The Commission of Inquiry into land matters has canceled the land title belonging to police spokesperson Fred Enanga and his father George Econga Okabo, a retired superintendent of police because it is shrouded in irregularities.
The disputed four square miles of land covers four parishes of Amun, Ayago, Apoi, and Alaru with over 1,740 households and is located in Maruzi Block 2, plot 66 at Oreta village, Akokoro sub county in Apac district.
Enanga and Econga were summoned after clan members including Enanga’s 96-year-old grandfather, Naphtali Enanga and his aunt Lilly Alwedo petitioned the Commission, accusing father and son of attempting to grab the customary land that belongs to the Okabo clan.
On Wednesday Enanga and Econga appeared before the Commission chaired by Lady Justice Catherine Bamugemereire and asked the Commission to facilitate mediation with the clan and other residents, saying they never had the opportunity to negotiate over the dispute.
Econga accused the residents of encroaching on land that belonged to his late father Enoci Okabo. He told the Commission that the occupants have no rights over the land and must vacate for his family to set up a privately owned mixed farm and mechanized agriculture project.
Enanga said their family has been a victim of unclear intrigues, propaganda and fabrications. Enanga and his father face accusations of illegally registering the customary land as freehold in the names of Awilodyang Mixed Farm, a company they jointly own in total disregard of the interests of the occupants. Awilodyang is a Langi word for ‘I bought a cow’.
The witnesses; Naphtali and Lilly Alwedo, Econga’s brother and sister respectively accused Enanga of perpetrating the dispute from the background using police officers that he occasionally draws from Apac central police station.
Enanga denied the accusations saying his parents only reported criminal activities targeted at their family and property to local leaders which led to some occasional arrests and detention of those behind those criminal activities.
He also refuted allegations that they are claiming the entire 10 square miles of the land, a complete departure from his father’s position that he owns the entire land.
The duo claims they inherited the land from Enoci Okabo, Econga’s dad after he migrated and settled in the area in 1949 after suffering the misfortune of losing three children from Okabo clan land located in Alia village in Akokoro sub-county, some eight miles from the disputed piece of land.
The two said Okabo pacified the area from a complete jungle inhabited by wildlife using hunting skills they practiced. He later distributed the land among his children with George Econga Okabo taking 3 square miles, his brothers Johnson Angala and Naphtali Enanga getting 149 acres and 2.5 square miles respectively. Simon Okwir got 100 acres while Benjamin Enanga received 3 square miles.
Enanga explained that his grandfather migrated to the area from Alia village citing witchcraft in the death of his three children. Commissioner Robert Ssebunya implored Enanga and father to negotiate with the clan members claiming the land to protect their family legacy.
The Commission told Enanga and father that the land was illegally registered in the names of Awilodyang Mixed Farm because the company is separate from George Econga Okabo who had asked for it in 1978.
Herbert Byenkya, the Commission lead counsel said the company does not qualify to secure the customary land as freehold because it was registered as a non-citizen company. In response, Enanga said their lawyer Oper and Company Advocates could have made mistakes in registering the company.
Bamugemereire indicated that the title will be canceled because it is shrouded in illegalities. Enanga’s testimony was interrupted by a repeated power outage which forced the Commission to prematurely adjourn the matter.
Clan members accused Enanga and Econga of using police to forcefully evict them or block them from accessing water from a community borehole sunk by the government in the area.
The Commission later established that the land measuring 824.28 hectares located in Oreta village in Akokoro sub county in Apac district, has been registered as freehold in the names of Awilodyang Mixed Farm, owned by Econga and his son Enanga. They registered the Company in 2018.
Appearing before the Commission earlier, Naphtali and Alwedo said they were shocked at how Enanga, who according to them rarely went to the village and was only given a small portion of land to erect a house and also do some farming in line with the clan’s objectives has now turned into a land grabber. Alwedo, told the Commission on October 7, that Enanga turned against them and began forcefully evicting them.
“Enanga and his father Econga, rarely came home. Enanga grew up in Kampala with his father and they didn’t even have any single hut in Oreta village” Alwedo narrated.
“Now, one time, his daughter died and he brought the body home for burial. Since he had no home to bury his daughter, his uncle Benjamin Enanga, offered to bury the daughter in him home. All seemed well. As a clan, they decided during the meeting after the burial that Enanga also be given some land to build a home”
Alwedo further narrated that “Enanga was given about six acres of land. He started building a house and I was even the one preparing food for the workers at the site. But to my surprise, Enanga chased me from the area and went on to chase all the clan people including his grandfather and uncles.”
The Okabo clan members are very bitter with Enanga’s actions saying he has brought blasphemy to Okabo.
On September 21, 2024, land-grabs communities under their group, the Informal Alliance for communities affected by irresponsible land-based investments in Uganda for the first will join fellow victims in commemorating the International Day of Struggle Against Industrial Plantations, highlighting the growing threat posed by large-scale monoculture plantations.
These industrial plantations have led to the forced eviction of millions of people across Uganda, displacing indigenous communities and stripping them of their land rights and livelihoods. Driven by multinational companies and government-backed investors, with the support of government and private security entities, these evictions prioritize profits over people.
Among the many Ugandan communities still suffering the devastating impact of monoculture plantations are over 30,000 people who were violently displaced from the Namwasa and Luwunga forest reserves between 2006 and 2010 to make way for the New Forests Company’s pine and eucalyptus plantations. In addition, thousands of local and indigenous communities were illegally evicted to make way for palm oil plantations in Kalangala district. Nearly 4,000 people had their land grabbed by the Formosa tree planting company in the Mubende district, and over 35,000 were displaced in Kiryandongo to make way for industrial agriculture to grow maize, soybean, and sugarcane plantations, among others. These and other affected communities united and formed the Informal Alliance for Victims affected by irresponsible land-based investments to defend their rights in early 2019.
The International Day of Struggle Against Industrial Plantations was first celebrated on September 21, 2004, during a community network meeting fighting against industrial tree plantations in Brazil. Since then, it has become a day when organizations, communities, and movements worldwide come together to celebrate resistance and raise their voices, demanding an end to the relentless expansion of industrial tree plantations.
In Uganda, on Saturday, September 21, the 2024 commemoration will start with a radio program in a local dilect (Luganda) purposely to highlight weird experiences faced by communities displaced by large-scale monoculture plantations, struggles for justice, and holding companies and financiers accountable. A one-hour radio program starting at 10 a.m. EAT will feature leaders of the loose alliance. Listen to the radio program on Witness Radio platforms on the website www.witnessradio.org or download the Witness Radio App on playstore.
Later, land-grab victims in Uganda will join their colleagues from Africa and other countries around the globe in a webinar meeting aimed at fostering organizations’ and rural communities’ connection across member countries and communities to build confidence, share experiences, strengthen our campaign to reignite hopes and forge a bond of understanding between the Informal Alliance and victim communities shattered by destructive plantations as well as deterring future plantations expansion.
Witness Radio and its partners have alleged that thousands of people from local and Indigenous communities have been forcefully evicted from their land to make way for Agilis Partners Limited’s large-scale farming operations, in violation of international human rights law.
They have raised concerns about severe human rights abuses including forced evictions and lack of prompt, fair, and adequate compensation; violations of Indigenous peoples’ right to free, prior, and informed consent; abduction, arrest, torture, and judicial harassment of human rights defenders, and alleged sexual violence against women and girls, as well as other negative social and environmental impacts.
Witness Radio and its partners representing PAPs have written to Agilis Partners on several occasions seeking a dialogue between the company and people who have been harmed however, the company has not responded to their communications.
In a letter to Agilis Partners in June 2024, 36 civil society organizations called on Agilis Partners and its financial backers to take immediate action to stop the human rights abuses and harassment committed against community members, engage in dialogue with the communities, and restore the lands to the people that have been displaced.
We invited Agilis Partners to respond to the letter, the company did not respond.
Witness Radio, in collaboration with Dan Church Aid (DCA) and the National Coalition for Human Rights Defenders (NCHRD), is set to launch the Monitoring, Documentation, and Advocacy for Human Rights in Uganda (MDA-HRU) project tomorrow, 22nd February 2024, at Kabalega Resort Hotel in Hoima District.
The project, funded by the European Union, aims to promote the protection and respect for human rights, and enable access to remedy where violations occur especially in the Mid-Western and Karamoja sub-regions where private sector actors are increasingly involved in land-based investments (LBIs) through improved documentation, and evidence-based advocacy.
The three-year project, which commenced in October 2023, focuses its activities in the Mid-Western sub-region, covering Bulisa, Hoima, Masindi, Kiryandongo, Kikuube, Kagadi, Kibale, and Mubende districts, and Karamoja sub-region, covering Moroto, Napak, Nakapiripirit, Amudat, Nabilatuk, Abim, Kaabong, Kotido, and Karenga districts.
The project targets individuals and groups at high risk of human rights violations, including Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) and Land and Environmental Defenders (LEDs). It also engages government duty bearers such as policymakers and implementers in relevant ministries and local governments, recognizing their crucial role in securing land and environmental rights. Additionally, the project involves officials from institutional duty bearers including the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), Equal Opportunities Commission, and courts, among others.
Representatives from the international community, faith leaders, and business actors are also included in the project’s scope, particularly those involved in land-based investments (LBIs) impacting the environment.
The project was initially launched in Moroto for the Karamoja region on the 19th of this month with the leadership of the National Coalition for Human Rights Defenders (NCHRD).
According to the project implementors, the action is organized into four activity packages aimed at; enhancing the capacity and skills of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) and Land and Environmental Defenders (LEDs) in monitoring, documentation, reporting (MDR), and protection, establishing and reinforcing reporting and documentation mechanisms for advocacy and demand for corporate and government accountability; providing response and support to HRDs and marginalized communities; and lastly facilitating collaboration and multi-stakeholder engagements that link local and national issues to national and international frameworks and spaces.