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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.

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3 months ago

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Part of Mr. Ssentongo’s land which was seized by agents of OPUL.Many have fallen victims of oil palm land grab.

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.

Related posts:

Uganda: Buvuma residents land cleared for oil palm growing before compensation Oil palm growing threatening food security in Buvuma Nine (9) years and still counting: Buvuma residents still await compensation for land grabbed by the Oil palm project. Bidco’s expansion to Buvuma Island gains momentum Oil palm growing: New twist as Buvuma residents disown group over compensation

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Over 1,000 residents in Uganda’s lost village at risk of extreme hunger

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3 days ago

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May 2, 2025

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What you need to know:

 In January, a joint team of soldiers and police evicted more than 400 local people who had been occupying part of the 64 square kilometre Maruzi ranch in Apac District. The most affected were actually residents of Acam-cabu Village.

Acam-cabu Village is no longer a recognised administrative unit in northern Uganda’s Apac District after it was erased from the map of Uganda following a land dispute.

 Since this area is now excluded from the list of existing villages in the country, a total of 1,040 people living in 180 households there cannot now benefit from any government programmes and projects.

 Mr Bosco Wacha, the LCI chairman of Acam-cabu, said the village disappeared from the map of Uganda around 2018.
“Since 2018, I have not been getting my salary and the people who have been isolated because of this confusion are suffering,” Mr Wacha said on the phone on Thursday, May 1, 2025.

 He also said all the households in the lost village are at risk of extreme hunger and starvation because the government has stopped them from engaging in any farming or economic activities.

“There is a severe shortage of food here because we have been stopped from farming. We are not able now to take our children to school and we lack access to healthcare,” said Mr Joe Olwock, the area chairman of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.

Mr Felix Odongo Ococ, Akokoro LC3 chairman, said that although the government doesn’t recognise Acam-cabu as a village in Uganda, during the National Population and Housing Census, 2024, enumerators went and counted people there.

Data obtained from the local leadership of this isolated administrative unit shows that there are 180 households in Acam-cabu. Of these, at least 14 households have one member each and eight households have eight members.

 However, a household regarded as number eight in the document that was reportedly sent to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) has the highest membership, standing at 11 people. This household is followed by number 158, which has 10 members, and household number eight has a total of nine members.

Dr Kenneth Omona, the Minister of Northern Uganda, previously said he would meet the leadership of Apac to try to iron out all issues affecting the community in the district.
In January, a joint team of soldiers and police evicted more than 400 local people who had been occupying part of the 64 square kilometre Maruzi ranch in Apac District. The most affected were actually residents of Acam-cabu Village.

The squatters, numbering over 1,500 occupied the said land around 1995. They had repeatedly ignored various eviction notices, saying the land belongs to their fore grandfathers.

In September 2015, the High Court in Lira issued an interim order blocking Apac District leadership from evicting the affected residents. The district then resorted to using the army and police to evict the squatters.
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has established a military detachment to man security of the area.

Source: Monitor.

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MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK

EU: Palm oil lobbyists allegedly are trying to “undo” deforestation law, incl. granting “smallholder” exemptions, raising concerns for Indonesian rainforests

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5 days ago

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April 30, 2025

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“Palm oil lobbyists water down Europe’s anti-deforestation law”

The European Union made waves when it passed the landmark EUDR “zero deforestation” law in 2023. Unfortunately, multinationals are already trying to undo it.

The new law is an attempt to keep deforestation-linked products out of Europe, but palm oil lobbyists are fighting back, saying its monitoring and tracing requirements could financially harm small farmers.

In part due to these concerns, the EU is giving all importers until 2026 to get up to speed on compliance. But now, lobbyists are pushing the EU to grant smallholders exemptions from the EUDR—a potential death knell for some of Indonesia’s last standing rainforests.

The term “smallholder” is very ambiguous in Indonesia. Some smallholders run impoverished family farms. Others are local elites who abuse their influence to create mini corporate plantations in protected areas, a growing problem for the orangutan capital of the world.

Those elites are a major source of deforestation in Indonesia, but lobbyists want to have the EU pre-label entire geographic regions as being at “minimal risk” for smallholder deforestation, essentially giving them a pass on EUDR requirements.

…the EU … shouldn’t create major loopholes for small, rogue operators. Instead, it should help smallholders reach full compliance…

Original Source:www.ran.org Via  Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Related posts:

Part of Mr. Ssentongo’s land which was seized by agents of OPUL.Many have fallen victims of oil palm land grab.
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. Acknowledging Community’s Agreement while Raising Concerns with World Bank’s Dispute Resolution Service Palm Oil project investor in Landgrab: Witness Radio petitions Buganda Land Board to save its tenants from being forcefully displaced palm oil plantation. Uganda: Community members violently evicted by security forces, allegedly related to EACOP; incl. co. responses New booklet: Nine Reasons to Say NO to Contract Farming with Palm Oil Companies
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80-year-old widow evicted from her land, detained for five months on trespass charges

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1 week ago

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April 26, 2025

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Ms Elivaida Mugala (C) and her children pose next to the grave of her husband on disputed piece of land in Nawaka village, Ikumbya Sub-county in Luuka District. PHOTO/DENIS EDEMA.

Ms Elivaida Mugala, a resident of Nawaka village, Ikumbya Sub-county in Luuka District, Eastern Uganda, is fighting to reclaim her 36-acre piece of land allegedly stolen by a grabber who accused her of trespass, yet she has lived on it for five decades.
Armed with what Ms Mugala believes are forged documents and backed by some local authorities, the alleged land grabber, Mr Fred Bahati, has left the 80-year-old widow and her family frustrated and helpless.
Her neighbours and other community members are also outraged and now worried that their land could be targeted next.

 Neighbours who witnessed her eviction described the scene as chaotic and traumatising to watch after the suspected grabber allegedly hired police and suspected goons to eject the elderly Ms Mugala from the peoperty she inherited from her late husband,  Yowasi Kintu who died in 2022.

“Mr Bahati took advantage of our vulnerability after my husband’s death. He used his power and influence to forge documents to claim ownership of my land. But I won’t back down. I’ll fight for justice, no matter what it takes,’’ Ms Mugala vowed.

A maize garden in front of one of the houses that belonged to Ms Elivaida Mugala

Ms Mugala recounted eviction experience, saying: “When I resisted the forceful eviction from the land we’ve occupied since the 1970s, I was accused of trespassing on my own land and home. I was arrested along with my grandchildren and daughter, and we were imprisoned in Iganga for five months without clear charges or legal representation.’’
“He came with an army of security personnel, threatening us with firearms and intimidating our entire community. His hired thugs destroyed my home and crops, then accused me and my grandchildren of causing the damage. At my age, what energy do I have to inflict such harm?” Ms Mugala recounted.

“It’s a grave injustice, and I demand accountability. It’s clear that some local leaders are colluding with the grabber. They’re taking advantage of the family’s vulnerability, but the community won’t stand for it. We’re calling on district leaders to intervene and bring justice to this elderly woman,” Defence Secretary of Nawaka B Village, Mr Francis Balwaine said.
According to Mr Balwaine no leader has visited to investigate, nor police picked interest in investing this case.
“It’s clear that the lack of action is due to the family’s inability to bribe their way to justice. This injustice will have consequences, and it will likely cost the ruling party votes,’’ he added.

When this reporter visited the scene, Ms Mugala’s two-roomed house was found damaged, with windows shattered and doors plucked out.

The trees she had planted around the home were also cut down.

Ms Mugala showed us a maize garden prepared by the suspected land grabber during the five months she was reportedly detained by police no clear charge.

Mr Christopher Matindo, a 76-year-old retired teacher and current information secretary of Nawaka Parish, who shares a boundary with Ms Mugala, said he was worried he could be the next target for the land grabbers.

“Mr Bahati hasn’t lived around here since he was a child. What basis does he have for claiming ownership of this land?’’ Mr Matindo wondered.

Mr Matindo revealed that his land is adjacent to the disputed piece of land, making him a concerned neighbor.
“I’m worried that if they succeed in grabbing Ms Mugala’s land, mine could be next. What’s more troubling is the silence from local leaders. Why are they quiet on this matter?’’ he wondered.

One of Ms Mugala’s sons, Mr Moses Nsandha, 37, said they have sought help from various offices, including the police, but they have not been helped.

“It’s like the land grabber has bought off the entire Luuka district leadership, leaving us with nowhere to turn,’’ he alleged.

“We’ve been loyal NRM voters for decades, but this incident has opened our eyes to see the reality. If this is how they repay us – by enabling grabbers to steal from the vulnerable – then they shouldn’t expect our votes again if there is no justice for the old woman,’’ said Mr Godfrey Mulwa, Councilor for Nawaka Parish.
When contacted, Mr Bahati said the case was in court and denied any involvement in destroying the elderly woman’s property.
He claimed that he purchased the land through the rightful channels, arguing that the house he demolished was his workers’ quarters on his property.

Mr Bahati claimed he’s in possession of genuine documents proving his ownership of the land, which he said spans between 8-10 acres.

He dismissed Ms Mugala’s claim that the disputed land measures 36 acres, arguing that she exaggerated it.

According to the district Police Commander, Mr Moses Akena, land fights are increasingly becoming a challenge in Luuka.

 

A house belonging to the daughter of Ms  Mugala, which was destroyed by a suspected land grabber in Luuka district.PHOTO/ ENIS EDEMA.

“A common scenario is when family members, particularly brothers, grab property from widows or orphans after the death of the family head,’’ he said.
Mr Akena acknowledged a high level of moral decay in the community, contributing to the rise in land disputes.
However, he noted that the police are collaborating with Redeem International, an NGO that advocates for widows’ and orphans’ rights. Through this partnership, they’re working to restore grabbed property to its rightful owners through court proceedings.

Police have over time been accused of enabling land grabbing through corruption.
Mr Hassan Ssembarirwa, Deputy Resident Commissioner of Luuka, said Ms Mugala, whose land is allegedly being grabbed by Mr Bahati, is currently before the RDC’s office.
He noted that Mr Bahati has filed five cases against Ms Mugala in different courts.
Ironically, Mr Ssembarirwa revealed that Redeem International, an organisation dedicated to protecting the property rights of widows and orphans, is handling Ms Mugala’s case in court with the support of the RDC’s office. Their goal is to ensure the elderly woman regains her land.

“The police forensic investigations indicated that he had forged agreement documents and the matter is before the court, being followed up by Redeem International and the office of the RDC to ensure the old woman gets justice,’’ Mr Ssembarirwa said seemingly affirming that the responsible government officials have folded their hands instead of helping Ms Ms Mugala who also claim to be a longtime supporter of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) which has been I power for nearly four decades.

Ms Damalie Nyafwono, a lawyer with the NGO, said her team had successfully secured bail for three individuals accused in a land dispute case filed by Mr Bahati at Kiyunga Magistrate Court in Luuka.

“Mr Bahati has filed multiple cases against Ms Magala in different courts in Iganga. It’s clear he’s trying to harass and intimidate her. But we’re prepared to fight her case in every forum until she gets justice,’’ the lawyer said.

Corruption among public servants and land grabbing have become a common and permanent feature in almost every part of the country, with the most vulnerable being women and ordinary/ poor Ugandans who cannot bribe their way to get justice.
Police said in their latest annual crime report that a total of 397 cases of land-related crimes were reported in 2024, compared to 271 cases reported in 2023, giving a 46.5 per cent increase in the crimes reported under this category.

Source: monitor.co.ug

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