By Witness Radio team.
A new wave of industrial tree plantation projects rapidly expands across Africa, significantly impacting local lives and livelihoods. Investors have continued to pour large sums of money into these plantations for carbon credits, timber, and other business projects. As companies seek more land for expansion, the burden often falls on communities whose land is targeted to host the project. This practice, known as ‘land grabbing, ‘involves the large-scale acquisition of land by investors, often at the expense of local communities.
Ugandan communities are among those hardest hit by the effects of these investments. Witness Radio Uganda’s investigation has uncovered a pressing issue: over 2000 people living in more than 10 villages have been evicted by a Taiwanese tree-planting company in the Mubende district. This situation demands immediate attention and action.
Quality Parts Uganda Limited, incorporated in 2000, operates plantations of pine and eucalyptus trees on grabbed land in Mubende district, southwestern Uganda.
The company is currently owned by Taiwanese investor Chang Shu-mu, commonly known as Martin Chang, and his wife, Anna Kyoheirwe. According to Witness Radio’s findings, Chang’s wife, Anna Kyoheirwe, owns 55 percent of the shareholding of the Quality Parts Uganda Limited company, while Chang owns the rest, 45 percent.
Initially founded in November 2000 by four individuals—Chang Shu-mu, Teng Chien Hwa, Yang Tien Won, and Phillip K.T. Chang. Quality Parts Uganda Limited underwent a leadership change in 2009. That year, the company appointed Anna Kyoheirwe as a new director, replacing the trio of Teng Chien Hwa, Yang Tien Won, and Phillip K.T. Chang.
Quality Parts Uganda Limited is also the Ugandan distributor of a Taiwanese company called TPI Bearings, which makes various ball bearings used in multiple industries, including automotive and household appliances.
Since 2011, when the company entered the land, more than 2590 hectares belonging to thousands of local farmers have been forcefully taken, and the investors continue to expand their boundaries, targeting more land.
The land taken so far has been hosting eleven (11) villages: Butoro, Kyedikyo, Nakasozi, Namayindi, Kitebe, Kisiigwa, Namagadi, Mukiguluka, Busaabala, Ngabano, and Kicucuulo, located in Maduddu and Butoloogo sub-counties, Mubende district.
Eighty-four (84%) percent of the Ugandan population still lives in rural areas, and agriculture remains the primary source of income and the main pathway out of poverty for most Ugandans.
Agriculture is the backbone of Uganda’s economy, employing about 70% of the population and contributing around 25% of the country’s GDP.
Local farmers, who were found lawfully occupying and cultivating their land to grow food for their families, to be able to send their children to school, and to meet basic needs, have been unfairly targeted. Dozens have been framed as criminals and are now languishing in prisons, including Muyinayina government prison. The investors have criminalized their garden tools and pieces of land to make profits, leaving them in a dire situation.
Decent living has become a serious challenge as victims of a land grab cannot find houses to stay in, no land to grow food for their families, and children have since dropped out of school.
We urge you to join us in this campaign to hold Chang Shu-mu, the owner of Quality Parts Limited, and his wife, Anna Kyoheirwe, responsible for gross human rights abuses. Your involvement is crucial in bringing about accountability and justice in this situation.
