Byehondozo and her daughter Kakako. Photos by Davis Buyondo
LYANTONDE -A family in Lyantonde is seeking to repossess its 49.05 acres of land said to be illegally occupied by the district local government for 14 years.
The contested land is located on Block 76, plot 50, Kaliiro ward ‘A’ in Kabula county. It currently houses the district administration block and other departmental offices plus other portions subdivided and allocated to different developers.
It is currently becoming a major land row since the claimant wants the district to vacate her land and compensate her for the period the have occupied it illegally.
Copies of relevant documents obtained by the New Vision indicate Joyce Byehondozo, 81, a resident of Kaliiro ‘A’ in Lyantonde town council, is the rightful owner of the land who originally possessed a title.
She was born on this land in 1939 and inherited it from her father __late Kinanigira who also inherited it from his father.
She explained that former President Apollo Milton Obote’s government took a small portion of land and put structures including a sub-county block, the house of the sub-county chief and a toilet.
Her woes date back to 1993 when Lyantonde was still under Rakai district administration. It is said that Rakai district bought the land from Byehondozo in 1993 which land it transferred to Lyantonde when it became an independent district in 2006.
But Byehondozo disputed the claim saying she did not sell her land to Rakai district or anyone as it is claimed.
She explained that after claiming her right over the disputed land, some unscrupulous district officials asked her to avail to them the duplication certificate of the title for verification.
This was done on an understanding that after the verification process the duplicate certificate of the title would be returned back to her.
However, Byehondozo did not receive her duplicate certificate of the title for her land from Rakai District as it had been agreed.
Her daughter Florence Kakako (67) and grandchildren are following up on the matter given the fact that the old lady is weak and can hardly move.
They later learnt that the then Rakai Administration registered itself at the lands office as the actual proprietor of the land without her knowledge and consent or any payment for consideration.
“Rakai district authorities fraudulently obtained the title of the land and we are treated as illegal occupants,” Kakako recounted.
In a letter dated July 17, 2018 addressed to the land commission secretariat, Muhanga and Associates, who represent the ill-fated family, it is indicated that in 2010, Lyantonde district had been entered on to the certificate of the title as the proprietor of the land.
And to their shock, Byehondozo and her family were served with a notice to vacate the land from Christopher Okumu, the Chief Administrative Officer dated June 15, 2015.
“Some claimed we were illegal occupants and they wanted us to vacate the land to pave a way for their development projects including a subdivision of plots to allocate them to different developers,” she said.
The family further holds the Lyantonde district and the Attorney General jointly liable for the continued trespass on their land and the eventual fraud in procuring the registration of the same land in their names as well as developing it illegally.
In May 2017, Byehondozo filed a claim in the High Court at Masaka intending for eviction orders against the district and the compensation.
Nevertheless, on June 30, 2017, the district and attorney general of Uganda entered their respective defence in the main suit.
Arnold Agira, Byehondozo’s son speaking to the reporters after the family camping at the CAO’s office
Statehouse intervenes
The matter came to the attention of President Yoweri Museveni. In a letter to the Lyantonde CAO, dated February 1, 2016, Flora Kiconco,
the Principal Private Secretary to President Yoweri Museveni, the matter was brought to the attention of the president who directed that the district should not interfere in Byehodozo’s occupation of land.
However, Kiconco added, this office continued to receive complaints from the complainant that the district officials had continued trespassing on her land, cultivating on it, and in the process of fencing it to deny her use.
“The purpose of this letter is to once again inform you about H.E the president’s directive and request you to ensure that Byehondozo enjoys a quiet possession of that land without any interference,” she noted. She further requested the CAO to prevail over the district officials who interfere with Byehondozo’s occupation on the said land until when the president intervenes.
Byehondozo sleeping at th CAO’s office
Temporary injunction
On February 14, 2018, Byehondozo entered a temporary injunction restraining- both parties, their agents, assignees, and others, from leasing, alienating, selling, or harassing or in any way interfering with each other’s’ occupation until the main suit is determined.
The matter was before her Worship-Beatrice Stella Atingu, the Assistant Registrar of the High Court of Uganda at Masaka.
Although the injunction was issued, the district did not halt its operations on the land. Different people were allocated portions of land for cultivation.
Last year, people who were allocated portions of land sprayed chemicals to dry the grass but Byehondozo’s family lost two cows after eating the sprayed grass.
In another letter dated February 19, 2018, Kiconco requests the Lyatonde RDC to ensure that both parties (complainant and the defendants) abide by the court order.
And last week, according to Arnold Agira, one of Byehondozo’s children, another district staff sprayed with chemicals a portion of land measuring half an acre.
He argued that they were provoked to storm the CAO’s office due to the increasing violation of the injunction.
“We honored the injunction but the district is still allocating people land. We have reached the RDC’s office, CAO, Police but no one has bothered assisting us,” he said.
However, Byehondozo’s family has appealed to Col. Edith Nakalema, the head of the Anti-Corruption Unit of State House, to investigate the corruption and increasing theft of land in Lyantonde especially their 49.05 acres which the district took.
District intervenes
A delegation of top district officials toured the land on Tuesday.
They include Catherine Kamwiine, the Resident District Commissioner, David Lubuuka, the Chief Administrative Officer, Jamal Kanyesigye, the District Police Commander, DISO- and Fred Muhangi, the Lyantonde LC5 chairperson.
Led by Kamwiine, the officials first held a closed meeting with the family members to dialogue over the longstanding grievances.
They later toured the land and halted several activities mainly farming as well as warning people who were cultivating the land illegally.
Former RDC speaks
Sulaiman Tuguragara Matojo, the former Lyantonde RDC, said that the matter came to his office and statehouse intervened and built her a new house on the land as they wait for the court decision on the matter.
He explained that his office had earlier advised the two parties to sit and agree on the compensation plan but the family wanted eviction of the district headquarters which has cost over a billion shillings to build.
He explained that the family was only paid sh11m as compensated for the portion of land measuring about half an acre which Obote’s government has occupied.
As the detrimental effects of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project intensify, hundreds of Ugandan communities are bearing the brunt of this colossal project. From forced evictions and displacements to the criminalization of project critics and now devastating flash floods, the urgency of addressing these issues is paramount. The suffering of local communities hosting the project has been exacerbated.
In Kyotera District, central Uganda, communities remain stranded as floodwaters rush into their homes and gardens, destroying their food stores and leaving families in despair. Residents attribute the cause of the floods to the ongoing construction activities related to the EACOP project.
Kyotera is one of the 10 districts that the project traverses to the port of Tanga in Tanzania; the others include Hoima, Kikuube, Kakumiro, Kyankwanzi, Gomba, Mubende, Lwengo, Sembabule, and Rakai.
The EACOP project, a 1,444km pipeline that will transport oil from Hoima in Uganda to the port of Tanga in Tanzania, has cast a wide net of impact. It has affected thousands of people, especially in local communities, leading to displacement, destruction of property and crops, and environmental hazards such as floods.
The development of oil activities in Uganda has led to several major projects supporting oil extraction, processing, and export. The proponents of these projects argue that they bring economic development and job opportunities to the region.
These include the EACOP project, the Tilenga Project operated mainly by Total Energies (with partners like CNOOC and UNOC), which covers oil fields located in Buliisa and Nwoya districts, and the Kingfisher Project, which is managed by the Chinese oil company CNOOC and is located on the southeastern shores of Lake Albert (mainly in Kikuube District). It focuses on drilling oil and setting up a central processing facility (CPF), and oil camps and access roads have been constructed to support these operations.
However, these developments have not left the communities the same. Instead of bringing only the promised prosperity, they have contributed to poverty, fear, and uncertainty among the local populations and have exacerbated the climate crisis.
It is also worth noting that activists who stand up to defend these communities face a different kind of suffering: harassment, surveillance, arrests, and even physical attacks. They have been criminalized under vague charges, often labeled as enemies of development for demanding transparency, fair compensation, and environmental protection.
For the communities in Kyotera, the construction of an access road leading to the EACOP camp in the Kyotera district, which serves as a base for project operations, blocked drainage channels, causing water to overflow into the neighboring villages.
The floods, which started last month in April, have now affected seven households in Kyakacwere village, Kakuto Subcounty, Kyotera district.
People’s houses and gardens are flooded, forcing them to look for alternative places to live, and several plantations, such as banana plantations, maize, and beans, among others, continue to be affected. The impacts have already caused dispossession to the affected communities and are likely to cause financial losses and food insecurity for smallholder farmers and their families.
Noeline Nambatya, a 47-year-old mother and a person with disability, shares her traumatic experience of waking up to a flooded house. “This has never happened to us. I found my house full of water in the morning, and several of my household items had already been destroyed. We want justice, we can’t stay in this situation. We were living peacefully, and now, because of the so-called investors, this is what we are reaping.” She revealed in an interview with the Witness Radio team.
The disaster left her home logged, her crops destroyed, and her livelihood distorted. Currently, the caretaker of eight faces immense challenges in providing for her family, including feeding and supporting them in school. The adverse situation forced her and the family to relocate to the nearby village of Muyenga.
Another affected person, Lukyamuze Paul, claims the floods have caused significant damage, including cracking houses and severely destroying crops. He holds the EACOP project responsible for the devastation, stating that when the access road leading to the EACOP camp was constructed, it blocked existing drainage channels, changing the natural water flow into people’s homes.
The environmental concerns arising from EACOP project activities, such as floods, continue to affect different project host communities. The problem was first experienced in Bulisa district in 2022 when Total Energies began the construction of the Tilenga feeder pipeline, resulting in floods that affected surrounding communities.
Patience Nabukalu, who has experienced climate-related flooding, joins protestors from around the world to deliver a letter to CEO Georges Elhedery criticising the financing of oil, gas and coal projects.
At nine years old, Patience Nabukalu was devastated when her friend, Kevin, died in severe flooding that hit their Kampala suburb, Nateete, a former wetland. Witnessing deaths and the destruction of homes and livelihoods in floods made worse by extreme rainfall has had a profound impact on her.
She decided to try to bring about change – to do what she could to amplify the voices of those in the Ugandan communities worst affected by the climate crisis.
Now 27, Nabukalu is one of several young climate activists who travelled to London this week to attend what has been predicted to be the last in-person AGM held by HSBC. They will deliver a letter to the bank’s CEO, Georges Elhedery, urging him to stop financing the expansion of oil, gas and coal projects and harmful industrial agribusiness, and to stop providing money to companies that forcibly remove people from their homes to make way for such infrastructure.
“This is an opportunity to talk to real people, not just an HSBC office,” said Nabukalu, speaking before the meeting at the Intercontinental hotel. “I will be so happy to get the chance to hand over the letter and to ask: ‘Has HSBC measured the damage they have done by financing corporations that are driving the climate crisis?’”
Nabukalu in London ahead of the protest. Photograph: Jess Midwinter/Action Aid
The letter refers to a 2023 Action Aid report, which identifies HSBC as “the largest European financier of fossil fuels in the global south”, channelling $63.5bn (£48bn) into fossil fuel activities between 2016 and 2022.
The letter to Elhedery, from young people all over the world, refers to HSBC’s plans, announced earlier this year, to review its commitment to scaling back its financing of fossil fuels.
“This has made something very clear: you value profit margins and boardroom agendas more than the lives of millions of people bearing the full brunt of your decisions,” the letter reads.
Environmentalists criticised HSBC after it delayed key parts of its climate goals by 20 years, and watered down environmental targets in a new long-term bonus plan for Elhedery that could be worth up to 600% of his salary. In February, the lender said it was reviewing its net zero emissions policies and targets – which are split between its own operations and those of the companies it finances – after realising its clients and suppliers had “seen more challenges” in cutting their carbon footprint than expected.
The activists’ letter asks “that you not only stand by your commitments to end your support for the fossil fuel industry in line with what the science requires, but also put an end to all lending and underwriting for corporations involved in fossil fuel expansion”.
Nabukalu will also urge the bank to stop funding corporations that are backing the east African crude oil pipeline from Uganda to Tanzania. Once constructed, the pipeline would produce an estimated 379m tonnes of CO2 over 25 years. The main backers of the multimillion-dollar pipeline are the French oil company TotalEnergies and the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).
Nabukalu, who has visited people living along the proposed route, said: “This pipeline is already causing damage even before its construction. Thousands and thousands of people have been displaced. They were promised land titles, but have none. Their livelihoods have been sabotaged. They cannot build agriculture, the water table is low, so they have little access to water.
“These people should be at the centre of the bank’s decisions.”
“We will talk to HSBC and ask them to stop financing fossil fuels that are driving the climate crisis,” said Nabukalu. “By continuing to finance TotalEnergies they are destroying our future.”
A report published in April found that those displaced along the pipeline’s proposed route had reported being inadequately compensated and rehoused.
Some western banks have declined to fund it after pressure from a coalition of organisations and community groups.
A spokesperson for HSBC said: “We follow a clear set of sustainability risk policies which support our ambition to align the financed emissions in our portfolio to net zero by 2050. We do not comment on client relationships.”
In January, a joint team of soldiers and police evicted more than 400 local people who had been occupying part of the 64 square kilometre Maruzi ranch in Apac District. The most affected were actually residents of Acam-cabu Village.
Acam-cabu Village is no longer a recognised administrative unit in northern Uganda’s Apac District after it was erased from the map of Uganda following a land dispute.
Since this area is now excluded from the list of existing villages in the country, a total of 1,040 people living in 180 households there cannot now benefit from any government programmes and projects.
Mr Bosco Wacha, the LCI chairman of Acam-cabu, said the village disappeared from the map of Uganda around 2018.
“Since 2018, I have not been getting my salary and the people who have been isolated because of this confusion are suffering,” Mr Wacha said on the phone on Thursday, May 1, 2025.
He also said all the households in the lost village are at risk of extreme hunger and starvation because the government has stopped them from engaging in any farming or economic activities.
“There is a severe shortage of food here because we have been stopped from farming. We are not able now to take our children to school and we lack access to healthcare,” said Mr Joe Olwock, the area chairman of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.
Mr Felix Odongo Ococ, Akokoro LC3 chairman, said that although the government doesn’t recognise Acam-cabu as a village in Uganda, during the National Population and Housing Census, 2024, enumerators went and counted people there.
Data obtained from the local leadership of this isolated administrative unit shows that there are 180 households in Acam-cabu. Of these, at least 14 households have one member each and eight households have eight members.
However, a household regarded as number eight in the document that was reportedly sent to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) has the highest membership, standing at 11 people. This household is followed by number 158, which has 10 members, and household number eight has a total of nine members.
Dr Kenneth Omona, the Minister of Northern Uganda, previously said he would meet the leadership of Apac to try to iron out all issues affecting the community in the district.
In January, a joint team of soldiers and police evicted more than 400 local people who had been occupying part of the 64 square kilometre Maruzi ranch in Apac District. The most affected were actually residents of Acam-cabu Village.
The squatters, numbering over 1,500 occupied the said land around 1995. They had repeatedly ignored various eviction notices, saying the land belongs to their fore grandfathers.
In September 2015, the High Court in Lira issued an interim order blocking Apac District leadership from evicting the affected residents. The district then resorted to using the army and police to evict the squatters.
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has established a military detachment to man security of the area.
