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Starvation is rooming in Kiryandongo district as families count losses after missing the seventh planting season consecutively to a multinational.

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By Witness Radio team

As farmers are busy planting their garden fields during this rainy season in Uganda, the hopes for Kiryandongo smallholder farmers continue to dwindle as the multinational continues with forceful evictions and bars them from accessing their gardens for seven consecutive seasons since 2020.

They said in every planting season, the company employs private security guards from Saracen that are assisting the company’s employees to stop the smallholder farmers from planting their crops. This has contributed to food insecurity and poverty since the community had entirely been depending on subsistence farming as their main source of livelihood.

Jerusalem-Kisalanda is one of the villages in Kiryandongo district, Western Uganda, that have faced constant violent attacks and forced evictions from Agilis Partners Limited, a company owned by two American brothers and deals in the grains and seeds business.  The village is now in the middle of the Agilis farms.

Agilis Partners Limited, since 2017 has been carrying out forced evictions in the Kiryandongo district with the interest to pave way for large-scale industrial agriculture.

According to the affected villagers, since last week on Saturday the 11th of March, 2023, the company has employed both its employees and guards from a private security company, Saracen to frustrate any farming activity by community members on their land. The company accuses the people of illegally occupying the land.

Mr. Samuel Kusiima, a community land rights defender and one of those affected by the evictions, in an interview with Witness Radio Uganda, revealed that the maize and beans he has been planting get destroyed by the company, saying we are “encroaching on the company’s land.”

“These guards come at 6:00 am and leave late in the night, they say they are employed to keep the company garden, and cannot allow us to access our fields. They initially said they had given me 10 acres of my land but also the ten remain inaccessible. Over 10 families are at the edges of starvation.” The defender revealed.

He added, “We used to earn millions from our gardens but we are now starving and the company is profiteering from our misery. It does not care about us.”

“These guards are often violent and threaten to shoot us if we resist, last week they found my wife in the garden and threatened to shoot her. They always say they have orders to do whatever they want but we are tired of this” the defender further added.

Mr. Nkuzimana John, another victim, said he survives by the mercy of God since he has been victimized. He adds that there has never been any intervention from authorities and courts of law for the past seven seasons.

“Even when you report these incidents to authorities including police, there is no change or hope for a change. My family currently starves because I don’t have food to feed them. I cannot access the 50 acres of land that I had. The company told me to use a quarter of an acre of it last season, which is impossible. Last season I planted maize on two acres of my land but it was harvested by the company.” He said.

Currently, Sam and the rest of the community are living in abject poverty with no hope of recovering from it, a situation they claim has been brought by Agilis partners. “This has been ongoing since 2020. Even when we resist and continue to plant the crops, they either bring a tractor to plow our crops or spray them with chemicals. Do they want us to go steal to earn a living?” the defender questioned.

The community now, makes ends meet by being hired as laborers by neighboring communities, burning charcoal, and also surviving on handouts from their relatives and friends.

“We are collecting tree stems that are thrown by the Company. This is what we burn and get charcoal that we sell to earn a living. It is also not easy because sometimes we are prohibited from taking them, hence risking our lives. If not that, we ask for support from our relatives and friends or seek opportunities to be hired as laborers.” One of the Community members shared.

For the past five years, Kiryandongo has had a history of forced evictions by multinational companies. According to Witness Radio, over 35000 people have been evicted by three multinational companies which include, Agilis partners, Kiryandongo Sugar Company, and Great Seasons SMC all interested in carrying out large-scale plantation agriculture on the fertile lands of Kiryandongo.

When contacted for a comment on the abuses performed by Agilis partners, Mr. Emmanuel Onyango, the company’s Public Relations Officer told our reporter to write to him an email, for a better and easier response within a short period.

By the time of writing this story, Mr. Onyango had not yet responded to the email.

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StopEACOP Coalition warns TotalEnergies and CNOOC investors of escalating ‘financial and reputational’ Risks

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By Witness Radio Team

The StopEACOP Coalition has issued a warning to shareholders and bondholders of TotalEnergies and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), urging them to reconsider their funding of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) due to the companies’ growing self-financing of the project that exposes shareholders and bondholders to gross financial and reputational risks.

In a public statement released alongside its Finance Risk Briefing Update No. 6, the coalition revealed that the two energy giants have quietly decided to increase their financial commitments to the $5.6 billion pipeline, stepping in as lenders to their own project. This move reflects the collapse of external financing for EACOP amid widespread rejection by international banks and insurers due to the project’s environmental, human rights, and climate risks. These risks include environmental, human rights concerns, and climate-related issues.

According to EACOP Limited’s 2024 annual report, TotalEnergies and CNOOC have provided additional facilities through shareholder loans to fund what remains of the construction budget.

Initially projected to cost up to $3.5 billion and intended to be financed with 40% equity and 60% debt, the project’s cost has since increased to a whopping $5.6 billion. The two companies have already injected roughly $2.8 billion in equity and secured around $755 million in external loans, leaving a debt gap of approximately $2 billion. Currently, TotalEnergies and CNOOC are moving to cover that shortfall themselves, bringing their total funding to about $4.8 billion, or 86% of the project’s total cost, more than triple what they had initially planned to use.

“This is a shocking example of developers financing their own controversial project after being rejected by global financial institutions. It shows that the EACOP is no longer financially viable without corporate self-funding and that investors in these companies are now directly financing one of the most destructive fossil fuel projects in the world,” Reads part of the statement.

The coalition argues that by turning inward for financing, TotalEnergies and CNOOC have transferred financial, legal, and reputational risks to their own shareholders and bondholders.

“Now, to keep the project alive, TotalEnergies and CNOOC are turning inward, relying on their own balance sheets and, by extension, your capital. The situation increases your financial risk, deepens your exposure to the project’s growing controversy, and links your investment portfolios even more directly to the environmental destruction, human rights abuses, and climate chaos that EACOP represents,” the statement says.

“This means that institutional investors holding TotalEnergies or CNOOC securities are now directly linked to the project’s growing controversies, from land grabs and community displacement to the threat it poses to climate goals.”

EACOP is a 1,443-kilometer pipeline stretching from Uganda’s Lake Albert oilfields to the Tanzanian coast, which has faced heavy opposition since its inception. This opposition is due to threats to biodiversity and the environment, as well as to people’s displacement among others.

It is from this that the STOPEACOP coalition is calling for active engagement with TotalEnergies and CNOOC to jointly address human rights and environmental risks and identify a time-bound escalation strategy, where investors publicly set deadlines for the companies to act, backed by credible consequences such as voting against board members or divesting from the companies altogether.

“We are therefore calling upon the shareholders and bondholders of TotalEnergies and CNOOC to act with integrity and foresight, in line with their responsibilities under the UNGPs and the OECD Guidelines, to avoid contributing to severe human rights and environmental impacts associated with the operations of your portfolio companies,” reads the statement.

In the last three years, over 20 major banks and 23 insurers have publicly ruled out support for the EACOP project, citing misalignment with global climate targets and reputational concerns.

The Finance Risk Briefing shows that 43 banks have ruled out financing for the 1,443 km pipeline since the project began.

Governments and international organizations have also faced mounting pressure to intervene, as civil society movements in Uganda, Tanzania, and abroad intensify opposition to its implementation due to its adverse effects.

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MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK

12 anti-Eacop activists decry delayed justice after spending 100 days on remand

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Twelve environmental activists who were arrested during protests against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in August 2025 have decried delayed justice after their fourth bail application was rejected.

The presiding Senior Principal Grade One, Magistrate Winnie Nankya Jatiko, at Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court, said the suspects’ case was in an advanced stage and therefore, there was no need to grant them bail despite the fact that they have spent nearly three months on remand.

The activists, most of whom are students from various universities in the country under their umbrella body, Students Against Eacop Uganda, an environmental pressure group, were arrested on August 1 after staging a peaceful protest near Stanbic Bank in Kampala, over what they described as the bank’s continued funding of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop). They were first arraigned in court on charges of being a public nuisance and remanded to Luzira till September 5.

The suspects, who include Teopista Nakyambadde, Shammy Nalwadda, Dorothy Asio, Shafik Kalyango, Habibu Nalungu, Noah Kafiiti, Ismail Zziwa, Ivan Wamboga, Akram Katende, Baker Tamale, Keisha Ali and Mark Makoba, accused the bank of funding the ongoing construction of the 1,443km Eacop, claiming that the project is destructive to the environment.

They reappeared before the same court on August 18, and Ms Nankya denied them bail because some of them were perennial protestors who had repeatedly abused their bail terms.

She, on September 5, declined to hear their fresh bail application and adjourned the court session to October 1 after hearing evidence of three state witnesses.

Some of the state witnesses said they had seen some of the activists participating in more than one anti-Eacop protest.

Mr Kato Tumusiime, the lead lawyer for the activists, condemned the decision by the magistrate to rejects his clients’ bail application and described it as absurd and unfortunate.

“Failing to entertain the bail application prejudices the rights of the accused guaranteed by our Constitution, and the same is not only harsh but also illegal and unacceptable. It suggests that the activists have been found guilty before even hearing their case,” he said

He added, “This is unacceptable in our legal regime. We must fight for our judiciary to be independent and act in line with the law and not to please the people in power.”

The magistrate fixed November 6 when she will rule whether they have a case to answer.

Background

The activists have on several occasions protested in Kampala streets, including at Parliament, the French and Chinese Embassies, Stanbic and KCB Banks, over their substantial support for the Eacop project, which they say is harmful. This time, the bank announced its funding after key financiers withdrew.

However, the government and key stakeholders have dismissed the activists’ claims, defending their participation in the project, which is expected to transform the country’s economy once oil begins flowing.

The $5 billion (Shs18 trillion) EACOP project is a 1,443 km pipeline that will transport Uganda’s waxy crude oil from the oil fields in mid-western Uganda to Tanga port on the Indian Ocean in Tanzania.

The project is jointly owned by French oil giant, TotalEnergies (62 percent), the Uganda National Oil Company Limited (UNOC – 15 percent), China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC – 8 percent), and Tanzania’s Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC – 15 percent) under EACOP Ltd.

Source: Monitor

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‘They Stole Our Ancestors’: Ministry of Water, RDCs Accused of Land Grabbing and Grave Exhumation in Kanungu

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The Ministry of Water and Environment is under scrutiny over alleged illegal procurement of a 70.2-acre piece of land in Kihanda Sub-County, Kanungu District.

According to a petition dated October 10, 2025, submitted to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit, Christine Joy Tusiime accuses officials from the ministry of land grabbing, abuse of office, and criminal conduct. The land in question is her ancestral property located in Ibarya Cell, Kihanda Parish.

Tusiime claims that in August 2023, the government, through the Ministry of Water and Environment, entered into a purported land acquisition and compensation agreement with her for the family land. However, she insists that the transaction was done irregularly and without her informed consent. She further alleges that the land was under a caveat at the time, and that no official land valuation, boundary opening, or legal procedures were followed before compensation and takeover.

The Ministry of Water and Environment is jointly accused with several officials including Hajj Shafik Sekandi (former RDC of Kanungu, now RDC of Kisoro), Amanyire Ambrose Mwesigye (current RDC of Kanungu), his deputy Gad Rugajju, and GISO Ambrose Barigye. Also implicated are local leaders: Jessica Tindimwebwa (LC I Chairperson – Ibarya Cell), Davis Asiimwe (LC III Chairperson Kihanda Sub-County), and Lemegio Tumwesigye (LC II Chairperson – Kihanda Parish).

Tusiime alleges that these officials colluded to demarcate the family land into smaller plots for personal gain, disguised as government compensation. In her words, “To our disbelief, these individuals in government offices demarcated our ancestral land into plots, which they shared among themselves to access and grab money through the Ministry of Water and Environment’s purported compensation.”

She also claims that on October 3, 2025, RDC Mwesigye led a group that stormed their ancestral home, demolishing the house and toilet. Tusiime states that these individuals, using their positions in government, forcibly occupied and destroyed family property including homes, crops, and graveyards without following legal procedures. She further alleges that the accused exhumed bodies of their deceased siblings and took them to an unknown location without the family’s knowledge or consent.

A document reportedly in the possession of the family shows that a Ministry official, identified as Paul Nuwagira—a sociologist—wrote on the land title indicating it had been received for mutation and transfer. The note reads: “Original duplicate title received for purposes of mutation and transfer to the government of Uganda represented by the Ministry of Water and Environment after consent to compensation was reached between vendors and government.”

In a March 18, 2025, letter to the Ministry, Tusiime expressed strong opposition to the transaction, raising issues such as lack of a valuation report, absence of a proper boundary survey, inadequate compensation, harassment, intimidation, and overall fraudulent conduct. Through her lawyers, she pointed out that neither she nor her elder sister had legal capacity to transact over the land. She also noted that the government had failed to issue a certificate of title for the residue land where her family was supposed to be resettled or relocate their ancestral burial grounds.

Tusiime claims the government is proceeding with the development project on the disputed land, despite failing to meet its obligations under the so-called agreement. She alleges that government officials have since taken over the land, destroyed property, and issued threats—with the support of RDC Mwesigye, his deputy Rugajju, and local police.

In an interview, Tusiime said the dispute traces back to 2004 following the death of her mother, when her sister took possession of the family land. She said this triggered a series of actions by local officials aimed at displacing her and destroying her interests. “The RDC then did a report, and from that time, they began targeting us—destroying plantations and allowing others to use the land to undermine us,” she said tearfully.

Due to continued threats and property destruction, Tusiime fled Uganda in 2023 and now lives in the United Kingdom. She maintains that the government must lawfully purchase the land and not rely on what she describes as fraudulent compensation efforts. She further alleges that RDC Mwesigye and his deputy Rugajju are now profiting from the land through activities like charcoal burning and have destroyed their house. Her appeals to the police, she says, were ignored.

She added: “I am humbly appealing to the President to intervene in this matter and rescue me from these notorious criminals pretending to work for the government.”

Tusiime also claims that her attempt to open boundaries and prove the extent of land grabbing was blocked by authorities. She accuses lawyers from Mark Mwesigye Advocates of playing a role in alleged forgery and land fraud related to her property in Ibarya Cell, Kanungu.

RDC Amanyire Ambrose Mwesigye denied any wrongdoing. He said he held meetings involving both parties and advised them to approach the Administrator General. He acknowledged that the land was part of a government irrigation project and said that several families were consulted in 2022, and valuation exercises were conducted in 2023. “Their family was among those consulted. They consented, and they were paid Shs1 billion, which was shared between Christine and her sister. The houses that were demolished are those earmarked for removal to pave way for the project,” he said.

When contacted, Paul Nuwagira, the sociologist from the ministry who handled part of the process, maintained that he acted on behalf of the Ministry. “Whatever I did was under the mandate of the Ministry of Water and Environment. If there is any complaint, it should be addressed to the ministry leadership—not to me personally,” he said. “There are proper channels for handling these matters, and people should stop addressing ministry issues to individuals.”

Despite repeated attempts, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water and Environment, Dr. Alfred Okot Okidi, was not available for comment.

Tusiime continues to demand a full investigation into the matter, arguing that her family was defrauded and violently displaced from their land by individuals misusing government institutions.

Source: ankoletimes.co.ug

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