Lake Katwe is about 550 kilometres west of Kampala, in Kasese
District Kabatoro/Katwe Town Council. It is one of about 52 explosion crater
lakes found in
Queen Elizabeth national park Uganda.
The salt mining lake is the chief producer of salt in Uganda. It was
formed as a result of volcanic eruption about 10,000 years ago. The lake is
about 9km wide and the deepest point is six feet. There is a raised settlement
near the lake which people who came from neighbouring areas to buy salt called
“aha katwe”. It is from this that the name Katwe was derived.
It is uniquely partitioned into various “plots” called salt pans. The pans
are square like, measuring nine feet wide and two metres deep. They are dug
using hoes and demarcated using earth and pieces of wood. According to
Richardson Ouma, an employee at Katwe Tourism Information Centre, the lake has
more than 1,000 salt pans though only 800 are registered by Katwe Town Council.
Ouma says some salt pans have existed since the 14th century. There are locals
who own as many as 10 to 20 pans.
Cost of the salt pans
It is on rare occasions that one sells one’s pan, but in such transactions, the
price ranges from Shs800,000 to Shs2m depending on its size. Most of the pans
are inherited. In an effort to conserve the lake, no more salt pans are allowed
to be dug up. At the shoreline of the lake, grows a salt-tolerant plant specie
called Cyperus Lievitigetus.
It helps in conserving the lake by filtering impurities, such as sediments,
from the blowing wind, and rain water, running from the surrounding hills. The
grass helps to control the rate at which the impurities get into the lake.
Those who cut it use it for making mats.
There are two salt mining activities at the lake: rock salt activity and
salt winning. Rock salt activity is done in the main lake by only men whereas
salt winning is carried out in the salt pans by both sexes. The salt in the
pans forms by a process called fractional crystallisation. The formed salt
crystals are scrapped from the bottom of the pan using a curved iron sheet
locally called Akabaati. This activity is only carried out during the dry
season. This salt is ready for consumption. Its difference from the packed salt
we buy from shops is that it has bigger crystals and is low on iodine. 100kgs of
this salt goes for Shs40,000.
Rock activity is carried out in the main lake. Beneath the lake, is a
“mother rock” of sodium chloride. This type of salt is locally called mahonde
or ekisula . It forms at the bottom of the main lake by a process called cementation.
The major markets for this salt are Rwanda
and Congo.
This salt acts as a catalyst in boiling dry beans, preserves hides and skins
and enhances milk production when licked by cows. It is also used in dyeing
clothes and facilitation of a process called saponification in soap making.
100kgs of rock salt is sold at Shs20,000.
The lake is also a source of a black mud called Trona which is on high
demand in Kenya.
It is converted into fertiliser and also used in making glass. salt mining,
however, has some adverse effects on people’s health and the environment.
Constatino Mbusa, who has been working at the mines for the last 10 years, says
that salt mining poses a lot of health risks but it is the urge to earn a
living that keeps him going.
“When the water enters our reproductive parts, it makes them itchy.
Instinctively, you respond by scratching yourself for relief. When you scratch,
a small wound develops which widens overtime. Since protective gears are
expensive, we wear condoms and fasten them with rubber bands to keep them from
slipping off. This way you are safe. The other problem is that most of the
activities are carried out while bending so, cases of backache are common,”
says Mbusa. A company called Smile Power Foundation from Seattle, Washington,
gave men protective gears which they used for a short period and abandoned
because they were unbearably hot to work in.
Fate of the female miners
Women are not safe either. However, most of them are shy to share the negative
health effects of engaging in salt mining. Constantino says that when the
ammonia gas from the water gets into a woman’s reproductive organs, it causes
uterus irritation and abdominal pains. The women therefore, heavily pad
themselves before entering the salt pans.
However, with the many needs waiting to be met by the meagre income they
earn, most of the women find it expensive to buy the pads. Such women opt for
pieces of cotton. In Katwe, for one to put up a house, it is advisable to use
sand from the neighbouring areas.
The sand in Katwe has a high content of sodium chloride which corrodes the
house when used for building. The iron sheets have to be galvanised or painted,
or else they get rusted. In the 1970s, Germans from a group called Thysen set
up Lake Katwe Salt Company. However, Ouma says that a few years down the road,
the sodium chloride had corroded all the pipes which the Germans had put up to
transport the salt. “It was expensive for them to bring new ones. So, they
decided to close the company,” says Richardson.
Besides salt mining, the lake is a big tourist destination for travelers interested in a uganda safari. Its visitors
include students, tourists and researchers. The peak months are June to August
and mid October to December. Visitors can only access the lake with the help of
a guide after paying a fee at Katwe Tourism Information Centre. The lake can be
reached via two routes, that is, the Mbarara – Kasese route or Mubende – Kasese
route. For one travelling by public means, the fare fluctuates between
Shs25,000 and Shs20,000.
Either route gets you to Kasese town. In the town, there are cabs which can
get you to Katwe for Shs5,000. There are a number of places of accommodation
such as Rwenzori Salama Hotel in Katunguru, Mweya Safari Lodge and
Ihamba safari lodge in Queen Elizabeth
National Park, Sandton
Hotel, Executive Inn and Silver Springs Hotel in Kasese town. There are no
hotels in Katwe though. But, there are a few fair restaurants and guest houses.
