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.
