By Witness Radio Team

President Yoweri Museveni pledged to compensate Kiryandongo Sugar Limited forced eviction victims shortly after the Masindi High court fixed a hearing date.

Today, the 30th May 2022, Witness Radio lawyers, representing the victim community are in court as the hearing of the case kicks off.

A victim community that is part of a bigger group of 35,000 people being forced off their land by several multinationals, has suffered unabated violence and gross human rights violations/abuses orchestrated by government soldiers that grab land on behalf of the company.

Since 2017, a year after the company arrived in the area, human rights violations/abuses ranging from abduction, torture, and inhuman and degrading treatment, keeping people in kangaroo detention centers, rape, defilement, demolition of houses, cutting down food plantations for community members, demolishing of schools and private health centers to plowing gardens have been committed against local communities.

Kiryandongo Sugar Limited is one of the many companies owned by the Rai Group of Mauritius. The dynasty owns several other companies in DR Congo, Kenya and Malawi, and Uganda. A dynasty owns companies such as West Kenya Sugar (which owns Kabras Sugar), Timsales Limited, Menengai Oil Refineries, RaiPly, and Webuye Panpaper.

In Uganda, the Rai Group of Mauritius owns Nile Ply limited, Kinyara Sugar Limited, and Masindi Sugar Limited among others and one of its directors is a shareholder of a British Virgin Islands company, which was listed in the Panama Papers database recently.

The same company has fraudulently gotten a license to replace part of Bugoma natural forest with sugarcane plantation.

Mrs. Anna Maria Mukabaryanga, a mother of 5 is one of the hundreds of victims that have tested the wrath of the army. She sustained serious injuries during forced evictions.

“I was sternly beaten by Uganda People’s Defense Forces soldiers (UPDF) on my back while I was pregnant. They were very many and eventually got a miscarriage and lost my twins. I did not get enough treatment since I did not have money to cater for the bills. I have visible scars and I cannot afford to do any work due to severe pain. It is hurting that I continue to suffer when the foreign company is reaping big on grabbed land. Whereas I lost everything during the evictions, I was not compensated nor treated. I am deeply suffering up to now.” The 32-year-old recounts.

Although Anna Maria and her community have been tormented by forceful and violent evictions, they were blocked to open a case with the area police against the company.

“The police officers attached to Kiryandongo and Kimogola police units refused us to open cases of criminal trespass and destruction of property against the company. When we went to report, we were threatened with arrests, which caused us to abandon our fight for justice,” Anna revealed.

The area Woman Member of Parliament, Hon. Hellen Max Kahunde said her office had been receiving several complaints of forced evictions, human rights violations by armed soldiers guarding Kiryandongo Sugar Company, and the little compensation offered to them.

“People were beaten, arrested, tortured, and forcefully evicted by the company on the land that they called home. People have visible scars resulting from the torture by the army on behalf of the investors. Can you imagine even the company went ahead to deduct the already undervalued properties by 40%? It’s very unfair,” she added.

While commissioning the $60 million equivalent to Uganda Shillings 216 billion, factory last week in Kimogora village in Kiryandongo, President Museveni said that the government will compensate the people despite encroachment on government ranch land.

In his speech quoted by one of Uganda’s dailies, the Daily monitor on Monday 16th, Museveni said, “The squatters had encroached on government ranch land and were not bona fide occupants but are our people. Bonafide occupants are those who had stayed on the land before 1983, but these came much later. The NRM government, however, we will compensate them.”

In 2020, the Kiryandongo affected victims through their lawyers from Witness Radio lodged a case at Masindi High court against the Kiryandongo Sugar Limited over forced eviction and committing human rights abuses/violations. The victims are seeking compensation and to be returned to their land.

The Masindi resident Judge Hon Jessie Byaruhanga fixed the hearing of Miscellaneous Cause Number 12 of 2020 of Otyaluk Ben Wilson and 8 others vs. Kiryandongo Sugar Company