By Witness Radio Team
A festive holiday is happily waited for by many people in every corner of the world. It’s a period for merry-making and family get together. In Africa, particularly in Uganda, most people travel from towns to their ancestral homes to spend that time with family members, make parties and meet longtime childhood friends.
For a community at Kicuculo village, Kiruuma Sub-county, in Mubende district was a different experience. The much-awaited season was marred with violence, anxiety, and death threats from Formasa Tree Planting company targeting the community’s land to expand its commercial trees business.
Formosa is a Chinese-owned tree-planting company planting pine and eucalyptus trees in the Mubende district, Central Uganda.
Ugly incidents started happening on December 7th, 2022 in the wee hours of that night. A group of over 20 casual workers linked to Formasa invaded homesteads, started cutting people with pangas, and beat everyone found in their houses accompanying them with threats to kill them if they don’t leave the land.
Three people were hacked with pangas and clobbered with sticks by armed company laborers in an attempt to force them off the land they have lived on for decades.
While more than seven (7) people got hospitalized after sustaining deep cut wounds during the scuffle. Mr. Byakatonda David who sustained a deep cut wound on the head narrates his ordeal. “At around 11 pm, I heard my neighbor crying for help, and decided to respond. On reaching there, I found a group of armed workers from Formosa destroying his house while others were beating him. When one of them saw me, “he said, he is also among the people on our wanted list”.
“I wanted to run but was immediately caught by the rogues. They beat me and left me unconscious with deep cuts on my head. I got back to my normal senses admitted and bandaged at Maduddu Health Center II.” The father of 13 revealed this in his interview with the Witness Radio team.
According to his relatives, they found him lying in a pool of blood and rushed him to the hospital. “We waited for someone who had gone to the neighborhood to respond to an alarm, but he wasn’t returning. Due to fear, we searched only to find him bleeding on his head and lying in blood. I called the chairman on the phone who helped with a BodaBoda motorcycle to rush him to the hospital.” His wife revealed.
Violent forced evictions in the Mubende district occurred despite a government ban on evictions during the festive seasons. The lands minister, honorable Judith Nabakooba on December 2022, ordered that no family should be evicted during the festive holiday. She directed police and Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) to respect the order.
Mr. Byamukama Yuda, an area chairman of Kicuculo village told Witness Radio that Formosa company is a threat in their village because of continuous and violent attacks on his people for refusing to surrender their land to the company to grow commercial trees.
“Ever since the company started operations in 2012, the company under the protection of the police has been grabbing people’s land, beating them, raping women and young girls, cutting them, and causing arrests to community land rights defenders. Over 2500 hectares of people’s land have been grabbed and rendered families landless. And for only 2022, over 100 people have been terrorized by angry company workers.” He added.
He further said company workers seem to have powerful people protecting them and respect or fear no one. Adding that on Christmas, a group of workers went to his home and threatened him to be castrated in front of his wife and children.
The same company in 2017 caused the arbitrary arrest, and imprisonment of 5 community land rights defenders for 15 years and 35 years on murder and other charges. The five among others include; Paul Sinamenya, Richard Ssemombwe, Fenehansi Kaberuka, Esau Hategeka, Godfrey Bukenya, Yonnah Ssebanenya, and Sserugo Sam Ssemigo
Witness Radio has since appealed against the conviction on grounds that the evidence relied on by the court was doctored.
When we contacted the Company Manager, Ms. Annah Kyoheirwe, she declined to discuss the allegations. She said she was busy attending a meeting and hung up.
