Two pastors attached to Nkumba Miracle Centre in Katabi Town Council ,Wakiso district have been remanded for polluting the environment with noise.
The suspects are Pastor Edward Mukisa and Herman Ssebunje from Bendegere village in Katabi Town Council in Wakiso district.
They were arrested on in a crackdown on Friday last week following numerous complaints from the public.
According to the National Environmental Management Authority, NEMA, the pastors contravened sections of the National Environment Act, 2019.
The charges include “failure to undertake an environmental and social impact assessment, engaging in activities that result in or aggravate pollution, discharging and emitting pollutants into the environment, failure to implement regulatory measures, orders, notices and environmental easements.
They appeared before the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate on charges of noise pollution and pleaded not guilty.
The pastors face a fine not exceeding fifty thousand currency points, the equivalent of Shillings one billion, or a maximum jail term of 15 years, or both.
NEMA’s senior public relations officer, Tony Acidria, explains that the suspects were arrested for being notorious noise polluters.
“They are repeat offenders because the noise levels when measured were above the permissible level of 60 decibels during the day and 40 decibels in the night for places of worship in residential areas.” She says
The law defines daytime as running from 6 am to 10 pm and night hours as running from 10 pm to 6 am. The National Environmental (Noise Standards and Control) Regulations, 2003 defines noise pollution as “the release of uncontrolled noise that is likely to cause danger to human beings or damage to the environment.”
