The Award Ceremony

The inaugural National Environment Sustainability Awards (NESA) was a well-attended event held on June 28th, 2024, from 4:30 pm to 9:00 pm at the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala, by invitation only.

Awards were given in five sectors: Manufacturing, Waste Management, Petroleum, Non-state Actors, Lead Agencies, and Media Groups.

A total of 20 awardees each walked away with an accolade, while all nominees received certificates of recognition. The award ceremony attracted over 300 guests, including dignitaries from government ministries, departments, media houses, company representatives, NEMA staff, and other invited guests.

Notable attendees included Rt. Hon. Rukia Isanga Nakadama, Third Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda, who represented the guest of honour, Rt. Hon. Robina Nabbanja, Prime Minister of Uganda, along with the board of directors of NEMA, the Executive Director of NEMA, and the keynote speaker, Mr. Japhet Katto, a Corporate Governance Consultant.

While at the event, the Executive Director, Akankwasah Barirega, PhD, in his speech, stated that “as we recognize contributions made by individuals, organisations and communities who are involved in environmental sustainability in Uganda, today is not only a day to celebrate but reflect as we honour achievements of recipients tonight, we must also remind ourselves of the pressing environment challenges that we’ve got in place as nation”. In a communication from the keynote speaker, Mr. Katto quoted the famous Kenyan author Wangari Mathai saying “you cannot protect the environment unless you empower the people.” 

Outcome of the Award

The award was well-received, with high levels of engagement from stakeholders both in person and online, garnering over 16 million post impressions on NEMA’s Twitter account. The event was broadcasted on national television channels such as Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, NBS, and NTV, and covered in national newspapers like The New Vision and Daily Monitor thus a wider attention and coverage was given to the even.

Many individuals, companies have expressed interest in participating in the competition in the subsequent award ceremonies to come.

In the future, the “Excellence Endorsement” will be added, which was previously removed due to the need for long-term monitoring and consistency in environmental compliance. As systems have changed, there was lack of long-term records on compliance.

To ensure inclusivity, more categories such as education and agricultural institutions shall be added in future.

The list of winners, nominees, criteria, and categories can be found on page 4 below.