Editor, In the month of August 2025, New Vision ran an article under the title, ‘Murchison Falls Wildlife Safe from oil activities.’ The article indicated that experts sponsored by TotalEnergies, Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Uganda Conservation Society, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Makerere University carried out a survey to find out whether oil activities have had an impact on Murchison Falls Wildlife.
At the end of the survey, the experts made a conclusion that oil activities under the Tilenga project in Buliisa and Nwoya districts have not impacted the movement and well-being of wildlife around Murchison Falls National Park, yet the local communities living around the park have been grappling with elephant invasions.
This kind of study just wants to blindfold citizens of Uganda and the general public because wildlife such as elephants started invading people’s homes and farmlands in early 2022, shortly after large sections of bushes were cleared in 2021 to pave the way for oil activities inside Murchison Falls National Park.
The local leaders together with community people of Buliisa district say that what was once a harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife has turned into a nightmare because before the advent of oil activities, wildlife such as elephants rarely attacked local communities. However, with the commencement of oil exploration, particularly oil drilling in the park, human – wildlife conflicts increased and the consequences have become dire.
Wildlife such as elephants have been invading local communities destroying crops hence causing food insecurity in the area. For-instance, in 2022, it was reported by the media that more than twenty elephants from Murchison Falls National Park strayed into Bugana, Kicoke and Nganzi villages in Bugana sub-county and destroyed several acres of crops including maize, beans, cassava, sorghum, banana plantations and others.
Sadly, some people have been killed while others sustained injuries after being attacked by the elephants which escape from the park due to the vibrations caused by the oil activities that include the drilling of oil wells. A total of seven people including four women and three men in Buliisa district were killed by elephants between 2023 and 2025.
Though there are evidences that oil activities have contributed to the increased human-wildlife conflicts in Buliisa district, TotalEnergies still informs Ugandan citizens and the entire public that oil activities under the Tilenga project have not impacted Murchison Falls Wildlife.
To satisfy Ugandans, the government should commission an independent study to investigate the impacts of oil activities on wildlife in Murchison Falls National Park and find out why, there are increased human-wildlife conflicts in areas near the park.
By Hildah Nsimiire, an environmentalist
hildansimiire@gmail.com
