MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK
Monoculture tree plantations are a false climate solution
Published
4 years agoon
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Yesterday was the 16th International Day of Struggle against Monoculture Tree Plantations. In 2004, rural communities in Brazil declared the day to commemorate the resistance against the expansion of monoculture tree plantations in Brazil. Through solidarity statements and actions around the world the day has evolved to become an International Day of Struggle.
This year, a group of organisations from African countries, together with the World Rainforest Movement, has issued an open letter about investments in monoculture tree plantations in the global South, particularly in Africa.
The letter is a response and critique of a June 2019 report titled, “Towards Large-Scale Commercial Investment in African Forestry”. The report was prepared by an outfit called Acacia Sustainable Business Advisors, which was set up by Martin Poulsen, a development banker. One of his co-authors for the study was Mads Asprem, the ex-CEO of Green Resources, a Norwegian industrial tree plantation and carbon offsets company. Green Resources’ land grabs in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda have resulted in loss of land, evictions, loss of livelihoods and increased hunger for local communities.
The study was produced for the African Development Bank and WWF Kenya, with funding from the World Bank’s Climate Investment Funds.
The Open Letter (signed by 117 organisations and people) is posted here in full:
International Day of Struggle against Monoculture Tree Plantations
Open Letter about investments in monoculture tree plantations in the global South, especially in Africa, and in solidarity with communities resisting the occupation of their territories.
September 21st is the International Day of Struggle against Monoculture Tree Plantations. Unlike others, this Day was not created by the United Nations (UN) or by governments. The Day was created in 2004 by rural communities, gathered in the Brazilian hinterland, to denounce and shed light on the impacts of monoculture tree plantations on their territories, and affirm their determination to resist such plantations and take back their territories from the hands of corporations.
16 years later, the Day remains as relevant as ever: there is a real danger of a gigantic, worldwide expansion of monoculture tree plantation. This is promoted as a solution to prevent climate chaos and to the industrialized world’s dependence on oil, gas and coal. A group of governments, corporations, consultants, investors and major conservationist NGOs have come together to put their mega-plans[1] for tree plantation expansions on the table.
Although highly questioned, a forest as defined by the FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organization) and several national governments mistakenly includes monoculture tree plantations. In their eyes, plantations are “planted forests”. This definition favours only the plantation corporations, thus guaranteeing their main objective: generating profits.
Africa is the continent with “the most profitable afforestation potential worldwide”, according to a report produced in 2019 by consultants for the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the conservationist NGO WWF-Kenya. “The study has identified around 500,000 ha of viable plantation land in ten countries: Angola, Republic of Congo, Ghana, Mozambique, Malawi, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.” The study proposes the speedy creation of a Fund, headquartered in a tax haven (Mauritius), to finance the planting of the first 100,000 hectares of trees.
In order for these plantations to generate profits for private investors, the study claims that aid will be necessary from European public international cooperation agencies, i.e., taxpayers’ money from Northern European countries, namely, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, the United Kingdom and The Netherlands, as well as from the World Bank via the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which makes loans to private companies.
The study and its recommendations leave us perplexed and indignant, given the false assumptions and inconsistencies on which it is based (see Annex I for a more detailed description). Below, we present a summary of our main criticism.
The study repeats the same treacherous and false promises that corporations and their advocates always make. It states that plantations improve communities’ living conditions, create jobs, improve the soil and the quality and quantity of water. The corporations’ ‘social’ projects would be attractive to the communities. However, plantations lead to a large number of violations of rights, create very few poorly-paid and dangerous jobs, destroy forests and savannas, degrade soils, contaminate and dry up water sources and destroy communities’ way of life. With the plantations, guards arrive who will restrict communities’ freedom of movement; cases of abuse, sexual violence against women and HIV/AIDS infections increase in number. The promise of ‘social’ projects, often not fulfilled, is the main bargaining chip for corporations to gain access to communities’ lands.
The study refers to land conflicts only as “challenges” and the proposed solution is to “follow FSC and other best practises”. Firstly, the 500,000 hectares that the study suggests corporations should plant as monoculture tree plantations are not abandoned or degraded lands. Corporations always want fertile lands, usually flat and with availability of water – in other words, lands that tend to be used by communities. By recommending the FSC, the study ignores ample documentation that proves that the FSC does not solve plantations’ structural problems, and land conflicts even less. The FSC deceives consumers by considering the model of large-scale monoculture plantations “sustainable”, for it always leads to large tracts of land being controlled by corporations and to the intensive use of agro-chemicals and synthetic fertilizers. So far, compensation for the populations that have lost their lands and means of subsistence has always been derisory or inexistent. Meanwhile, the social, environmental, economic and cultural damage caused by monoculture tree plantations in rural areas of African countries has never been compensated by corporations. There exists no way to calculate the damage and much of the harm done is irreparable.
The study references a World Bank/IFC project in Mozambique, stressing that “one important element of the IFC approach will be to define and register land rights”. In fact, the World Bank, as well as financing plantations, has a policy of encouraging governments in countries of the South to speed up the granting of individual deeds and, therefore, the privatization of land, in an attempt to prevent its collective recognition as community land. The World Bank has been promoting the handing over of community lands to private capital all over the world. It is important to highlight the fact that in recent years, the government of Mozambique has put in place a number of reforms in the forestry sector. These include a review of the Forestry Policy and its Implementation Strategy and, very recently, a public consultation process with a view to also reviewing the National Land Policy. In all of these processes the World Bank is the common denominator in terms of promotion and financial “support”. This review is taking place under the pretext of improving transparency and efficacy in land management and policies, and will inevitably force an alteration of the Land Law and respective Regulation, thus legitimizing the occupation of community lands which provide living conditions for communities and peoples.
The study states that the tree plantations would be “a stable, long-term carbon sink”, and result in “substantial adaptation benefits” vis-à-vis climate change at the local level. By stating this, the study ignores a growing body of scientific work showing that monoculture tree plantations are a false climate solution. The experiences of communities all over the world with monoculture tree plantations show that they create a local environment even less prepared for responding to the ever more perceptible impacts of climate change.
The study states that “Global oil and industrial companies” want to “become part of the solution rather than a major part of the problem. They are beginning to see the potential of forestry investments.” Oil and gas companies are an integral part of the climate crisis, regardless of such proclamations. They have not shown any interest in solving it; on the contrary, they intend to invest first and foremost in false solutions – after all, profits are above all else.
Other false statements include: “the world will need the type of intensive afforestation (…) that the Brazilian forestry industry is implementing”; and that Brazil’s neighbour, Uruguay, is “the world’s most recently developed forestry country”. The truth is that the Brazilian experience with industrial tree plantations over the course of the last few decades has led to numerous land conflicts and environmental degradation. Municipalities with the highest concentrations of plantations are among the poorest, compared with those with diversified agriculture based on smallholders. In Uruguay, the same negative impacts occur. Rural areas have seen a massive exodus of people, with the rural population reduced by half. Furthermore, citizens of Uruguay have taken on an enormous debt, owing to a recent contract between its government and Finnish multinational UPM. According to this contract, the government agreed to carry out multi-million dollar infrastructure works to service UPM and the export plans of its second pulp factory.
The study also states that “The main barrier to successful investments in African greenfield planting is low historic returns. New planting by private companies has ground to a halt in recent years.” This not only reveals that profits are what really matters to private investors, but also that the authors of the study deliberately ignore the main reason why the expansion of industrial plantations has been impeded in various African countries: the resistance of communities against such monoculture plantations.
The study also seeks to attract investors, suggesting “the possibility of planting [trees] at significantly lower costs (…), more or less half of 10 years ago (…)”. Promising companies that they will have to spend less means that the weight of the industrial plantation projects from the proposed fund will fall even more upon already indebted African countries and, consequently, on their populations, particularly rural communities that run the risk of losing their most fertile lands.
It is important to stress that a “conservationist” NGO is a co-producer of this study that promotes investments that will benefit first and foremost private companies. The study itself reveals how NGOs like WWF should no longer be considered NGOs since they function and act as the ‘right hand of the plantation industry’.
The report refers to a non-public version of the study which has not been disclosed to the public as far as we are aware. The report also notes that “(…) there is a clear coalition of DFIs [development finance institutions] interested in further discussion on this topic [creation of the Fund], including: CDC [United Kingdom], Finnfund [Finland], IFC [World Bank], NDF [Nordic countries: Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland] and FMO [The Netherlands]”. This demonstrates that decisions about investments are being made without the participation of the communities and other civil society organizations and social movements from the regions in question, i.e., the parties most affected. How can it still be acceptable in the 21st century that public international cooperation agencies use money from their taxpayers in this way? Hiding their decisions from their own citizens and from the populations that will be affected? When plantation corporations and their investors, after everything has been decided, state that they are applying the principle of communities’ “free, prior and informed consent”, does this merit any credibility?
We demand that the non-public version of this study be published immediately by the AfdB and WWF-Kenya, so that its content may be known to the communities and organized civil society in the countries where they intend to implement their plans.
We reiterate our indignation with regard to the channelling of public resources towards private investments, through tax havens, to be invested in highly damaging activities, such as large-scale monoculture plantations.
We further demand a wide-ranging review of the process of allocation of land to plantation corporations, ensuring the return of land to the communities that depend on this land, today and in the future. In Mozambique, for example, peasant agriculture constitutes the main guarantee of subsistence for more than 80% of the population, and the land is the only thing to which communities can resort to ensure food safety and sovereignty.
We reiterate our solidarity on this September 21st with the legitimate and just struggles of communities around the world that resist the advance of plantations and strive to take back their lost lands. They must be remembered and made visible every day. And they will certainly resist this new and insane expansion plan proposed in the AfDB and WWF-Kenya study and commented on in this Open Letter.
We appeal to the solidarity and unity, so that together we may demand the immediate abandonment of any and every afforestation programme based on large-scale monoculture plantation.
The Struggle Continues!
Plantations Are Not Forests!
Signed by:
- ADECRU (Mozambique)
- Justiça Ambiental (Mozambique)
- Missão Tabita (Mozambique)
- SUHODE Foundation (Tanzania)
- WRM (International)
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MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK
As Uganda awaits the Energy Efficiency and Conservation law, plans to develop a five-year plan are underway.
Published
5 days agoon
February 20, 2025
By Witness Radio Team.
Kampala, Uganda—The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD) is developing a comprehensive five-year Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy and Plan for Uganda (EECSP). This plan, which is expected to be completed in June 2025, aims to enhance energy efficiency and conservation efforts in Uganda. Uganda has no law governing the manufacture, distribution, and use of clean cooking technologies.
The plan is expected to be aligned with national priorities, foster partnerships, and secure stakeholder buy-in for effective implementation and long-term sustainability.
In Uganda, over 90% of household energy consumption relies on biomass, a practice that is contributing to massive deforestation. This deforestation threatens our natural habitats, worsens climate change, and increases air pollution. To address these challenges, the government wants to improve energy supply, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and expand green energy solutions in rural areas, ensuring access to affordable and clean energy.
James Banaabe said that the government, through the Energy Ministry, has hired their firm, Castle Group of Consultants, to develop the strategy. He explained that the goal is to create an actionable plan to enhance energy efficiency across various sectors in Uganda, including industries and buildings.
“We need to develop solutions that help sectors reduce their energy bills while promoting efficiency,” he noted during a consultative meeting attended by key stakeholders, including government agencies, private sector actors, civil society, academia, and end users, which provided active and meaningful insights into the development process.
Funded by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the plan seeks to set realistic, achievable energy efficiency targets across key sectors such as industry, transport, residential, and commercial, identify key areas for improvement, develop an environmental strategy, and recommend actionable measures to enhance energy efficiency and conservation.
Engineer Simon Kalanzi, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Department Commissioner at MEMD, emphasized the crucial role of continuous stakeholder engagement. “The energy efficiency strategy and plan rely on broad stakeholder engagement to ensure inclusivity, relevance, and effective implementation. Your involvement is key to addressing market barriers, sharing knowledge, and building capacity to incorporate local and international expertise,” he stated further.
The strategy will yield significant benefits over the next decade, including a promising future with steady and responsible energy usage across targeted sectors.
David Birimumaaso, a principal officer at MEMD, highlighted that the strategy would support the implementation of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation bill, which is already before Parliament. “This law mandates everyone to be mindful of energy conservation,” he added.
On February 4, 2024, the State Minister for Energy, Hon. Sidronius Opolot, tabled the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Bill, 2024. The bill seeks to regulate energy consumption, curb waste, and promote sustainable cooking technologies. According to the bill, no regulations currently govern the manufacture, distribution, and use of clean cooking technologies.
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MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK
Palm oil plantation expansion: A disturbing alliance between a palm oil company, district officials, and a college school is actively seizing land from farming communities in Buvuma district for their own profit.
Published
2 weeks agoon
February 12, 2025
By Witness Radio team.
A Buvuma district land grab cartel, allegedly involving district officials, judicial officials, police personnel attached to Buvuma district police, officials from Buvuma College school, and OPUL workers, is using both police and judicial harassment to target and criminalize the farming activities of several community members in the Nairambi sub-county to expand palm oil plantations.
Commercial oil palm tree growing in Uganda started around 2005, with the first large-scale planting occurring on Bugala Island in Kalangala district under a tripartite public-private partnership with Oil Palm Uganda Limited (OPUL) and Kalangala Oil Palm Grower’s Trust (KOPGT) as the key implementers.
Initially in 2003, the Government signed an agreement to develop Uganda’s oil palm value chain with BIDCO Uganda Limited. They agreed to establish 40,000 hectares of oil palm across the country. The OPUL was to establish 23,500 hectares, while smallholders would be supported to establish 13,500 hectares.
The experience of the people in Kalangala is devastating. Several have seen their lands grabbed, their forests destroyed, and their water contaminated. People have been arrested and tortured for opposing the company, while women and children have been displaced and have nowhere to stay.
Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries reveal that in Kalangala district, the total area planted with oil palm is 10,924 hectares, comprised of 6,500 hectares belonging to OPUL and 4,424 hectares by smallholder farmers. This has forced the Government of Uganda and BIDCO to source land from other districts, including Buvuma.
Before rectifying the mess caused in the Kalangala district, OPUL, a subsidiary of BIDCO Uganda is expanding the oil palm tree growing in the Buvuma district, and there’s a notable repeat of palm oil growing-related challenges.
Buvuma District is a district in the Central Region of Uganda. Jinja District borders it to the north, Mayuge District to the east, Tanzania to the south, and Buikwe District to the west and northwest.
More than a dozen smallholder farmers in Majjo and Bukula villages in Nairambi Sub-county have been framed with criminal charges, including malicious damage and Criminal trespass on their land for refusing to give away their land for palm oil growing.
In Nairambi, Witness Radio has documented troubling patterns of land grabbing, displacement, conflict, poverty, and environmental degradation. Communities living in areas targeted for palm oil plantations are increasingly losing their ancestral lands without being consulted or expressing consent for land takeovers.
This cartel causing mayhem involves Buvuma district authorities, judicial officials, police personnel attached to Buvuma district police, officials from Buvuma College school, and OPUL workers, all colluding to take farmers’ land to grow palm oil trees forcefully.
Meet Ssalongo Ssentongo Living Stone, a 58-year-old farmer in Majjo village in Nairambi Sub-county. He is one of the many victims of the palm oil company. Over the past decade, he has been in and out of prison, facing the same charges repeatedly. He has lost four out of his five pieces of land to the company, plunging him into poverty. His story is a stark example of the injustice faced by many in similar situations.
“I am facing criminal charges because of refusing to surrender my land. Two complainants arrested me four times for a criminal trespass charge—two files by Buvuma College school and two others by Buvuma district officials. In the first case in 2020, I was arrested by police on orders of Buvuma College School as soon as I came back from prison after a year I was then re-arrested and charged with the same case of criminal trespass by police on orders of the same school. This has been the trend. When I refused to surrender it to the School, Buvuma district officials started on the same. They tell me that the land is not mine; it belongs to the school, and at the same time, the district tells me it’s forest land, yet this is land that I formally requested from the Buganda Land board.” Ssentongo added.
He said he owned about five pieces of land that supported his family of 12, but four of them were forcefully taken. He added that he has written to the Oil Palm company seeking to re-possess his land but in vain. It is now almost 10 years since four of my pieces of land were forcefully taken and have never been compensated,” Ssentongo revealed.
Despite initial land acquisitions for palm oil in Kalangala being filled with concerns of land grabbing, the trail of land grabbing for project expansion has since been replicated in Buvuma district. In the project pioneer villages of Buvuma, more than 600 people whose land was taken for the oil palm project in 2015 with promises that it would be compensated later are suffering.
Many families in Kakyanga, Kiziiru, Bukiindi, and Bukalabati villages are struggling to make ends meet. Their land, measuring over 388 hectares, was forcefully taken and is now occupied by oil palm plantations. They can no longer afford to meet their families’ basic needs, a stark reminder of the human cost of land grabbing.
With significant financial and political backing, the Buvuma Oil Palm land grab cartel which began from Kakyanga, Kiziiru, Bukiindi, Bukalabati, and Bukinarwa continues to extend to Majjo and Bukula villages in the same sub-county, Nairambi.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture statistics, palm oil trees have already covered over 5,000 hectares in the Buvuma district.
According to the affected residents, Mr. Adrian Ddungu, the chairperson of Buvuma District, is allegedly colluding with Buvuma College School to grab their land for palm oil plantations. All five families share a common struggle—the increasing criminalization they face for refusing to surrender their land. The urgency of their situation is pressing as the land grab continues to extend to Majjo and Bukula villages.
“All of our subcounty land is mostly occupied by oil palm trees. Most of it has been grabbed, and OPUL’s agents are now extending to our side. As you can see, one of our community members’ land was taken and is currently planted with palm trees.” Nsubuga, another victim, said.
Efforts to get a comment on the community’s allegations from OPUL were futile, as our phone calls went unanswered, and our emails received no response.
However, Mr. Adrian Ddungu, the District Chairman, and Mr. Lawrence Sserwanga, the Chairperson of the Board of Governors at Buvuma College, denied allegations of involvement in land grabbing. Instead, they both claimed that the residents were occupying the land illegally and insisted they had no intentions of selling it to OPUL. They also stated that the land was given to the school, and the residents were compensated.
“The land belongs to the Buvuma school; those people gave the land to the school and were compensated.” Mr. Ddungu revealed.
In contrast, Mr. Ddungu’s response diverged from Mr. Sserwanga’s. Mr. Sserwanga maintained that the early inhabitants of the land had willingly donated it to the school without expecting compensation. “They gave it freely because they wanted to see a school built; donations are not supposed to be compensated,’ he told Witness Radio, which raises questions on how the school acquired land.
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MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK
The Taiwanese investor & Others: Dozens of community land and environmental rights defenders are in prison for opposing his aggressive land acquisition tactics.
Published
3 weeks agoon
February 5, 2025
By Witness Radio team.
An independent investigation by Witness Radio has revealed that a tree plantation co-owned by the Taiwanese has aided the criminalization of over 20 community land defenders’ work in Mubende District and caused prison sentences ranging from 30 months to 34 years, respectively.
Witness Radio is a Ugandan-based not-for-profit organization that uses legal aid support and media-oriented approaches, such as investigative, data, and advocacy journalism, to protect and promote the land and environmental rights of local and Indigenous communities in development.
These investigations, spanning two months, have unearthed a staggering 23 cases of criminalization against defenders since Quality Parts commenced operations in Mubende District in 2011. These arbitrary arrests, kidnaps, raids of defenders’ homes at night, assaults, tortures, and alleged aiding of unfair convictions are a stark reminder of the profound injustice faced by those who oppose the company’s land grab of the community land.
For many years, Quality Parts Limited has deployed Mubende district police, private security firms, and company workers to carry out intimidation, coercion, and manipulation. No community member has ever been consulted or consented to the removal of their land.
In their unwavering commitment, these defenders are protecting a community of smallholder farmers who have lawfully occupied and cultivated their land for over five (5) decades. Most smallholder farmers have legal documents proving their legitimate land ownership, starkly contrasting the injustice they face.
Quality Parts Uganda Limited, incorporated in 2000, operates plantations of pine and eucalyptus trees in Mubende district, southwestern Uganda. The company is co-owned by Taiwanese investor Chang Shu-mu, known as Martin Chang, and his wife, Anna Kyoheirwe.
When writing this report, nine (9) community defenders are serving prison sentences ranging from 30 months to 34 years in Muyinayina and Kaweeri government prisons in the Mubende district, with the majority facing multiple offenses. According to Witness Radio interviews, more community defenders allege that the company regularly threatens community land defenders that they will face the same fate if they continue to oppose its actions.
In the latest incident, hell broke loose in the early morning hours of January 29, 2024, when four Quality Parts Uganda Ltd company workers, guarded by three armed police officers in casual attire (later it was established to be attached to Mubende Central Police Station), attacked, beat, and arbitrarily arrested three land rights defenders based in Kicuculo village, Kiruuma Sub-county in Mubende district accusing them of destroying the tree plantation. It was the second brutal arrest of the trio.
The three defenders, Byakatonda David, Kabuuka Levi, and Byamukama Yuda, the Kicucuulo Village chairman, were briefly taken to Mubende Police before being aligned before Mubende district Magistrates’ Court. They were charged with malicious property damage and remanded to Kaweeri Prison on the same day.
Mr. Byamukama Yuda is one of those serving a 30-month sentence at Muyinayina Prison; an interview with Witness Radio revealed that three armed Police officers from Mubende and company officials raided his home at 5 a.m., manhandled and assaulted, and arrested him without explanation.
“In the early hours of the morning, the group raided my home and ordered me to open the door. At first, I hesitated because I had no idea who they were since they never introduced themselves. But when they started aggressively banging one of my house’s doors, my wife and I had no choice but to open it. The moment I did, my eyes met the furious faces of armed officers who humiliated and assaulted me in front of my wife and children before forcefully arresting me without offering any explanation. These officers threw me into a waiting saloon car whose number plates I can’t recall, where I found workers from Quality Parts. Instead of offering any clarity about my arrest, they just threatened me, accusing me of being ‘big-headed. Within minutes, they sped off to my son Levi’s home, where he, too, was arbitrarily arrested alongside me,” Byamukama revealed.
Another defender, 62-year-old Byakatonda David, was forcefully arrested by masked gangs wielding machetes, led by a man named Kayumba, affiliated with Quality Parts Uganda Ltd. He revealed, “These men told me that the police had instructed them to arrest me and take me to join the other two who had been arrested earlier (Byamukama and Kabuuka). They forcefully arrested threatening to cause more harm to me in case I tried to resist,” the defender told Witness Radio.
They further revealed that their continued mobilization of community members (villagers) to resist the company’s land grab continues to lead to their criminalization. This continued criminalization highlights the deep-rooted injustices that defenders face when opposing harmful development projects. The trio spent five months on remand at Kaweeri prison, appeared in court over 18 times, and emphasized that their conviction was made in bad faith.
“First of all, this case was unnecessarily delayed, as either the state or the magistrate frequently absented themselves, forcing us to appear in court numerous times. The trial was also unfair, as we were never allowed to defend ourselves. Also, the evidence presented was fake. In the ruling, the magistrate stated that the testimony of four witnesses satisfied the court, yet only three appeared, and even their evidence was questionable,” Mr. Byakatonda further mentioned.
Witness Radio has also established that powerful multinational companies are using police, district officials, and court personnel to aid land grabbing. The same system weakens the poor landowners and forces them to surrender their land for Quality Parts. “When we try to resist, they oppress us. The company tells us they are backed by government officials and other powerful individuals in security forces, which is evident because even when we report our cases to authorities, little or no action is taken. They tell us we have no power to oppose the investors,” Byamukama expressed his disappointment.
On June 21, 2024, the three were convicted of malicious damage to property and sentenced to 30 months in Muyinayina prison despite inconsistencies in the evidence presented by witnesses.
The charges against the community defenders stem from a violent incident on December 6, 2022, when a group of over 20 casual workers linked to Quality Parts Uganda Ltd attacked the village of Kicucuulo, hacked people, and destroyed property, including houses and crops. These workers raided the homes of outspoken community members, cut people with pangas, and beat everyone they found in their homes, threatening to kill them if they didn’t leave the land. Three people were hacked, while properties worth millions of Shillings were destroyed.
Despite the violence they endured that day, those who were hacked and others whose property was destroyed were arrested when they went to report the incident to Mubende police.
Meanwhile, the company workers responsible for the harm remained untouched. At that time, the defenders, Kabuka Levi, Lubwama Robert, Bulegeya Erisa, Byakatonda David, and Byamukama Yuda, were arrested, interrogated, and made to record statements before being released on police bond.
“When we reached Mubende police, we were all arrested and interrogated for almost an hour before recording statements on malicious damage charges. The company claimed we cut its trees, which we did not do,” Mr. Kabuka Levi told Witness Radio in an interview in 2023.
Witness Radio’s investigations have also found out that by the time the alleged tree cutting took place, as said by the company and its witnesses in court, that is the same time, the accused were treating wounds from the previous attack by the company workers, raising questions on whether the accused were the real suspects.
“It is unfortunate that people accused of committing land-related crimes against the ‘investor’ are landowners who have for generations occupied and cultivated their land until they faced this violent land grab. Duty bearer agencies have been captured and are being used to target defenders and activists pushing back forced evictions,” Witness Radio’s Team Leader Jeff Wokulira Ssebaggala said.
The Mubende Magistrates Court eventually dismissed the case on October 17, 2023, due to a lack of evidence. However, in January 2024, the three Byamukama, Byakatonda, and Kabuuka were arrested, charged, and convicted again for the same offense of cutting the company’s trees.
This trend of persecution has instilled fear in the majority of the community, with a saying: “You accept what the company wants, or you go to jail for opposing it.” Other individuals arrested for resisting the company’s land grab include Kaberuka Fenehansi, who died last year while serving a prison sentence; Sinamenya Paul, Ssemombwe Richard, Ategeka Esau, Bukenya Godfrey, Ssebanenya Yona, and Sserugo Sam, all serving sentences ranging from 15 to 34 years.
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Invisible victims of Uganda Land Grabs
Resource Center
- LAND GRABS AT GUNPOINT REPORT IN KIRYANDONGO DISTRICT
- The Mouila Declaration of the Informal Alliance against the Expansion of Industrial Monocultures
- FORCED LAND EVICTIONS IN UGANDA TRENDS RIGHTS OF DEFENDERS IMPACT AND CALL FOR ACTION
- 12 KEY DEMANDS FROM CSOS TO WORLD LEADERS AT THE OPENING OF COP16 IN SAUDI ARABIA
- PRESENDIANTIAL DIRECTIVE BANNING ALL LAND EVICTIONS IN UGANDA
- FROM LAND GRABBERS TO CARBON COWBOYS A NEW SCRAMBLE FOR COMMUNITY LANDS TAKES OFF
- African Faith Leaders Demand Reparations From The Gates Foundation.
- GUNS, MONEY AND POWER GRABBED OVER 1,975,834 HECTARES OF LAND; BROKE FAMILIES IN MUBENDE DISTRICT.
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