DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Kaweri coffee investment shatters the dreams of a budding businessman.

Published

3 years ago

September 29, 2022

Some of the evicted families. Photo Credit: FIAN International

Mr. Lawrence Sekirigi, 76 is one of the thousands of smallholder farmers in Mubende whose dreams of blossoming life were fluttered by the infamous Kaweri Coffee Plantation development. He is a teary one that represents a million Ugandans who have been disposed of or are on the verge of being disposed of.

Acreages of plantations of maize, cassava, potatoes, beans, groundnuts, and bananas that sprouted on his 16 acres of land in the early 2000s painted the right picture of Lawrence’s passion and love for farming.

Ruggedly handsome, fairly aged, and a smooth dark chocolate-colored man with a farming family background adopted the income-generating activity in his youthful stages after dropping out of school for lack of school fees. Armed with an inheritance of 16 acres curved from 40 acres of family land, he ventured into farming earning him Uganda Shillings Five Million, roughly (1,290.47 United States Dollars) in a season.

The past good memories still linger in his mind. With his lifetime inheritance, he grew a variety of crops that he could sell and earn a living and feed his family. To him, growth was the question of “when” but not “whether”. He had a dream of expanding his enterprise and becoming a household name in modern farming.

“My harvests were always in plenty because of good soils and other related factors. My dreams were definitely to grow bigger in business than I was, with many stores supplying both grains and food countrywide. I was one of the richest men here in Kitemba. I achieved this through farming” he narrates with a nostalgic tone.

Those days are now gone but cannot be wished away. As a selfless businessman, he supplied grains and food to hotels in Mubende, Kaweri Prison, restaurants, and Madudu production farm all based in Mubende district before government soldiers and anti-riot police grabbed his land for Kaweri Coffee Investment.

Kaweri coffee plantation farm is owned by Germany-based Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, which according to its website, has 49 companies and with presence in 27 countries. It operates large-scale coffee plantations in Kitemba, Luwunga, Kijunga, and Kiryamakobe villages in Mubende District, Central Uganda.

On a fateful day in 2001, the Ugandan bulldozers under the watch of the army and anti-riot police began moving into the settlements of villagers in Kaweri to clear the area for coffee growing. Property worth millions and cultural sites belonging to residents were razed by the army. This happened with no prior consultations, compensation, or resettlements.

When we visited Lawrence at his new home in Luwunga where he relocated, the toothless, and grey-haired man sat between the muddy kitchen and a house with old iron sheets. Clad in a dirty-pink-like squared shirt and black denim trousers munched away on sweet potatoes and yams mixed with beans.

It was 4:45 pm and now it was coming to dusk. He murmured something to my ears. He revealed how his family has been forced to ration food to survive. They survive on a meal a day. He looked weary, hopeless, and worried. The land grab has left a huge scar in his life.

Lawrence is not alone. Barely two decades later, many people, are living desperate lives. The so-called Kaweri coffee developments rendered many of them homeless, landless, or even useless in their own country.

Thousands of people are scattered everywhere trying to find ends meet for their families. They leave in temporary settlements of muddy houses, and makeshifts in areas where they settled. Others work at the farms of Kaweri coffee to bring food to the plate for their families. However, their payment is low depending on the work they do. They earn 5100 shillings a day equivalent to 1.33 USD upon the completion of the assigned task. If one does not complete the task in a day, he is not paid till he completes it, the next day.

“Most of my friends are suffering, they don’t have where to live, a cause brought about by Kaweri Coffee. People were well before this meaning less development brought by the government.” Ssekirigi added.

“My dreams were completely brought to an end. I am currently staying on land provided to me by a friend. I have nothing in life, and cannot fulfill my responsibilities as a man. I also wanted my 16 children to get the best education which I did not get but this was also not possible.” He shares with regret.

He added that “what hurts me most is that my father and mother plus other relatives buried on our grabbed land were destroyed by the bulldozers during the evictions. A total of 48 graveyards were destroyed. They did not allow us to exhume and transfer our beloved ones who had occupied the grabbed land in the 1930s. My crops, animals including 4pigs, 4 cows and 12 birds were looted by officers, and 32 iron sheets house were destroyed during the hurried and forced evictions.”

Roughly, 4000 smallholder farmers were evicted without prior consultation, compensation, and resettlement by the Ugandan government. The government claimed it had bought land from the landlord Emmanuel Bukko Kayiwa.

The government which leased Kaweri 2512 hectares of land forcefully evicted residents and told them that they would be resettled on another piece of land equivalent in size to the land that each had.

However, Kaweri said the government compensated all those residents who were willing to vacate the land. A brief account of events by Kaweri coffee plantation that Witness Radio has had the opportunity to see indicates that some people were compensated by the government and the rest were relocated.

“In addition, Kaweri demanded to see receipts of the compensation payments as a precondition. These receipts were all produced: each compensation is documented and signed by the recipient, the village leader, the Resident District Commissioner, and the lawyers of the buyer and seller. The compensation comprised either allocation of new plots of land and free transport to the new plot of land or monetary compensation. Overall, compensation in the form of land was provided to 102 families. Another 64 families were given monetary compensation because they did not live in the area but did farmland.” it reads in part.

Witness Radio contacted the Managing Director of Kaweeri coffee, Mr. Etienne Jacobsz Steyn to clarify the eviction. He said he had nothing to report on nor did not have time for us since he was busy.

In what the government and Kaweri called compensation or resettlement, Mr. Kayiira Peter Bakaleke the Chairman of the evicted communities said they were lured into signing agreements that read of their relocation to Kambuye village. The agreement further mentioned that they would be given the same acreage of land as what they were evicted from. This, according to Kayiira did not happen.

“This didn’t happen. People were not compensated and neither were we relocated. The government and Kaweeri coffee plantation are telling lies. People are still suffering.” Kayiira elaborated.

Mr. Ssendagire Geoffrey the area Chairperson of Local Council II in Kanseera Ward said people were never compensated and rejected being given 50×100 ft. plots.

“It was a traumatizing experience. It left many of them depressed. Many of them had over 20 acres and big families. They wondered how they could stay on that land.” the chairman added.

The purported land for relocation was eventually grabbed by a businessman in Mubende Kaweesi George, the area chairperson confirmed

DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Crackdown on EACOP protesters intensifies: 35 Activists arrested in just four months.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 30, 2025

witnessradio.org

By Witness Radio team.

Ugandan authorities’ ongoing crackdown on anti-EACOP protest marches is spreading rapidly like wildfires. The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) Project, a significant oil infrastructure development, has been a point of contention. Recently, Witness Radio warned that criminalizing the activities of individual activists and environmental defenders opposed to this project, which aims to transport crude oil from Hoima in Uganda to the Port of Tanga in Tanzania, will be regarded as the most disastrous and insensitive to communities’ concerns in Uganda’s history.

In just four months, a series of arrests targeting environmental activists opposing the mega oil project that transports crude oil from Hoima in Uganda to the Port of Tanga in Tanzania has resulted in a scene of crime. No one is allowed to express their concerns peacefully about it and push back on its adverse negative impacts.

While activists view the peaceful marches as a rightful and brave effort to protect the environment and the communities affected by the project, the authorities, including the Uganda police and Prosecutor’s office, regard these actions as attempts to sabotage development projects and resort to criminalization.

Activists and civil society organizations’ reports indicate that the project will likely damage the environment and has displaced thousands of local communities in Uganda and Tanzania.

Despite growing concerns and an intensified crackdown, project financiers and shareholders remain unwavering in supporting the EACOP project. This steadfast support underscores the urgency of the situation. However, environmental and human rights defenders stand firm, resolutely demanding the project’s halt, showing a glimmer of hope in this challenging situation.

Over last weekend, eleven (11) environmental activists were arrested, charged, and sent to prison. They were arrested and detained by police at Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) premises while attempting to deliver a petition urging the bank to halt its financial support for the 1,444-kilometer heated pipeline project.

The arrest of the eleven activists comes less than a month after nine activists were detained on April 02 outside the Stanbic Bank headquarters while attempting to deliver a petition urging the bank to halt its funding for the project.

The eleven include Bob Barigye, Augustine Tukamashaba, Gilbert Ayebare, Umar Kasimbe, Joseph Ssengozi, Keith Namanya, Raymond Bituhanga, Mohammed Ssentongo, Paul Ssekate, Misach Saazi and Phionah Nalusiba.

KCB Bank Uganda is one of the banks that recently joined the race to fund the EACOP project. Last month, On March 26, 2025, EACOP Ltd., the company in charge of the construction and future operation of the EACOP project, announced that it had acquired additional financing provided by a syndicate of financial institutions, including regional banks such as KCB Bank.

Other banks in the syndicate include the Stanbic Bank Uganda, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the Standard Bank of South Africa Limited, and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD).

The activists appeared before the Nakawa Chief Magistrate Court on April 25. They were charged with criminal trespass. According to section 302 of the Penal Code, a person convicted of criminal trespass is liable to a maximum sentence of one year in prison. This detail underscores the weight of the situation.

The activists are currently on remand at Luzira Maximum Prison and are expected to appear again before the court on May 08, 2025, for mention.

DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Witness Radio Petitions ODPP urgently to review and withdraw criminal charges against Buvuma Community Land Defenders.

Published

1 month ago

April 14, 2025

witnessradio.org

By Witness Radio team.

As Ugandan courts increasingly become tools of oppression, Witness Radio is deeply concerned about the growing trend of weaponizing the justice systems against communities, land, and environmental defenders who resist land grabbing and other harmful land-based investments.

In a well-calculated tactic, land grabbers and investors continue to collude with security agencies, particularly the police, to arrest violently and courts of law to maliciously prosecute hundreds of these defenders for either fighting back against the land-grabbing schemes or criticizing harmful land-based investments in Uganda.

This trend of persecution is not isolated to Buvuma but is a continuous threat in many other parts of Uganda. Buvuma, in particular, is a hotbed of injustice, where the government of Uganda, in collaboration with BIDCO, is implementing the National Oil Palm Project (NOPP) to expand palm oil growing in Uganda.

In our article dated March 5th this year, Witness Radio revealed how community land defenders in Buvuma continued to face judicial harassment on trumped charges simply for defending their land from being grabbed for palm oil plantations.

The accused defenders are residents of the Magyo and Bukula villages in the Buvuma district.

More than a dozen smallholder farmers in these villages situated in Nairambi Sub-county are facing violent evictions from their land and unending persecution. They have been framed with criminal charges for refusing to give away their land for palm oil growing.

The victims are legal owners of bibanja duly registered by Buganda Land Board and recognized as tenants by Buganda Land Board.

Buvuma College school is claiming ownership of the land, while Buvuma district officials, under the guise of protecting Kirigye Forest Reserve, also claim the same land on which these individuals have settled lawfully for decades.

Several community members have been arrested and charged with false criminal offenses.

Among them include community land rights defender Ssentongo, who is currently battling with cases CRB:301/2023, accused of illegally occupying Kirigye forest land (offense of carrying out prohibited activities in forest reserve).

CRB 232/2024 with complainant Kabale Denis (District Forest Officer) charged with carrying out prohibited activities in the forest reserve and CRB 098/2023 on criminal trespass with Buvuma College administration, the complainant.

Others facing persecution are Steven Kyeswa, Kisekwa Richard, and Kibondwe Chrysostom on CRB 141/2024 with assault occasioning actual bodily harm vide Criminal Case No 075 of 2024, among other cases.

As part of efforts to end the ongoing oppression of community defenders in Buvuma, Witness Radio has petitioned the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to urgently intervene, review, and withdraw the charges unjustly brought against these defenders.

According to the petition dated March 7th, 2025, the sole intention of these charges is to grab community land without any merits as criminal charges. Sarah Adong, one of the staff attorneys and Head of Witness Radio Legal Aid, reveals that the matters against the accused persons before the court point to the question of land ownership, which can only be answered through civil suits and not criminal charges. It is an apparent injustice.

“Upon thoroughly examining the facts, evidence, and circumstances surrounding these charges, it is evident that they have no merit whatsoever. They amount to vexatious and frivolous prosecution that serves no genuine interest of justice,” the petition by the Land and Environmental Rights Watchdog mentioned.

In an unusual turn of events, the Witness Radio Legal Aid team observed that some of the defenders, including Sentongo, have been charged with criminal trespass twice by the same complainant vide CC No 325 of 2020 and are now facing the same charge by the same party vide CC No 062/2023. This repeated persecution is a heavy burden on these defenders.

“The charges against our client undermine the accused person’s rights under Article 29 (9) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda. It has proven that the cases brought against our clients are frivolous and vexatious as they are instituted in a manner that constitutes abuse of court processes,” the petition further read.

Therefore, the organization strongly urges the office of the DPP to exercise its prosecutorial discretion under relevant legal provisions. This is crucial for the prevalence of equity, justice, and good conscience and reaffirming the prosecution process’s integrity and objectivity.

DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Milestone: Another case against the EACOP activists is dismissed due to the want of prosecution.

Published

1 month ago

April 8, 2025

witnessradio.org

By Witness Radio team.

The Buganda Road Chief Magistrate has dismissed another case against 20 anti-EACOP activists due to want of prosecution.

Yesterday, on April 7, 2024, her worship, Jalia Basajjabalaba, dismissed the case against the 20 activists. The case was dismissed after the state failed to produce witnesses pinning the activists on a common nuisance charge after close to 9 months of case trial.

On August 26, 2024, the 20 activists, including Pitua Robert, Okwai Stephen, Kothurach Margret, Omirambe Moses, Owonda Rogers, Alimange Joseph, and Wabiyona Wicklyf, among others, were arrested while peacefully marching to the Ministry of Energy to deliver a petition opposing EACOP and other oil projects. On August 27, 2024, they were arraigned before Court and charged by the Buganda Road Magistrate with common nuisance.

After nearly nine months of trial, the state failed to present a single witness, prompting the magistrate to close the case file.

Although the case against the activists has been dismissed, they remain deeply dissatisfied with the continued pattern of arrests and charges, which often collapse in Court due to a lack of evidence.

Bob Barigye, one of the activists whose case was dismissed, expressed concern over what he described as deliberate attempts to frustrate and silence voices critical of the EACOP project.

“We are saddened that it was just dismissed after eight months of pacing up and down to Court.

We are disappointed that the magistrate did not award us any cost or compensation for the dismissed case, meaning that the state failed to prove that we were a public nuisance and that we were citing violence as activists. Many of us have been forced to travel long distances from our villages to attend court sessions in Kampala — only for the state to produce no evidence against us. It’s a clear waste of our time, energy, and resources. But beyond that, it’s an attempt to discourage us from speaking the truth about the dangers of the EACOP project,” Barigye said.

Barigye added that the activists are already engaging their lawyers to explore further legal remedies in higher courts, demonstrating their unwavering commitment to justice and their cause.

“It is frustrating and deeply disappointing that we are dragged to Court and disrespected every time we stand up against this deadly pipeline, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). But we were ready to face this battle in Court because we knew we had committed no crime by delivering a petition,” Barigye said, expressing the activists’ exasperation with the legal process.

Shortly after their last Court appearance on February 20, the 20 accused activists, during a press briefing, demanded that the judiciary stop delaying hearings of their case related to the EACOP project and called for the dismissal of their case if the Court lacks sufficient evidence to prosecute them.

“The courts of law should not be used as tools of oppression. They should not waste any time. If we have a case to answer, let them prosecute us on April 7, which they have scheduled. If they fail again, they should dismiss the case instead of wasting our time and resources,” the activists emphasized, reiterating their demand for a fair and expedited legal process.

This is the second milestone achieved by the Stop EACOP activists in less than two months in their continued campaign against the EACOP pipeline. In February 2025, the Court also dismissed a common nuisance case against the 15 EACOP activists due to the lack of prosecution.

“The state doesn’t present a single witness in all the cases that have always been preferred against us. No witnesses have come along to say that these people were unruly. As activists, we want to investigate this further and go to the Constitutional Court to learn what constitutes a nuisance. Whoever is demonstrating peacefully is arrested and charged with a public nuisance. This charge is coronial and very demeaning. We want to go ahead and challenge this,” Barigye revealed, outlining the activists’ proactive plans to challenge the charge of public nuisance.

The EACOP project has long been controversial, with environmental activists arguing that it poses a significant environmental risk and has already left a trail of human rights abuses in the communities hosting it in Uganda and Tanzania.

The EACOP is a 1,443-kilometer heated pipeline transporting crude oil from Hoima, Uganda, to Tanga, Tanzania. The first 296 kilometers run through Uganda, while the remaining 1,147 kilometers pass through Tanzania. The project is a joint venture between TotalEnergies, the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).