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Uganda: Moroto Residents Accuse President Museveni of Grabbing Their Land

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Residents of Rupa Sub County in Moroto District in Karamoja sub region have said that President Museveni is backing prominent Karimojong business man Mr Cornelius Kodet and some ministers to grab their land.

The protesting residents on Thursday rejected a plan by Mr Kodet to build a cement factory called Ateker cement covering a total of 442 actress of the mineral rich land in Rupa saying they were not consulted about the land.

Attempts by state minister for Trade Mr Michael Weirike and State Minister for Ethics Fr. Simon Peter Lokodo to address residents failed as residents turned ruddy and instead accused President Museveni for using Mr Kodet to grab their land.

 According to the residents, in 2010 Mr Kodet approached a group of elders and opinion leaders in the area requesting 100 actress of land on grounds that president Museveni wanted to build 100 modern houses for people but instead surveyed 442 actress without consulting the locals.

Mr Mark Lorika, one of the elders said they gave Mr Kodet 100 actress following his statement that president Museveni wanted to build modern houses for the people but instead he went silently to survey more land without consulting the local people.

“To our surprise this son of the Karimojong (Kodet) went and surveyed more land beyond what we gave him and he even acquired land titles without our knowledge,” he said.

Mr Joseph Otita, the District LCV councilor for Rupa Sub County accused Mr Kodet of lying to the local people.

“Mr Kodet came, by then I was the sub county Chairperson of Rupa, so he asked for 100 actress of land. We gave him the land since his plans was to build modern villages for the community. But to my surprise, the businessman went and surveyed more land and now he is changing that he wants to build a cement factory which is wrong,” he said.

Mr Otita said Mr Kodet should have come back and met the local people who are the owners of the land and told them the new plans since his earlier plans of building modern villages failed but he choose to do things at the back doors from the people.

According to Mr Otita the businessman’s land title covers 442 acres of land including inside the police station in Rupa yet he was only given 100 acres.

Mr Simon Longoli, another elder, said that although the factory idea was welcome, the land title should be changed in the names of the local community and also the acres of land taken by businessman be reduced.

Mr Andrew Keem Napaja, the district LCV chairperson Moroto, described the protest by the local people against establishment of the cement factory as unfortunate saying Karamoja can only be developed through industrialization.

 Mr Cornelius Kodet refused to comment on the matter saying he would get appropriate time to comment.

The state Minister for trade Mr Michael Weirike also declined to comment on the matter.

Mr Don Wanyama, the presidential spokesperson when contacted, described the community allegations involving president Museveni in land grabbing in Karamoja as unfortunate.

During the 2016 Presidential campaigns President Museveni called for a press conference at Morulinga state lodge where he warned individuals grabbing people’s land using his names.

“I don’t have powers on the land. The land belongs to the people so if there is any person coming to Karamoja to grab land using Museveni’s name should be arrested,” he warned

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DEFENDING LAND AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS

Statement: The Energy Sector Strategy 2024–2028 Must Mark the End of the EBRD’s Support to Fossil Fuels

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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is due to publish a new Energy Sector Strategy before the end of 2023. A total of 130 civil society organizations from over 40 countries have released a statement calling on the EBRD to end finance for all fossil fuels, including gas.

From 2018 to 2021, the EBRD invested EUR 2.9 billion in the fossil energy sector, with the majority of this support going to gas. This makes it the third biggest funder of fossil fuels among all multilateral development banks, behind the World Bank Group and the Islamic Development Bank.

The EBRD has already excluded coal and upstream oil and gas fields from its financing. The draft Energy Sector Strategy further excludes oil transportation and oil-fired electricity generation. However, the draft strategy would continue to allow some investment in new fossil gas pipelines and other transportation infrastructure, as well as gas power generation and heating.

In the statement, the civil society organizations point out that any new support to gas risks locking in outdated energy infrastructure in places that need investments in clean energy the most. At the same time, they highlight, ending support to fossil gas is necessary, not only for climate security, but also for ensuring energy security, since continued investment in gas exposes countries of operation to high and volatile energy prices that can have a severe impact on their ability to reach development targets. Moreover, they underscore that supporting new gas transportation infrastructure is not a solution to the current energy crisis, given that new infrastructure would not come online for several years, well after the crisis has passed.

The signatories of the statement call on the EBRD to amend the Energy Sector Strategy to

  • fully exclude new investments in midstream and downstream gas projects;
  • avoid loopholes involving the use of unproven or uneconomic technologies, as well as aspirational but meaningless mitigation measures such as “CCS-readiness”; and
  • strengthen the requirements for financial intermediaries where the intended nature of the sub-transactions is not known to exclude fossil fuel finance across the entire value chain.

Source: iisd.org

Download the statement: https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2023-09/ngo-statement-on-energy-sector-strategy-2024-2028.pdf

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PETITIONS

Complaint against unprofessional conduct of the DPC Kiryandongo district for aiding and abetting land grabbing in kiryandongo district.

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The Commandant,

Professional Standards Unit, Uganda Police-Kampala.

Dear Sir/Madam;

RE: COMPLAINT AGAINST UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT OF THE DPC KIRYANDONGO DISTRICT FOR AIDING AND ABETTING LAND GRABBING IN NYAMUTENDE KITWARA PARISH KIRYANDONGO DISTRICT AND CARRYING OUT ILLEGAL ARRESTS AND DETENTION OF INNOCENT RESIDENTS/ BIBANJA OWNERS FOR PROTESTING AGAINST THE ILLEGAL EVICTION FROM THEIR LAND.

We act for and behalf of the Lawful and bonafide occupants of Land described as LRV MAS 2 FOLIO 8 BLOCK 8 PLOT 22 (FORMERLY KNOWN AS RANCH 22).

Our Clients are residents of Nyamutende Village, Kitwara Parish in Kiryandongo District where they have lived for more than 30 years and sometime in 2017, they applied for a lease of the said Land to Kiryandongo District Land Board through the Directorate of Land Matters State House.

As they were still awaiting their Application to be processed, they were shocked to establish that the said land had been instead leased to and registered in the names of Isingoma Julius, Mwesige Simon, John Musokota William, Tumusiime Gerald, Wabwire Messener Gabriel, Ocema Richard and Wilson Shikhama, some of whom were not known to the Complainants. A copy of the Search is attached hereto

Our clients protested the above action and appealed to relevant offices, but were shocked to discover that the above persons had gone ahead and sold the same to a one Maseruka Robert.

Aggrieved by these actions, the Complainants appealed to the RDC who advised them to institute proceedings against the said persons, and assigned them a one Mbabazi Samuel to assist them to that effect. The said Mbabazi accordingly filed Civil Suit Noa 46 of 2019 against tne said registered proprietors at Masindi High Court challenging the illegal and fraudulent registration, sale and transfer of the subject land to Maseruka Robert.

While awaiting the progress of the case mentioned hereinabove, the Complainants were surprised to find that the said Mbabazi, instead of assisting them, he went into a consent settling the said suit on their behalf without their knowledge or consent. A copy of the Consent is attached hereto.

Among the terms of the said consent Judgment was that the residents would be compensated without specifying how much and would in return vacate the Land.

As if that was not enough, Maseruka Robert and Mbabazi Samuel are going ahead to execute the said Consent Judgment by forcefully evicting the occupants without compensation which has prompted the complainants to challenge the said Consent by applying for its review and setting aside at Masindi High Court which is coming up for hearing on the 29th March 2023. A copy of the Application is attached hereto.

Sensing the imminent threat of eviction, we also filed an application for interim stay of execution of the said consent to avoid rendering their application for review nugatory but unfortunately the same could not be heard on the date it was fixed for hearing (6th February 2023). A copy of the Application is attached hereto

On Thursday last week, three tractors being operated by 6 workers of a one Mbabazi Samuel [the very person who had been entrusted to represent our Clients to secure their Land through Civil Suit No.46 of 2019] encroached close to 50 acres of our Clients’ land and started ploughing it but our Client’s protested and chased them away.

We have however been shocked to receive information from our Clients that on Sunday at Mid night, 3 police patrols invaded the community in the night and arrested community members; Mulenje Jack, Steven Kagyenji, Mulekwa David, Ntambala Geoffrey, Tumukunde Isaac 15 years, Kanunu Innocent, Mukombozi Frank, Kuzara, Rwamunyankole Enock, and took them to Kiryandongo Police Station where they are currently detained.

We strongly protest the illegal arrests and detention of our Clients as this is a carefully orchestrated land grabbing scheme by Maseruka Robert and Mbabazi Samuel who are  receiving support from the DPC Kiryandongo.

The purpose of this Letter therefore is to request your good office to investigate the misconduct, abuse of office and unprofessionalism of the said DPC Kiryandongo District and all his involvement in the land grabbing schemes on land formerly known as Ranch 22.

Looking forward to your urgent intervention,

C.C The Head Police Land Protection Unit Police Head Quarters Naguru

CC The RDC Kiryandongo District

CC The Chairman LCVKityadongo District

CC The Regional Police CommanderAlbertine Region

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WITNESS RADIO MILESTONES

The Executive Director of Witness Radio Uganda talks about the role played by Witness Radio in protecting communities affected by large-scale agribusinesses in Kiryandongo district in an interview with the ILC.

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