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Livelihood, Land And Investment

Govt told to urgently resettle people evicted from national parks

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Cross Culture Foundation of Uganda’s Fredrick Nsibambi addresses the media flanked by Joel Cox Ojuko of Equal Opportunity Commission at Media Centre in Kampala. Photo by Ramadhan Abbey

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and other human rights defenders have called for the urgent resettlement of thousands of people who were displaced from Bwindi National Park and Mt. Elgon by Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). 

They are arguing that the rights of these people were greatly violated after they were left homeless upon eviction.

When Bwindi Impenetrable National Park was established in the early 1990s, UWA mainly for the conservation of mountain gorillas, over 6700 of its native inhabitants, the Batwa, were evicted. Some continue to live in forests and mountains.

While delivering the position of the commission on the rights of indigenous people and minority groups on behalf of the commission chairperson, Sylvia Mwebwa Ntambi, Joel Cox Ojuko said: “Indigenous people have a right to recognition of their identities, way of life and right to traditional and ancestral lands, territories and ungazetted natural resources.”

The commission wants government to implement the Benet consent judgment of 2005 between Benet communities, which among others recognised the Benet community as indigenous to area protected as national park.

The government through UWA evicted the Benet from the Mt. Elgon National Park between 1990 and 2004.

The Benet took their case to the High Court. In October 2005, the High Court adopted a consent judgment, between the affected Benet community, the Ugandan Wildlife Authority and the Attorney General and signed and agreed by all parties.

It declared that the Benet were the “historical and indigenous inhabitants” of the national park and should be allowed to “carry out agricultural activities” in the areas to which they have historical claim.

In the push, the EOC is supported by the ministry of gender labour and social development’s equity and rights department, the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda, Minority Rights Group International and Community Development and Resource Network.

Others are Uganda Women’s Network, Human Rights Network-Uganda, Initiative for Social Economic Rights, Defending Defenders, and Foundation for Human Rights Initiative and Global Rights Alert.

In their joint statement, they decried the gross violations of the rights of the minority tribes in the country.

The parties noted that the increased demand for land for exploitation of minerals, oil and gas and investment in commercial farming was another threat to the minority groups. Uganda has over 18 minority tribes.

Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda’s programs manager Fredrick Nsibambi said: “This has posed new threats to indigenous people’s customary lands such as those in Karamoja region, the Bagungu, Alur, Paluo, in Bunyoro sub-region and Amuru district.

He stated that lack of sufficient legal representation and enforcement of existing legal and policy frameworks for the protection of land ownership for indigenous people increases their vulnerability and loss of livelihood derived from their land.

Under the colonial and post-independence governments, large pieces of land were lost by indigenous communities due to conservation of forests, wild animals and for commercial farming in cash crops such as tea and cotton.

This displaced the Batwa in Kanungu, Kisoro, Kabale and Budibugyo, the Basongora and Bakonzo in Kasese, the Batuku and Babwisi in Ntoroko and Budibugyo, the Ik, Napore and Mening in Kabong.

Others are the Ngokutio in Kitgum, the Benet in Kween and other indigenous people in various parts of the country who have lost land to conservation.

While addressing Parliament recently the Prime Minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, disclosed that plans were under way to resettle the displaced communities.

On Friday last week, Uganda joined the rest of the world to mark International Day for Indigenous Peoples under the theme, “Indigenous People’s Migration and Movement.”

On December 23, 1994, the United Nations General Assembly decided that the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People shall be observed annually on August 9 around the world.

Source: New Vision

 

Livelihood, Land And Investment

Breaking; Lands Minister directs police chief to arrest armed mobs involved in forced and illegal land evictions.

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By Witness Radio team

Uganda’s Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba has directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Martins Okoth Ochola to arrest all organized and armed mobs involved in forced and illegal land evictions.

The directive is the second one from the same minister to the police chief in three (3) months due to widespread forced and illegal land evictions in Uganda.

On February 28, 2022, President Yoweri Museveni came out and banned all land evictions in the country that are carried out without the consent of the respective District Security Committees (DSC).

The latest directive was triggered by violent scenes that occurred on the 19th of March 2023 when armed groups of men with graders invaded the St peter’s Church of Uganda’s land in Kibiri and started destroying crops planted on the church land. The armed group whose employer is not yet established claims the church is occupying someone’s land illegally.

In an attempt to stop the unlawful eviction, Church leaders, led by Reverend Maxwell Ssebuggwawo and some faithful tried to intervene but in vain.

According to eyewitnesses, the armed group immediately attacked the Clergyman and other Christians causing severe bodily injuries. In the scuffle, Rev. Maxwell Ssebuggwawo’s vestments were torn by the mob, whom the community believes was being targeted.

In response to the violent attack against the church leader and congregation, the minister observed that many land grabbers have resorted to using organized and armed mobs to evict people from their land. She further describes eviction as illegal and unacceptable since the government has capable security agencies that can effect lawful evictions.

“We have noted incidents where some crooks employ mobs to evict people yet we have security forces that can do this concerning the law. This is wrong. I have therefore directed the IGP to arrest everybody involved in these illegal acts and be brought to book”, the Minister added in an interview with the local media.

Witness Radio in the recent past has documented incidents where organized and armed mobs are participating in violent land evictions.  For instance, a recent eviction of a 99-year-old Hellena Namazzi in Numugongo in Kira Municipality in Wakiso district by Sema Properties boss, Ssemakula Sulait, another ugly case involved a violent eviction of over 2000 people off 328.1 hectares by one Moses Karangwa and Abid Alam in Kassanda district among others.

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Livelihood, Land And Investment

Over 500 Kapapi families in Hoima district remain stranded after the district security committee fails to resettle them back on their land as directed by the minister.

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By Witness Radio team.

Hundreds of families, violently evicted from their land in Kapapi and Kiganja sub-counties in Hoima district are still pondering their next moves as efforts to return to their grabbed land remain ambiguous.

The directive came after Hoima district police and private guards from Magnum, a private security company raided people’s homes in Waaki North, Kapapi Central, Waaki South, Runga, and Kiryatete villages in Kapapi and Kiganja sub-counties, Hoima district on 10th of February 2023 at 1:00 am.

The violent scenes left hundreds of children with scores of injuries, houses were torched, and property worth billions was destroyed.  The animals such as goats, sheep, and cows were butchered and others were looted.

On 22nd of February 2023, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Honorable Judith Nabakooba while addressing a meeting in Rukola village Kapapi sub-county, Hoima district directed the security committee to return the victim villagers back to their land.

She considered the eviction unlawful since it was conducted at night and without a court order.

In that meeting, area leaders, Hoima district police and Hoima Resident District commissioner, Mr. Rogers Mbabazi, Deputy Resident District Commissioner, Mr. Michael Kyakashari were in attendance.

The victim community accuses a group of people including Ndahura Gafayo, Aston Muhwezi, David Mpora, Monica Rwashadika, Agaba, and Wilber Kiiza of being responsible for the land grab.

The grabbed land is situated at the shores of Lake Albert adjacent to the Kabaale parish in Buseruka Sub-county where the greenfield oil refinery is to be established. In April 2018, the government selected the Albertine Graben Refinery Consortium (AGRC) as the private sector investment to finance, develop, construct, and operate the Greenfield oil Refinery estimated to cost $4b.

According to the Witness Radio research team, ever since the directive was made instead, there’s increased human rights violations including arbitrary arrests, detentions and threats, and intimidation against victims of residents encamped at Rwenyana Church to vacate.

The evictees report that after the minister’s directive, three community members include; Mbombo Steven, and Kalongo Steven have been arrested, charged, and remanded to Hoima government prison.

“Our families encamping at church and waiting to be resettled back as directed by the Minister are facing further threats and intimidation to go away. They say they don’t want us at the church. Some of us are currently in hiding for fear of arbitrary arrests or kidnaps.” A community member who preferred to be called Enos due to fear of retaliation told Witness Radio.

He further added that the community is living at the mercy of God, with no food, or shelter, and predicted an uncertain future for their children since they are not attending school.

“Families are scattered in different centers while others continue to live with their relatives. However essential services such as shelter, food, health services, and education for their children remain a challenge. These people found us on land and started claiming ownership of this land. Imagine when we went for a search at a land registry, we found out that they only have a title of 2 acres but everyone knows we have been on this land for over 30 years. We have people who were born on this land.” He added.

Witness Radio contacted Mr. Rogers Mbabazi, Hoima Resident District Commissioner who heads the district security committee, to understand how far the committee had gone with the implementation of the minister’s directive. He instead referred us to his Deputy Mr. Michael Kyakashari.

Mr. Michael Kyakashari, when asked about the status of the directive, told our reporter that he did not have an answer for him before he hung up.

“I don’t have an answer for you” He repeatedly said.

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Livelihood, Land And Investment

State House Anti-Corruption Unit nets a surveyor implicated in Mubende district land-grabs

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Mr. Mafumu Paul and his accomplices at police after their arrest.

By Witness Radio Team,

The State House Anti-corruption Unit has arrested an alleged landgrabber in Mubende district whose evictions have rendered masses homeless.

Mr. Mafumu Paul, a Mubende based surveyor is accused of using police and conniving with some officials in the Lands ministry to issue forged titles that have been instrumental in illegal land evictions in the districts of Mubende, Kiboga and Kyankwanzi.

The alleged land grabber has been arrested alongside two of his farm workers who include Ssenyondo Ronald and Sseruyange Ben.

The arrest follows complaints of grave human rights abuses to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit and the minister for lands housing and urban development. In response, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, the Hon. Judith Nabakooba Nalule, visited the families whose crops were sprayed with chemicals by Mafumu’s workers. She later requested the State House Anti-Corruption Unit to intervene and investigate circumstances under which forged certificate of land titles are issued and used to forcefully evict local communities off their land. She further directed the Mubende Police to oversee the arrest of the Mufumu.

He has been implicated in instigating unlawful arrests, beating people, denying communities to access clean water sources, razing-down people’s houses and gardens, fly-grazing, and spraying their crops with chemicals in order to evict them from their land.

In one of the recent cases, on the 14th of January 2023, violence was meted out on the residents in Nalyankanja village, Kyenda Town Council in Mubende district. Mafumu is said to have ordered his workers to spray their crops, an act they believe has escalated hunger in their area. The crops sprayed with chemicals included: sweet potatoes, pineapples, coffee, bananas, and Cassava.

According to Witness Radio research, Mafumu has been accused of violently evicting over 17 families since 2018 from their land measuring approximately 248 acres.

The alleged land grabber and his accomplices are currently being detained at Mubende Police.

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