NGO WORK
Hoima Sugar loses 13 sq miles as NEMA toughens on Bugoma land takeover
The National Environment Authority (NEMA) has rejected a proposal by Hoima Sugar Ltd, a sugar Cane company to plant sugarcane on the Bugoma Forest Reserve contested land ending a 4 year protracted battle between government and the sugarcane company.
In a certificate issued by National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), guiding on how the land on Bugoma in Kikuube distritct should be used, Hoima Sugar have been allowed to grow sugarcane on only nine out of the 21 square miles, which NEMA deems fit for human activity since it is grassland (no forest cover).
The development sends relief down the spine of environmental activists across the globe who had protested the occupancy of Hoima Sugar on the land. However Hoima Sugar Ltd Spokesperson Sheila Nduhukire has called the decision unfair and absurd.
“Despite a court ruling to the effect that this land is not part of Bugoma Forest reserve, we are disappointed that NEMA chose to deny us the right of possession of more than half of our legitimately acquired land (13sqmiles),” Nduhukire said.
On 25th April 2019, court ruled that Hoima Sugar was the rightful occupant of the 22square Miles of land bordering Bugoma Forest Reserve after National Forestry Authority NFA dragged Hoima Sugar to Court challenging the occupancy.
“We are a green and law-abiding company, we shall abide by the order from NEMA as we exploit the available legal options,” Nduhukire added.
The Kingdom gave 41,144 hectares of land to Hoima Sugar for development and to set up a sugar plant and sugarcane plantation. But due to the wrangles that arose out of this agreement, the project derailed since 2016.
It further attracted a court suit and on 25th April 2019, the Court of Appeal ruled that the company (Hoima Sugar) should occupy 22 square miles of the disputed forest land in Kikuube District in western Uganda.
The Court of Appeal’s decision had been triggered by the National Forest Authority which rushed to the same court to challenge the ruling by the lower court (High Court)
Original Post: Nile Post
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Tanzania: Commissions call for mass eviction of Indigenous Maasai from world-famous tourist destinations.
Two presidential commissions have recommended the mass eviction of Maasai people from some of East Africa’s most iconic conservation areas and tourist destinations.
The commissions were established by Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan following previous evictions of Maasai pastoralists from parts of the world-famous Serengeti ecosystem, and large-scale protests in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in 2024.
Now, despite a global outcry at the earlier evictions, the two Commissions have:
- Backed the previous evictions and called for them to continue, including in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Ngorongoro and neighboring Lake Natron.
- Described the long-standing Maasai presence in the area as an “environmental pressure” that needs to be reduced.
- Threatened local NGOs that support the Maasai, accusing them of “spreading misinformation or propaganda” because they “conflict with government interests.”
- Called for the “relocation” of all “non-conservation activities” [in other words, Maasai occupancy of the land] outside the conservation areas.
- Called for existing recognition of the Maasai people’s right to live in the Ngorongoro area to be removed.
An anonymous Maasai spokesperson said today: “We are blamed for environmental degradation while the unchecked expansion of tourism is ignored. Forced relocation, disguised as policy, has deprived our people of basic rights and dignity. We reject any continuation of these measures and condemn the Commission’s failure to reflect the voices, realities, and rights of our people.”
The authorities maintain that these are “voluntary relocations.” However, the Maasai have overwhelmingly rejected being moved.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When it was established, the ancestral right of the Maasai to live there with their cattle was explicitly acknowledged. But UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has backed the so-called “voluntary relocations”, and UNESCO endorses the “fortress conservation” model that underpins Tanzania’s approach.
Survival International Director Caroline Pearce said today, “These commissions were a sham, a gimmick designed to give Tanzania’s violent persecution of the Maasai a veneer of respectability. It was widely predicted that they’d back further evictions: the whole saga just confirms that colonial-style fortress conservation is alive and well in Tanzania today, and enthusiastically endorsed by UNESCO.
“These recommendations give the green light to more evictions, in Ngorongoro and beyond. And while the Maasai are robbed of their lands and livelihood, the government, tour operators and so-called conservationists will enrich themselves from a landscape emptied of its original owners.”
Source: survivalinternational.org
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