DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS
More women are going to be sexually abused and forced to lose their land to the rich/investors as Uganda goes into a semi lockdown of 42 days
Published
4 years agoon

Opondo entering with a bicycle in her muddy thatched house.
By witnessradio.org Team
Opondo Cathy, (not real name due to the sensitivity of the matter), has never owned even a small radio in her entire life. This is a clear indication that the villager may not be aware of critical developments in the country. And this does not come as a shock, since the first time she heard the news of the COVID-19 in Uganda was when she visited her neighbor who’s 500 meters away from her home, barely a month after Uganda had even registered a first case COVID-19.
Little did she know that land grabbers would take advantage of the lockdown to sexually abuse and humiliate, subdue demolish her house and grab her land.
Before COVID-19 misfortune struck, Opondo lived peacefully on her 6-acre piece of land, where she used to grow crops like banana, cassava, beans, and maize for both home consumption and sale. And experienced a happy life in her muddy structured house with her four children.
She could properly feed her family, and offer basic needs, but now, she rents in a nearby village, working like Trojans to find ends meet.
There were many violent attempts to evict her and others on their land but they would always resist. This time around, the grabbers resorted to sexually abuse her because she’s a woman as a tool to weaken the poor lady and force her to leave the only source of income.
According to her, a dozen of women and young girls have been sexually abused and harassed in their area, because they resisted surrendering their land to the company.
“We withstood all their beatings, destruction of our property, arrests, but the rape thing was intolerable,” she adds while weeping.
On the fateful day of 18th August 2020, Opondo had gone to pick her pieces of stuff at a nearby Bweyale town. While returning home at about 8:00 pm, she was attacked and sexually abused by a private security guard attached to one of the multinational companies involved in large-scale agribusinesses. The rapist attacker her from behind and tried to strangle her neck and grabbed her mouth, and hit her to the ground.
“I struggled with him, but he overpowered me, he put me down and raped me. I yelled louder for my rescue, but the neighbors were far. As soon as the rapist had them coming, he ran away,” she adds.
“The louder yelling brought those nearby to come to my rescue, they did not even bother to ask me what had happened, because I already looked victimized. They decided to look for the rapist. Whereas I had a walking disability after the horrific incident, we went to the company offices where I always used to see him but unfortunately, he was not there,” she further reveals.
During the first lockdown, public transport had been banned, which made it hard to reach out to a police post for help since it was distant.
After two days, Opondo managed to get to the area police to report the incident. In her own words, the officer on duty (a policeman) asked her if she had evidence and if that was not assaulted. When she asked for a police medical form to be examined, she was referred to a nearby Health Centre Three (III) with a small chit of a paper indicating that she was assaulted not raped. On meeting the medical officer, she handed over the chit and was examined on grounds of assault, not rape.
“I could hardly walk and had severe pain in my genital organs, which even a blind person could see, but because the police work with the multinational companies to evict us, they said I was only assaulted not raped, the mother of four adds.
According to Opondo, she had already received several threats and warnings from the agents of her evictors (Agilis Partners Limited). “They used to tell me, if I don’t leave the land I should not regret what will happen to me. Indeed I now regret,” she reveals.
Despite being raped is not even enough, her house was later torched by agents of Agilis Partners who claimed that she had illegally occupied their land. On that day they (her family) slept in cold and exposed to vagrancies of nature.
Agilis Partners Limited is among the three multinational companies that have violently and illegally evicted the poor communities off their land in Kiryandongo district without a court order or following due processes.
Other multinationals include Great Seasons SMC Limited, solely owned by a Sudanese investor based in Dubai, and Kiryandongo Sugar Limited owned by RAI Dynasty.
In the same village, Opondo and others, close to 100 were evicted to pave way for large-scale grain and oilseeds farming business. The company claimed it had lawfully acquired the land.
“I am an emotional wreck, my life was ruined, if I can’t afford to provide for my family, do I have any meaning?” she angrily asks.
“I always burned the candle at both ends to be able to provide for my family, but all their dreams were shuttered, they no longer attend school. I had no money to feed them and had to transfer them to the village, they currently live with their 78 aged grandmas somewhere in northern Uganda”, she adds.
Although the kids were transferred, they face a lot of destitutions due because of the grandmother who can hardly meet their basic needs.
“Even when they went to the village I still the caretaker of the family. I do distasteful works that I don’t want them to know,” she reveals.
While Uganda starts its 42 days semi- COVID-19 lockdown, it is notably clear that a significant number of Ugandans will be sharing the same eviction stories as Opondo’s.
Research findings from Witness Radio show more than 50,000 people across Uganda were subjected to sexual and gender based violence, illegally evicted off their land during the first COVID-19 lockdown, further more women and girls suffered most.
Shortly after Uganda went into a total lockdown on March, 18th 2020, the government through the ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development halted all land evictions throughout the lockdown to comply with the president’s directive of staying at home, but, the evictions suddenly increased as the pandemic gave a total advantage to the opportunists to easily access millions of hectares with the backing of the government and other influential politicians in the country. The first lockdown was later relaxed in mid-August, the same year.
Now, Uganda announced a second semi-lockdown on 6th, June 2021 for 42 days where schools, Worshipping places and inter-district public transport have been burned.
President of Uganda Mr. Yoweri Museveni on a televised address announced 40 new measures to curb the second wave of the pandemic. Among them include, the closure of schools, ban of communal prayers, and public gatherings/workshops all for 42 days, inter-district travel banned for 14 days, private vehicles limited to just 3 people including the driver, and many other measures.
Currently, Uganda has 53,961 COVID-19 confirmed cases, 383 deaths and 47,760 have recovered from the disease.
According to witness radio, evictions will not only live many Ugandans landless but also puts them at higher chances of being sexually abused by people who are supposed to protect them.
Experts say that in a pandemic, an eviction is particularly dangerous, leading a person to double up with friends and family in a crowded housing situation that easily accelerates the virus’ speed.
With no guidelines at the moment to protect indigenous and poor people, it is evident that tens of thousands of Ugandans will be affected by the ruthless actions of the land grabbers.
“If the grabbers managed to disregard the previous guidelines and continued to carry out their dubious schemes, what will happen to people now when there are no political heads of ministries including Land? Says, Witness Radio.
In the meantime, earlier today, the Chief Justice of Uganda, Alfonse Owiny Dollo also suspended court hearings and appearances for 42 days as a measure to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The Chief Justice said the move is in line with President Museveni’s directives on prevention and mitigation of the virus.
Whereas the closing of courtrooms makes sense for public health reasons, the delays are likely to create an overwhelming backlog of cases and have legal ramifications, since defendants are guaranteed a speedy and fair trial under the Constitution.
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DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS
A land rights defender and his wife have been arrested, charged, and sent to prison.
Published
3 days agoon
July 16, 2025
By Witness Radio team.
Kiryandongo District – A community land rights Defender at Nyamutende Cell in Kiryandongo District, and his wife have been sent to prison by a magistrate’s court in Kiryandongo District, Witness Radio confirms.
Olupot James and his wife, Apio Sarah, were charged with malicious damage to property after a multinational company, Kiryandongo Sugar Limited, accused them of destroying its crops. The area police later picked them up.
Since 2017, Kiryandongo Sugar Limited, a subsidiary of Rai Holdings Private Limited, has been among the three multinationals that have forcibly displaced over thirty-five thousand (35,000) people in Kiryandongo District without following due diligence or offering alternative settlement options.
Community land Rights defender Olupot James and his wife Apio Sarah are amongst a few remaining families that resisted the company’s violent eviction and repression. Their home is currently trapped in the middle of the sugar plantation after they lost their land, which was dug up to the house by the multinational. Despite their peaceful resistance, Olupot has been arrested, charged, and imprisoned more than six times, a clear indication of the injustice they are facing.
Since late May this year, the duo has been reporting to Kiryandongo police station on Criminal Case Number CRB No. 316/2025, until they were arrested and aligned before the court and imprisoned. Olupot was remanded to Dyang while Apio is in Kiryandongo prison.
The state alleges that Olupot and Apio committed the offence of malicious damage to property in Kikungulu village, Kiryandongo District, a region with a complex history of land-related conflicts.
The Witness Radio’s legal aid team is monitoring the case and will appear in court to apply for their bail.
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DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS
Crackdown on EACOP protesters intensifies: 35 Activists arrested in just four months.
Published
3 months agoon
April 30, 2025
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.
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DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS
Witness Radio Petitions ODPP urgently to review and withdraw criminal charges against Buvuma Community Land Defenders.
Published
3 months agoon
April 14, 2025
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.
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Resource Center
- LAND GRABS AT GUNPOINT REPORT IN KIRYANDONGO DISTRICT
- RESEARCH BRIEF -TOURISM POTENTIAL OF GREATER MASAKA -MARCH 2025
- 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.
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