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DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Uganda: A decade of land grabs with impunity

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A farmer displays banana plants that were cutdown by company workers.
It is now a decade down the road since thousands of people fled their homes in fear for their dear lives. It was a nadir in their lives – the land grab was the lowest moment for the peasant communities. Arrests, charges, malicious prosecutions, convictions, and imprisonment followed.  Amidst all these, incarceration was inevitable for the poor and unrepresented accused to pave way for the tree planting company owned by Chinese “investors.”
Despite the forceful and violent evictions of their peers, some of the smallholder farmers have stayed put. Though the fear of an inhumane eviction still lurks around, they are not vacating their land, and are not ready to go down without a fight.
The year 2011 still lingers in the memories of the smallholder farmers albeit being traumatizing. With its violence and forceful evictions of smallholder farmers by a foreign company under the protection of Mubende police came. As we write, the onslaught has “gifted” it with 2590 hectares of forcefully grabbed land that was once a source of livelihood to the poor native communities.
Since then, more than 2000 people have been evicted in more than 12 villages. They include; Butoro, Kyedikyo, Nakasozi, Namayindi, Kitebe, Kisiigwa, Namagadi, Mukiguluka, Busaabala, Ngabano, and Kicucuulo located both in Maduddu and Butoloogo sub-counties, Mubende district. Thousands are still being threatened.
Civic groups, rights activists, and the victims have continuously complained over the company’s long forced evictions nothing has materialized. A clear message from their government is that it does not speak for peasants, a batch of third-class citizens.  With government backing, the company has chosen to apply both insidious and overt means to further alienate land from the poor.
As day follows night, the company continues to grow more powerful, and probably, more than the state. Its influence has eaten up the criminal justice system. They follow a carefully crafted script to aid in the land grab. After stripping the smallholder farmers of their source of livelihood – the company militarized land grab and criminalized farming activities of poor peasants.  Land defenders were arrested, detained, arraigned before court, and charged with trumped-up charges. Up-to-date they have never been released.
According to Mr. Konyenza Sakali, land conflicts between the smallholder farmers and the company led to the arrest and imprisonment of his father, Mr. Kaberuka Fenehansi for 15 years since 2018 and now fears that the company is targeting him.
“I have always resisted but what they do is to kidnap, arrest and charge you to weaken you and grab your land. My father is now 71 years but because he resisted giving them his land, he is now in jail. He was slapped with unscrupulous charges,” he revealed.
Mr. Kaberuka Fenehansi is one of the seven community land rights defenders that the Mubende High Court sentenced 34 and 15 years in jail respectively. This arose from the unending wrangles and the company’s continued violence and land grabbing that allegedly led to the death of the then Formosa farm manager.
Witness Radio – Uganda appealed against the conviction and the sentence on behalf of the imprisoned community land rights defenders. The hearing date of the appeal is yet to be fixed.
The prosecution alleged that on 17th of July 2018, Ssemombwe Richard, Ategeka Esau, Bukenya Godfrey, Ssebanenya Yona, Sinamenya Paula, Kaberuka Fenehansi, and Sserugo Sam at Butolo village, Maduddu Sub County in Mubende district, unlawfully caused the death of one Tumwine Stephen who was a manager of Formosa Forest Company.
“I have continued to receive reports of forceful eviction of my people on their land without compensation. Days ago, I called the Farm Manager asking him why these actions are continuous but he had no answer. One time I found the Formosa workers uprooting and slashing crops of the residents. When they saw me they took off,” Mr. Ngenda Paul, the Local Council Chairperson of Butolo, one of the affected villages narrated.
Residents said the company either bullyrags them to sell their land or evicts them without fair, prompt, and adequate compensation or resettlement. Through this method, the company has grabbed more land.
“What they do is to coerce some people to sell land to them, when they do it, they then grab the neighboring pieces of land. The next day you find them planting trees on land they claim to have purchased,” Mr. Mukonyeza Sakali, one of the affected residents said.
“What kind of land purchased is that without signatures of the local council leaders? How do you prove that you have bought it when neighbors are not around, what if someone cons you?” the Chairperson asked.
Part of Mr. Mukonyeza’s land was grabbed by the company after forcefully purchased his neighbor’s land. He said he was never consulted or informed when the purchase took place. The father of 10 added that his crops were all slashed, and the following day he watched helplessly as the company’s workers began planting trees.
“They said they shall use all the tactics to evict us from our land which they claim is theirs. Even when we grow crops, they are always destroyed or uprooted by the workers of the company. When we ask why they tell us we have no land. But how can a company which has just come into our country say we have no land. I am 46, and I was born on the land,” he added.
Annet Nannyonjo and a mother of 11 and a wife to Ssalongo Ssemombwe Richard, one of those that were sentenced to 34 years said the company grabbed their land shortly after the husband was imprisoned. She said workers have destroyed her garden of beans.
“We cannot eat trees. They do not want us to cultivate on our land. They steal the little food we grow on a small piece of land left. We used to grow our crops but now we can’t. Ever since my husband was arrested and imprisoned, I am struggling to feed my family,” she added.
Other affected residents added that they are holding grudges over the unending pain caused by the tree planting company.
 “Our defenders were jailed and we were left helpless. People who had land continue to wander everywhere. They have nowhere to stay with their families. They have nothing to eat. You imagine what kind of life we are being pushed in,” residents said
But the Formosa farm manager, Mr. Asiimwe Nicholas denied the allegations. He added that the company has never evicted any residents which the villagers oppose.
Original Source: Farm Land Grab

DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Crackdown on EACOP protesters intensifies: 35 Activists arrested in just four months.

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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.

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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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DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Milestone: Another case against the EACOP activists is dismissed due to the want of prosecution.

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By Witness Radio team.

The Buganda Road Chief Magistrate has dismissed another case against 20 anti-EACOP activists due to want of prosecution.

Yesterday, on April 7, 2024, her worship, Jalia Basajjabalaba, dismissed the case against the 20 activists. The case was dismissed after the state failed to produce witnesses pinning the activists on a common nuisance charge after close to 9 months of case trial.

On August 26, 2024, the 20 activists, including Pitua Robert, Okwai Stephen, Kothurach Margret, Omirambe Moses, Owonda Rogers, Alimange Joseph, and Wabiyona Wicklyf, among others, were arrested while peacefully marching to the Ministry of Energy to deliver a petition opposing EACOP and other oil projects. On August 27, 2024, they were arraigned before Court and charged by the Buganda Road Magistrate with common nuisance.

After nearly nine months of trial, the state failed to present a single witness, prompting the magistrate to close the case file.

Although the case against the activists has been dismissed, they remain deeply dissatisfied with the continued pattern of arrests and charges, which often collapse in Court due to a lack of evidence.

Bob Barigye, one of the activists whose case was dismissed, expressed concern over what he described as deliberate attempts to frustrate and silence voices critical of the EACOP project.

“We are saddened that it was just dismissed after eight months of pacing up and down to Court.

We are disappointed that the magistrate did not award us any cost or compensation for the dismissed case, meaning that the state failed to prove that we were a public nuisance and that we were citing violence as activists. Many of us have been forced to travel long distances from our villages to attend court sessions in Kampala — only for the state to produce no evidence against us. It’s a clear waste of our time, energy, and resources. But beyond that, it’s an attempt to discourage us from speaking the truth about the dangers of the EACOP project,” Barigye said.

Barigye added that the activists are already engaging their lawyers to explore further legal remedies in higher courts, demonstrating their unwavering commitment to justice and their cause.

“It is frustrating and deeply disappointing that we are dragged to Court and disrespected every time we stand up against this deadly pipeline, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). But we were ready to face this battle in Court because we knew we had committed no crime by delivering a petition,” Barigye said, expressing the activists’ exasperation with the legal process.

Shortly after their last Court appearance on February 20, the 20 accused activists, during a press briefing, demanded that the judiciary stop delaying hearings of their case related to the EACOP project and called for the dismissal of their case if the Court lacks sufficient evidence to prosecute them.

“The courts of law should not be used as tools of oppression. They should not waste any time. If we have a case to answer, let them prosecute us on April 7, which they have scheduled. If they fail again, they should dismiss the case instead of wasting our time and resources,” the activists emphasized, reiterating their demand for a fair and expedited legal process.

This is the second milestone achieved by the Stop EACOP activists in less than two months in their continued campaign against the EACOP pipeline. In February 2025, the Court also dismissed a common nuisance case against the 15 EACOP activists due to the lack of prosecution.

“The state doesn’t present a single witness in all the cases that have always been preferred against us. No witnesses have come along to say that these people were unruly. As activists, we want to investigate this further and go to the Constitutional Court to learn what constitutes a nuisance. Whoever is demonstrating peacefully is arrested and charged with a public nuisance. This charge is coronial and very demeaning. We want to go ahead and challenge this,” Barigye revealed, outlining the activists’ proactive plans to challenge the charge of public nuisance.

The EACOP project has long been controversial, with environmental activists arguing that it poses a significant environmental risk and has already left a trail of human rights abuses in the communities hosting it in Uganda and Tanzania.

The EACOP is a 1,443-kilometer heated pipeline transporting crude oil from Hoima, Uganda, to Tanga, Tanzania. The first 296 kilometers run through Uganda, while the remaining 1,147 kilometers pass through Tanzania. The project is a joint venture between TotalEnergies, the Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC), the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

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