to such an international audience of intellectuals. We have to grow you in the academia. You should have some teaching hours at UMI,” said Dr Nkata while commenting about the presentation.
The paper received wide acclamation for not broadening its focus to National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) as an organization but rather the governance practices of its Directors.
At the Nakawa based Uganda Management Institute, Obore was pursuing a Masters Degree in Public Policy and Governance.
“I set out to find out why wetlands continue to be degraded yet we have all the laws and an institution purposed to protect them,” Obore told SoftPower News when asked what informed the choice of his thesis.
“I wanted to look into the practices of the Board of directors who are key in corporate governance,” he said.
Obore’s professional background is in journalism having attained a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communication from Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU). He proceeded to write for the Daily Monitor initially as a reporter and later specializing in investigative stories.
His thesis on wetland protection coincides with increasing depreciation of the wetland cover in Uganda for human activity and urbanization, despite being gazetted by law as protected areas. Parts of Kampala and Wakiso have been the most affected, according to the findings of the ongoing commission of inquiry into land matter.
With mounting pressure and shocking discoveries from the Justice Catherine Bamugemereire Commission regarding the private ownership of wetlands, NEMA in June was forced to cancel more than 600 land titles that were acquired in wetlands around Kampala after the 1995 Constitution.
Section 36 of the National Environment Act, 1995, provides for protection of wetlands.
