By Witness Radio team

A magistrate court sitting in Hoima City in mid-western Uganda has granted bail to six cattlemen but, will remain in prison due to other criminal charges framed against them.

The six cattlemen are part of a group of over 20 cattlemen that have been slapped with multiple criminal charges by the Hoima City resident state attorney for opposing an illegal land eviction that is taking away their grazing land for the Tilenga Feeder Pipeline Component.

They are part of a larger community of 2500 people that have legally occupied and cultivated their land measuring 1294.99 hectares at Kapapi North, Kapapi Central, Waaki North, Waaki South, and Lunga villages in Kapapi and Kiryatete sub-counties in Hoima District since the 1950s, which is gazetted as public land.

This follows Witness Radio – Uganda’s intervention with its legal team to provide criminal defense to victims of irresponsible oil investment. The majority of the cattlemen in prison were arbitrarily arrested, maliciously charged, and sent to prison a few days before a violent and forceful land eviction.

On 10th February 2023 at 1:00 am, Hoima District Police, soldiers from Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF), with the assistance of security guards from Magnum, a Private Security Company descended on the community violently and illegally evicted them without a court order.

Kataza Samuel is granted bail on both charges of malicious damage to property and stealing cattle; Mulega Eria on both charges of criminal trespass and stealing cattle, Karongo Stephen on both threatening violence and stealing cattle; Rangira Stephen on both threatening violence and stealing cattle; Karongo Edward on both charges of theft and stealing cattle while Mbombo Stephen has been granted bail on threatening violence charge.

On a sad note, the six plus other cattlemen in prison cannot get out and enjoy their freedoms because they are still facing many criminal charges namely assaulting Tilenga Feeder Pipeline Component workers, new charges of threatening violence, and malicious damage to property among others.

Each of the victims was granted a cash bail of one million shillings (1,000,000=) about 273.9 US dollars on their first charge while on the second charge, each was granted a cash bail of three hundred thousand Shillings (300,000=) about 80.43 US Dollars. Sureties were conditioned to a noncash bail of twenty million shillings about 5,479.4 US dollars.

According to the 2022 bail guidelines, if an offense is triable by both the High Court and Magistrates Court and the accused person has been on remand for 60 days before the commencement of trial, the person shall be released on bail on such conditions that the court considers reasonable.

Bail conditions; court ordered the six to report back for their bail on the 20th of June 2023.

However, bail applications for other criminal charges have been fixed to be heard on the 2nd of June 2023 by different trial magistrates.

By Witness Radio team,

Mr. Karongo Edward, a smallholder farmer in Kapapi village, is one of the dozens of local farmers slapped with multiple criminal charges by the Director of Public Prosecution’s office in Hoima district, Western Uganda because they are resisting an illegal eviction to give way to Tilenga Feeder Pipeline Component.

Arbitrarily arrested on the 25th of January 2023 between 15:00 and 15:30 EAT at Kapapi trading center by two armed police officers attached to Kigolobya police station under the command of one Ndahura Gafayo, now he faces three separate criminal files from criminal trespass, assault to stealing cattle and he’s likely to face more charges resulting from his opposition to an illegal land eviction to give way for Feeder Pipeline Component of the Tilenga Project.

According to his family, Kalong was not informed about the reasons for his arrest instead, he was grabbed, handcuffed, and bundled into a private car with registration number UAT 135J.  He was driven to Kigorobya police, where he spent a night before being transferred to Kitoba police station on the 26th, the following day.

Karongo is one of the 2500 people that have legally occupied and cultivated their land at Kapapi village, Kapapi Sub County, in Hoima District since the 1950s, which is gazetted as public land. No sooner had Karongo and other local farmers been imprisoned than their land was grabbed at gunpoint in the wee hours of the night without a court order.

According to the locals, as soon as the news started circulating that Kapapi North, Kapapi Central, Waaki North, Waaki South, and Lunga villages’ land had been identified as suitable for the oil project, people masquerading as landlords emerged and started ordering and threatening locals to vacate their land.

On the 10th of February 2023, over 2500 locals were forcefully and violently evicted from 1294.99 hectares of their land with no compensation or resettlement.

The eviction was spearheaded by Ndahura Gafayo, Aston Muhwezi, David Mpora, Monica Rwashadika, one Agaba, Wilber Kiiza, and Moses Asimwe with full backup from the area police, soldiers from Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF), and security guards from Magnum, a private security company.

Many adults and children were severely beaten and wounded, women are alleging being raped, and houses were set ablaze. In contrast, others were destroyed, animals were slaughtered, and others were looted. Evictors and their agents looted properties worth millions of Uganda Shillings.

As Witness Radio writes this report, dozens of local farmers opposed to forced land evictions to benefit the Tilenga oil project are facing multiple criminal charges and currently remain at Hoima government prison.

Below are tables drawn to showcase files, names of prisoners (locals from Kapapi opposed to forced land eviction to give way for the Tilenga oil project), court file numbers, and their charges;

File No. 1

File No.2

File No. 3

File No.4

File No. 5

File No. 6

Witness Radio – Uganda provides criminal defense to victims and has filed bail applications.

By  Witness Radio team,

10th February 2023 will remain poignant in the lives of hundreds of Kapapi residents whose livelihoods were lost in a forced eviction executed by government security forces in Hoima and private security guards attached to Magnum Security Company. The forced evictions are to benefit land grabbers and speculators from the East African Oil Pipeline project.

The evictions left over 500 families forcefully evicted from the land they had lived on for decades. The communities accuse a group of people namely; Ndahura Gafayo, Aston Muhwezi, David Mpora, Monica Rwashadika, one Agaba, Wilber Kiiza, and Moses Asimwe of masterminding the land grabbing in Waaki North, Kapapi Central, Waaki South, Runga, and Kiryatete villages in Kapapi and Kiganja sub-counties, Hoima district.

On 22nd of February, 2023, the government of Uganda, through the Minister of Lands Housing and Urban Development, Honorable. Judith Nabakooba directed all the affected persons to be returned to their land. However, the illegal eviction victims are instead forced into hiding due to constant threats of arrest and intimidation. Their homesteads and land remain inaccessible as they are tightly guarded by security guards.

In a meeting attended by victims, village leaders, police, and Resident District Commissioner (RDC), among other leaders in Rukola village, Hon. Nabakooba stated that the eviction was unlawful and directed the district security committee which is headed by the RDC to oversee the resettlement of the communities back on their land until investigations onto the ownership of the land are concluded. To date, the directive remains unimplemented.

On February 28, 2022, President Yoweri Museveni banned all land evictions in the country that are carried out without the consent of the respective District Security Committees (DSC).  “No eviction should be allowed to take place in a district without the consent and direct observation of the District Security Committee (DSC), chaired by the Resident District Commissioners/Resident City Commissioners (RDCs/RCCs) and direct consultation with the Minister of Lands” the President’s letter addressed to the Prime Minister and Chief Justice reads in part.

Witness Radio’s research reveals different forms of violence have been meted out against the downtrodden, such as beatings, arrests, stealing, and continued looting of affected communities’ animals, all targeting to weaken them to surrender their land. Witness Radio is also investigating the allegations of gang rape and sexual assaults against some women in Kapapi.

Despite the ministerial order, the poor families remain abandoned wandering in different parts of the country for survival. PAPs revealed that after the minister’s directive, police and armed forces intensified their violent land-grabbing activities and continued denying them access to their homesteads and land.

The District Security Committee tasked by the Minister on 22nd of February 2023 to resettle the communities back on their land disregarded her order.

In an interview with the assistant Resident District Commissioner, Mr. Michael Kyakashari to understand how far the committee had gone with implementing the minister’s directive. He told our researcher that he did not have an answer to the question.

According to the leaders of the affected community, the evictors are now targeting men with beatings, arrests, and unscrupulously charging them which forced many of them into hiding, leaving women to take responsibility for their families.

“Every man who would interfere with their land grabbing move would be hunted, beaten, and arrested, and then put charges on you because they are powerful and directly deal with police which forced many us to hide for fear of our lives or being put behind bars.” Kamusabe (not the real name) told Witness Radio.

Kobusingye (not the real name due to fear of retaliation), a mother of 13 had settled on her 60 acres of land for the past 27 years. On a fateful day, she claims her three houses were razed, property worth millions destroyed and some of her goats are believed to have been looted and slaughtered by the evictors. She is one of those struggling to make ends meet for her family after her husband was forced into hiding.

“I don’t know where my husband is and we rarely talk because he tells me he is being spied on. I have spent a week here at church struggling to feed myself. I also left my children at the home of my relative but they keep on calling me to pick them up because they are many, 13 of them, and hence have become a burden. I don’t know how they are, and what to do next for them because ideally, I have no other alternative.” Kobusingye told the Witness Radio team.