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DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Civil Society Petitions U.S, British Governments Over Kiryandongo Evictions

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A look of anguish covers their faces, some break down in tears as they reminisce the events that led to their forceful eviction from a 13-square-mile chunk of land in Kiryandongo district.

The evictions that started on Christmas day in 2017 have left more than 30,000 families homeless after three plantation farmers – Kiryandongo Sugar Ltd, Agilis Partners, and Great Seasons Ltd took ownership of land that the government had originally allocated to Nyamalebe Farmers Association.

“We have petitioned several government ministries and departments including Parliament, we have been to courts and State House but no one seems to care about our plight,” John Isingoma, the chairman of Nyamutende village told a group of rights activists that visited the area on March 12.

The activists were drawn from Food Rights Alliance, International Accountability Project, GRAIN and Witness Radio which taking the lead in pursuing a litigation process against the government and the investors whom they accuse of rights violations.

The land in question is part of the 37.8 square miles of land, originally registered under the Bunyoro Ranching Scheme but allocated to landless people in 1997 under the ranches restructuring program that began in 1990.

It is part of what was formerly registered as Nyamakere and Kibeka Central Forest Reserves.

According to a June 16, 2014 letter by the then State Minister for Environment, Flavia Nabugere to the Prime Minister, the decision to allocate the forest reserves to the landless people was reached after an assessment that proved that human settlement was a better option than having ranches along the River Nile Basin.

This was the position of the relevant government Ministries, Kiryandongo district local government and backed by a cabinet and Parliamentary approval especially after the government found the same land suitable for the resettlement of the 2011 Bududa landslide victims.

Behind the scenes, the district leadership entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kafu Sugar Ltd to take over the land for sugarcane growing.

The locals ran to the High Court in Masindi to the challenge the MOU and for an injunction to the activities of the sugarcane growers on the land.

The suit has remained in the court shelves while the Asian directors of Kafu Sugar Ltd incorporated another company in the names of Kiryandongo Sugar Ltd that went ahead with the sugarcane growing program.

MINISTERS FIGHT

Kiryandongo Sugar Ltd moved to take possession of the land after a November 16, 2017 letter by then Lands minister, Betty Amongi, addressed to the Kiryandongo district leadership, telling them that the Uganda Land Commission had allocated ranches numbers 23, 28, 29 and 30 to the sugarcane growers.

She reported that Museveni had approved the allocation while other private holders of the ranches had sold their stake to other investors.

Agilisi Partners from the Cayman Islands paid more than Shs 7.7 billion to take possession of 2600 hectares (four square miles) of land to cultivate simsim, soybean, and maize while another five square miles of land is held by a coffee-growing company, Great Seasons Ltd.

“In respect of the above, the resident district commissioner [RDC] and the district leadership are instructed to assist in all ways possible the owners of the specified ranches to amicably negotiate and settle any disputes with the legal tenants on the subject properties In accordance with the relevant land laws,” Amongi wrote.

Her letter was in protest of an earlier letter by the State Minister for Lands, Persis Namuganza that favoured the tenants against the interests of the investors.

“The issue of Kiryandongo ranches is before cabinet and His Excellency the President guided that a clear government program be drawn to come up with projects that will be established in these ranches, and also guided that all title [deeds] that were acquired on the same land be canceled, and those who purport to have bought [the land] be arrested because these are government ranches,” Namuganza’s November 7, 2017 letter to the Kiryandongo RDC partly reads.

Amongi told the Kiryandongo leaders to disregard Namuganza’s letter because it was “bound to cause legal suits” against the government.

While Namuganza relied on what transpired in the cabinet, Amongi acted upon Museveni’s July 17, 2017 letter in response to hers written on May 15, 2017, requesting for presidential approval to lease the Kiryandongo ranches to Kiryandongo Sugar Ltd.

REGRETS

What is so hurting for Joyce Bududu Tayebwa is that the evictions started a year after she had mobilized the locals to give Museveni a 100 percent score in the 2016 presidential elections.

“I feel ashamed that Museveni is doing this to us; it hurts me so much that for all this time, I have been working for NRM but Museveni found no difficulties in deploying his soldiers to inflict all sorts of atrocities on us,” a teary Badudu said.

Unlike others who were resettled on the land, Badudu was born here in 1975. Her mother, Stella Kamwoshe looked on as her daughter narrated their ordeal.

Kamwoshe now sleeps by the roadside under tarpaulin covers as she keeps watch over her herd of about 30 heads of cattle.

Attempts by the Kiryandongo district leaders to get her back on her land, and for her cattle to access her valley dam have not yielded any fruit.

“I blame Museveni for the scars on my body because it is him who sent the army to shoot at us, beat us, raze our homes and kill our animals,” Badudu said.

ONLINE CAMPAIGN

The CSOs led by Witness radio have in the meantime launched an online campaign urging the governments of the UK, Netherlands and the United States to freeze their support to the companies involved in the evictions over human rights violations.

The CSOs put the number of victims at more than 30,000 families that have suffered violations such as the use of excessive force, illegal arrest, and detention, harassment, intimidation, demolition of schools, worship centers and homes.

Source: The Witness

DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Mityana district police rounded up and arbitrarily arrested over 50 Kikuube PAPs to block them from meeting Uganda’s Prime Minister.

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By Witness Radio team

Two (2) community land rights defenders and 68 projects-affected persons from Kikuube district including children have been rounded up and arrested by Mityana district Police, Witness Radio has learned.

The community group led by Fred Mbambali and Ahumuza Busingye, were arrested from City Healing Church in Mityana Municipality, Mityana district. They were arrested on the orders of Mityana District Police Commander, Mr. Hasunira Ahmed, without being informed of the reasons for the arrest.

To seek justice and reclaim their grabbed land, the community decided to journey from the Kikuube district on Saturday, 2nd March 2024. Their objective was to petition Uganda’s Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Robinah Nabanja, to intervene in grievances concerning forced evictions from their land and their unsuccessful attempts to regain ownership of their land that was grabbed by the officials of the Prime minister’s office for Kyangwali resettlement camp.

“On Friday, we departed from Kikuube district to Kakumiro intending to meet the Prime Minister. We aimed to convey the challenges we are facing following the unlawful seizure of our land. We sought her intervention to help us regain ownership, especially since many offices that were approached have not helped end our misery. Unfortunately, upon our arrival, we discovered she was in preparations to leave her residence. Instead, she instructed her private security team to escort us to her party’s offices (National Resistance Movement, NRM) in the Kakumiro district, assuring us that she would meet with us there. But she did not come back.” Mr. Mbambali Fred, one of the group leaders told Witness Radio.

Little did the affected community members know that their stay at the offices would be short-lived. Initially, they were welcomed by the security officers at the party offices, but their situation took a turn when the District security committee of Kakumiro led by the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Mr. Matovu David and the District Police Commander (DPC) in the area Mr. Niyonzima Morris visited and questioned them about the reasons for their visit.

Subsequently, PAPs explained that they had been directed to wait at the offices by the Prime Minister. Despite their explanation, the Committee was skeptical and held an emergency meeting to resolve that Kikuube PAPs should leave the premises. The committee stated that the issue raised was not within the mandate of the Kakumiro district and thereafter, were asked to relocate to a different location, not within Kakumiro.

The stern Kakumiro district leaders directed the group to depart and proceed to the Office of the Prime Minister in Kampala for their meeting with her.

Shortly after being chased, they proceeded to Kampala via Mityana road, but PAPs sought to rest at one of the churches in the Mityana district. As soon as they occupied the church, Mityana district raided the premises, arrested all of them, and took them to Mityana Central Police Station, claiming that PAPs were posing a threat to the community.

“We were rounded up and arrested without being given any opportunity to explain ourselves. They didn’t even inform us of the reason for our arrest. We were kept at the police for nearly 12 hours without food. Both children and elders were starving, and the children even reached the point of crying because we were not allowed to move. It’s a double punishment to us because we haven’t committed any offense,” Ahumuza Busingye, another defender, told Witness Radio.

They were cautioned and later released without charges.

The Mityana District Police Commander, Mr. Hasunira Ahmed confirmed the arrest, stating that people neighboring the church had lodged complaints with the police about unknown individuals with a large amount of luggage occupying their premises. This led the police to arrest them.

“We received complaints about these individuals occupying a particular church, which posed a potential threat because they hadn’t obtained permission to stay there and didn’t possess a letter authorizing their movement to their destination. That’s why we intervened with an arrest, as many of them looked like rebels,” stated the Mityana District Police Commander.

PAPs arrested are part of the larger group of over 90,000 people evicted between 2013 and 2019 in 29 villagers by the office of the Prime minister (OPM) to give their land to the refugees in Katikala and Bukinda in Kyangwali district.

The community was evicted by officials led by Charles Bafaki from the Office of the Prime Minister, accompanied by the police and Uganda People Defence Forces (UPDF), from their land measuring 36 square kilometers located in various villages, including Bukinda A and B, Bukinda 2, Kavule, Bwizibwera A and B, Kyeya A and B, Nyaruhanga, Kabirizi, Nyamigisa A and B, and Katoma, all in Kyangwali sub-county for the Kyangwali refugee resettlement camp.

Despite receiving various directives, including two from the President, instructing the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) officials to facilitate the return of the residents to their land, they have chosen to turn a deaf ear and disregard the implementation of these directives.

In 2016 and 2018, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni issued directives to resettle PAPs back to their ancestral land, but unfortunately, these directives remained unimplemented.

In 2021, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja visited the victims and promised action, which, as of the time of writing this article, it’s yet to be realized.

On March 1, 2022, Minister of Relief, Disaster Preparedness, and Refugees, Mr. Hilary Onek, accused the victims of encroaching on government land. He also criticized local leaders and officials for potential involvement in stage-managed evictions.

In 2022, approximately 1,000 of the evictees camped at the office of the Kikuube Resident District Commissioner, Amlan Tumusiime, demanding his intervention to help them return to their land. Unfortunately, this intervention did not materialize. Some of the evictees sought shelter in temporary shelters provided by Florence Natumanya, the Kikuube Woman MP, and Francis Kazini, the Buhaguzi Member of Parliament, while others continued to search for livelihoods in other parts of the country.

“People are suffering immensely, and we are witnessing deaths without having a proper place to bury our loved ones. No one is coming to our rescue, and it’s heartbreaking to see our children deprived of education, as they are the future of tomorrow,” expressed the community members in an interview with Witness Radio.

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DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Breaking: A community land rights defender in the Kiryandongo district is charged with assault and released on a cash bail.

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By Witness Radio team.

Magistrate Court sitting in Kiryandongo district has released a community land rights defender on a cash bail. He was arbitrarily arrested, and detained Thursday, February 29th, 2024, for attempting to open a criminal case against Great Seasons SMC Limited workers for erasing his 3 acres of land with ready-to-harvest cash crops.

Mwawula Fred’s release came after spending five (5) days in detention. Mr. Mwawula is a community land rights defender based in Kisalanda village, Mutunda parish, Kiryandongo district help to mobilize communities to resist forced land grabbing by multinational companies in Kiryandongo district.

The prosecution alleges that Mwawula assaulted workers of the Great Seasons SMC Company Limited who were in his garden.

The Penal Code Act, Cap 120, states that any person who commits an assault occasioning actual bodily harm commits a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for five years on conviction.

On February 22nd, 2024, Witness Radio ran an article about four Great Seasons SMC Limited Company workers with a numberless tractor who had invaded and erased Mwawula’s garden with crops ready for harvest such as maize, green pepper, and tomatoes in Kisalanda village.

When he (Mwawula) went to Kiryandongo Central Police Station to open up criminal cases against the company, he was instead arbitrarily arrested, detained by local police, and preferred an assault charge before appearing before the court.

While granting the defender bail, Her Worship Amweno Hellen released Mr. Mwawula on a cash bail of 700,000 Ugx (Equivalent to 178.47 USD) while the sureties conditioned a non-cash bail.

The defender will report back to Court on the 13th/March/ 2024.

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DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Breaking: A community land rights defender in Kiryandongo, who was arrested for attempting to open a case against company workers at Kiryandongo Central police for erasing his garden, is facing assault charges.

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By Witness Radio team.

Kiryandongo Central police have preferred an assault charge against a community land rights defender who was arbitrarily arrested and detained Thursday, February 29th, 2024, for attempting to open a criminal charge against workers of Great Seasons SMC Limited.

On February 22nd, 2024, four Great Seasons SMC Limited Company workers with a tractor invaded and erased Mr. Mwawula Fred’s garden with crops ready for harvest such as maize, green pepper, and tomatoes. The workers used a numberless company tractor to destroy the defender’s 3 acres of crops.

According to the police charge sheet, Mwawula allegedly assaulted workers of the Great Seasons SMC Company Limited who were in his garden.

Defender’s lawyers said Mwawula bravely tried to intervene to stop the destruction of his crops by company workers, but they (workers) callously persisted with their destructive actions, disregarding the defender’s pleas.

The lawyers also stated that company workers made off with sacks full of maize belonging to their client.

The Penal Code Act, Cap 120, states that any person who commits an assault occasioning actual bodily harm commits a misdemeanor and is liable to imprisonment for five years on conviction.

Mwawula, on several occasions, has been in and out of prison on several charges over eight times for mobilizing local communities to resist land grabbing and forceful evictions by multinational companies in the Kiryandongo district. However, the court has dismissed all of them for want of prosecution.

Frequently, the gardens belonging to smallholder farmers, activists, and defenders have been targeted and vandalized by Great Seasons SMC Company Limited, demanding that the local community should vacate what the company asserts as its land. In a distressing incident last December 2023, many defenders’ gardens were set ablaze by workers of the company, resulting in a prolonged famine within projected affected families.

The defender is yet to be produced in court to answer to assault charges.

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