In the Hoima District, Western Uganda, an urgent and immediate action is crucial to halt an ongoing land grab. The work of community land rights defenders, activists, and local leaders has unfortunately been criminalized, with thirty-four (34) people from Rwobunyonyi, Kirindasojo, and Kihohoro villages falsely accused and sent to different prisons in the Hoima district.
Criminal files No. CRB 330-2022 has Busobozi Patrick, Kaija Phillip Osborn, Mbabazi Isaya, Wembabazi Denis, Tumusiime David, and Abitegeka David charged with aggravated robbery, while the CRB 84-2023 file has Magezi Lawrence, Kaahwa Nelson Komugisa Junior, Mugenyi Vincent, and others on murder charges. The files have been established to gang the work of community defenders and activists.
According to sections 189 and 286 (2) of the Penal Code Act cap 120, both offenses carry the death penalty upon conviction.
As observed above, community land rights defenders, activists, and local leaders have been targeted since 2022. The number of targeted defenders keeps on growing. Sadly, those who have been remanded to prison are still waiting for their cases to be tried, which is tantamount to judicial harassment and persecution.
Witness Radio findings indicate that one Fred Kato Mugumba allegedly orchestrated the land grab. He is backed by officials from Hoima police, Hoima district Office of Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP), and judicial staff. Mugambe and his accomplices aim to evict over 500 small-scale farming families from their ancestral land.
If the land grab is successful, the community will suffer a devastating loss of 800 hectares of land used for food cultivation. This loss will lead to children dropping out of school, families breaking apart due to lack of resources, and a significant increase in food insecurity, hunger, poverty, and illiteracy levels in Uganda.
The affected communities have a deep-rooted connection to the land, having lived on it for over 50 years without disruption. The ongoing persecution by Mugamba and his agents is, therefore, particularly shocking and unjust.
The same land almost ended the life of Junior Lands Minister Sam Mayanja, who was targeted with gunshots when he visited the contested land on August 24, 2023, to protect land grab victims. The current situation highlights the urgent need for intervention from a powerful office.
Witness Radio has, among other interventions, petitioned the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and urged the Chief Prosecutor’s office to call the file from Hoima High Court.
The office of the DPP is a constitutional body mandated to direct police to investigate any information of a criminal nature, institute criminal proceedings against any person or authority in any court other than a court-martial, take over and continue any criminal proceedings instituted by any person or authority, and discontinue at any stage before judgment any criminal proceedings.
Uganda is experiencing an influx of land-based investments, which have fueled land-grabbing tendencies and criminalization of community land rights and environmental defenders and activists’ work.
In the petition, Witness Radio alleges that Fred Kato Mugamba fabricated these charges in collusion with John Angwadya, a former local council member and chairperson of one of the targeted villages, Rwabunyonyi, as part of a strategy to facilitate the unlawful eviction of the community from their land.
“It is deeply concerning that the accused remain in protracted detention despite the constitutional guarantee of a fair and speedy trial and right to liberty. This is a clear violation of defenders’ fundamental rights and raises serious concerns about the criminal justice system’s integrity in this matter. The prolonged delay in their trial and the apparent ulterior motive behind the charges necessitate immediate intervention to prevent the miscarriage of justice,” the petition reads in part.
Despite multiple attempts by the community to engage various stakeholders, including Hoima’s district leadership, the Hoima District Police, the State House Land Protection Unit, and the State Minister for Lands, Dr. Sam Mayanja, their efforts have been futile. Instead of finding justice, those who resist are met with criminal charges and continued evictions, leaving many families landless and helpless.
“The efforts of our clients and community individuals engaging the different offices are viewed as a threat to the evictors, hence fabricating different charges against the accused persons to pave the way for the land grabbers to occupy the land in the absence of the accused persons. It is evident that the pending charges of murder and aggravated robbery are being made as a tool to harass and deprive our clients and family members,” the petition further reads.
In the petition to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Witness Radio has called for an urgent review of the circumstances surrounding the arrests and prosecutions of the accused. Witness Radio is requesting the issuance of a Nolle Prosequi to quash the charges and the immediate release of the prisoners.
The organization also demands that the case be expedited to prevent further unwarranted deprivation of liberty and calls for an independent investigation into any potential abuses within the criminal justice system.
POKHARA, Nepal — Before Binita Bishwokaarma understood Nepal’s property laws, she understood the work required to sustain a farm.
Growing up in the village of Sindhupalchok, east of the capital, Kathmandu, she spent much of her time helping her mother around the house and in the fields while her father worked in the city. It’s a common scenario in Nepal, where gendered divisions of agricultural labor are widespread.
For Bishwokaarma, that meant she and her mother grew maize, potatoes, garlic and other vegetables. She participated in the entire agricultural cycle, from preparing fields and planting crops to harvesting them. She enjoyed plowing the most, but it was physically demanding because the family lacked modern machinery.
“We didn’t have tractors,” she said. “So, everything, start to ending, we had to do with our own hands. It was really hard.”
It’s what many women and girls experience. And yet, their prospects for owning the land they tend are slim: Despite gender equality under the law, in Nepal, property rights rest mostly with men.
Still, it’s women — accounting for nearly 70% of the country’s farming population — whom Bishwokaarma credits most with caring for the land. Throughout her childhood, she saw how dedicated women were to conserving their environment. She explained that many women learn from childhood how to keep the soil healthy and reduce pests naturally through mixed cropping, crop rotation and intercropping.
Farmers harvest paddy at Bhaktapur, Nepal. Agriculture is the main source of food, income and employment for the majority of people in Nepal, yet the majority of land ownership is concentrated among men. Image by AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha.
But these aren’t the only techniques women in Nepal use to take care of the land they use. Bishwokaarma said women use farmyard manure made from cow or buffalo dung, compost from kitchen waste and plant residues instead of chemical fertilizer. They even use natural pesticides made from neem leaves, garlic, chiles, ash, cow urine or local herbs to reduce insect damage. Around the fields, they plant flowers and local plants that attract bees, butterflies and other pollinators to help increase crop production as well.
To Bishwokaarma, women play a vital role in protecting land through agricultural practices.
“The men don’t know the exact process of farming,” she said. “Women dedicate their life to the land, and I have seen that my mother, aunts, my friends, were all experts in every agriculture process—yet all of the property, our house, our land, everything is in my father’s name.”
The imbalance Bishwokaarma describes extends well beyond her family.
The National Agricultural Census of 2021-22 found that just 20.8% of adult women involved in farming in Nepal have secure ownership rights to agricultural land, compared with 42.9% of men. Traditional gender-based divisions in agricultural work are also still common, although widespread male out-migration has forced a shift in these roles, often increasing the physical burden on women.
The inequalities in land tenure are not unique to Nepal, and they reflect a broader pattern that extends beyond the country’s borders.
Binita Bishwokaarma attends a Model United Nations competition. Image courtesy of Binita Bishwokaarma.
Global gender imbalance
Across the Global South, women play a central role in agriculture while continuing to face unequal access to land and property rights. Globally, women account for less than 20% of landholders, and only 37% of countries guarantee equal land rights for women and men, according to U.N. figures.
Yet studies show that women’s access to secure land tenure is linked to higher agricultural productivity, lower food insecurity, reduced poverty and slower environmental degradation. A 2024 global evidence review by the nonprofit Landesa revealed growing evidence that secure land rights also help women adapt to climate change while supporting sustainable forest management and conservation.
George Washington University has reported similar findings. An international law and policy brief covering Ecuador, Mexico, Nepal and Peru stated that secure land ownership is associated with lower deforestation and more successful reforestation. In Uganda and Ethiopia, researchers found landholders with secure tenure were more likely to invest in soil conservation and climate resilience.
Plus, the benefits of land ownership go beyond individual women. “When women have access and rights to land, the economic benefits extend to their households and their communities,” the World Resources Institute reported, pointing to research showing women contribute more of their income to the household than men do, thereby improving education, health and food security for children.
Despite all this, land ownership remains dominated by men, even nonagricultural land. When it comes to Nepal, men are roughly twice as likely to own property, with only about 11% of women owning land overall.
“Even now, the modern law and Constitution give full rights to women, but it’s not implemented properly,” said Tanuja Pariyar, project coordinator in Pokhara, Kaski district, for the Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO), an NGO dedicated to fighting caste- and gender-based discrimination.
A Nepal woiman separates chaff from wheat on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal. Despite their work in agriculture, many women in Nepal do not have land rights. Image by AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha.
Nepal has introduced a series of legal reforms over the past two decades to reduce gender disparities in land ownership. In 2002, the 11th amendment to the civil code granted daughters a share of ancestral property by birth, but women still lost those rights upon marriage. That was changed in 2017, when legal gender-based discrimination in property inheritance was eliminated.
However, these legal reforms haven’t changed social norms that continue to shape who controls land and who benefits from it. By 2011, about 19% of households reported women owning land or property, but many women remained excluded from key decisions.
“For property decisions from taking a loan to selling something, most of the time the decisions are taken by the man,” Pariyar said.
Pariyar’s comment is bolstered by research that shows gender imbalances in decision-making powers within farming regions can harm not only women — but the community as a whole. “When women lack the tools, information and decision-making authority needed to implement adaptive strategies, the resilience of entire farming systems is compromised,” according to a 2025 study in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.
“Nepal is a patriarchal system because it’s a historical system,” Pariyar said. “This is a male-dominated society, and they don’t want to give power to women because they don’t trust it. That is the first issue.”
A Nepali farmer plants paddy saplings on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Many women in Nepal work in agriculture, but men hold the majority of land rights. Image by AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha.
Patriarchal expectations
For women like Bishwokaarma, who is now a law student, those norms were learned early.
Although she worked closely with the land, she and many other women were taught from a young age that neither the family home nor the land belonged to them. Instead, all of the property belonged to the men in the family. Since she was raised in a patriarchal household where most major decisions were made by her father, she grew up surrounded by traditional beliefs and social norms that shaped expectations about ownership. Even though women are not legally barred from owning land today, these expectations often discouraged them from pursuing ownership.
As she grew older, Bishwokaarma began to see how those expectations affected her own mother. She said her mother often expressed frustration that despite years of laboring for the family, she remained dependent on her husband because she lacked property and financial security of her own that restricted her from making important financial decisions.
“It’s human nature because when you do lots of hard work and you never get appreciated for that work, obviously you get frustrated,” Bishwokaarma said. “That’s why she told me to get an education and become independent on my own.”
For advocates working on women’s rights in Nepal, that kind of independence begins with schooling.
Rabina G. Rasaily, FEDO executive director, says educating women is important when it comes to land ownership and its benefits. In her view, ownership is about more than legal rights. It can influence access to resources, decision-making power and economic security. Rasaily said that when women gain access to land, the benefits can positively affect future generations through improvements in health, an increase in educational opportunities and an increase in investments in homes and businesses.
These benefits also extend into conservation in Nepal. WRI research shows that in Banpale Community Forest, where women are guaranteed rights to the communal land, women have been inspired to actively participate in sustainable forestry and engage in climate adaptation training. These trainings include forest fire management, water conservation, landslide and soil erosion preventions and human-wildlife conflict avoidance strategies.
(Left) Tanuja Pariyar, project coordinator of FEDO Kaski district, poses for a portrait in Pokhara, Nepal. Pariyar helps marginalized women’s groups that are facing difficulties with property rights. (Right) Rabina G. Rasaily, FEDO executive director, has more than 15 years of experience in social justice movements across Nepal. Images courtesy of Peter Murray.
Understanding their rights
Realizing those benefits often depends on women understanding the rights available to them — yet many women do not, Rasaily said.
“There were some times when we’d have conversations and they would say, ‘Oh really? We can even own land, or property or a building?’” Rasaily said. “It’s beyond their thinking sometimes.”
However, the lack of individual ownership is not always viewed as a problem by women living within the system. For some, security comes through the family rather than personal ownership, which was the case for 28-year-old Mamta Kaushal.
Kaushal grew up with her two sisters and brother in the rural village of Tadapani in Nepal’s Annapurna region. She married at 18 and moved 50 kilometers (30 miles) to Pokhara city, to live on her husband’s property. The house and land where she now lives are ancestral property that have been passed down through generations. Although the property is not registered in her name, Kaushal said she doesn’t see it as a bad thing — she views it as a shared resource.
“It doesn’t matter, the name or register in which family member it is in,” she said. “Because we are in the same family.”
Kaushal works the family’s land. She grows plants like maize, wheat and potatoes throughout the seasons when the soil isn’t resting from the last crop and raises buffaloes on parts of their land. Kaushal sees her work as her duty to contribute to the family’s financial stability, provide food security to her family and keep the land productive through cultivation in order to preserve it for future generations.
For women who do want to acquire their own property, Kaushal expressed how access to property is less of a concern than it once was. She said she has not personally seen many women struggle to acquire property on their own because women can now earn income through wage labor or selling produce, textiles and clothing.
Mamta Kaushal and other women in Pokhara, Nepal, walk to the fields behind their homes to check on their crops of maize. Many women share and rent land for agricultural production to support their families and sell produce for profit. Image courtesy of Peter Murray.
Kaushal also said women have greater opportunities to purchase land independently through a reduction in property registration fees the Nepal government offers for land registered in a woman’s name. Through this discount, women get 25-50% off fees associated with land purchases or transfers, rather than reducing annual property taxes. The rebate aims to empower women by incentivizing them to hold land ownership.
For Bishwokaarma, however, the issue is not whether women can own land, but whether they are encouraged and supported in doing so.
“Personally, I hope that more women in Nepal will not only have legal rights to property but will feel confident enough to claim and use those rights,” Bishwokaarma said. “I think education, legal awareness and economic opportunities are important in helping bridge the gap in land ownership.”
While Nepal’s laws have improved, Bishwokaarma said social attitudes and family practices must also change if women are to fully benefit from them. In her view, land ownership can provide security, promote independence and give women a stronger voice in family and community decisions.
“When a woman owns land or property, she often has more control over her future and has greater economic stability,” Bishwokaarma said.
Because of that, she said Nepal’s challenge is no longer expanding legal protections, but ensuring existing laws are effectively implemented and understood by the women they are intended to serve. Looking ahead, she said future governments should focus on increasing awareness of property rights, improving access to information and creating greater economic opportunities for women.
“If those areas are improved, the ownership gap may gradually become smaller,” Bishwokaarma said. “But I think social change is often slower than political change, so it may take time to see the full impact.”
Banner image: Women work in a paddy field at Uttarbahini village, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal. Although many women work in agriculture, land ownership is largely held by men in Nepal. Image by AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha.
This story is published through a collaboration between Mongabay and the University of Montana’s School of Journalism. Students traveled to Nepal in May 2026 to report on wildlife, conservation and other environmental issues. You can read more about the program here.
Anti-oil activists under Rooted in Resistance react at the Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court after one of their co-accused collapsed in the dock during proceedings on Monday, October 12, 2026. PHOTO / BRUCE NAHABWE
The Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court has ordered prison authorities to urgently assess the health condition of Shakira Kasonga, a female environmental activist who collapsed in the dock during court proceedings on Monday, October 12, 2026.
Grade One Magistrate Alex Ninyonzima issued the directive after Kasonga collapsed while appearing alongside nine co-accused activists, briefly halting proceedings. Magistrate Ninyonzima instructed prison authorities to examine her condition and submit a detailed medical report to the court before the group returns for their bail hearing on October 19, 2026.
Kasonga is among 10 activists affiliated with the pressure group Rooted in Resistance. The group was arrested on August 31 and formally charged on September 1 with common nuisance under Section 67(1)(c) of the Roads Act, Cap 346. They were intercepted while attempting to march to Parliament to deliver a petition advocating for reforms in Uganda’s oil policies and a shift toward renewable energy.
The nine co-accused remanded alongside Kasonga are Lucky Nyamadri, Isaac Akampulira, Daniel Mugabe, Ivan Ochola, Enock Opolot, Sharifah Nantongo, Dorothy Asio, Rahma Namuddu, and Sharon Shaluwatino.
In a separate session on Monday, four other activists from the same organization—who were arrested earlier on August 10—were also remanded until October 26, 2026, for their bail application hearing.
Speaking to this publication shortly after the court session, defense lawyer Kato Tumusiime condemned the extended pre-trial detention and overcrowded prison conditions, stating that they pose severe health risks to inmates.
“The prisons have been ordered to conduct a medical examination and file a report in court stating her condition. All these issues are caused by congestion in prisons due to inconsiderate pre-trial remand,” Mr. Tumusiime said.
He urged the Judiciary to expedite hearings and called on the government to upgrade health services in detention facilities, particularly for inmates suffering from chronic conditions such as hypertension and asthma.
Similarly, defense lawyer Doreen Namara criticized the state’s handling of peaceful demonstrators, calling for the protection of constitutional rights to freedom of assembly and expression.
“It is very unfortunate that in Uganda, exercising freedom of speech and assembly leads to arrests as if one has stolen a chicken,” Ms. Namara noted. “We cannot have environmental activists detained for over a month while individuals implicated in major crimes, such as corruption, are granted police bond and bail immediately.”
The Rooted in Resistance movement has continuously called on the Ugandan government to divest from fossil fuel projects and instead prioritize green manufacturing, climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy, and technological innovation to align with the evolving global economy.
The court appearance comes amidst rapid developments in Uganda’s oil sector. On September 2, 2026, President Yoweri Museveni officially branded Uganda’s crude oil as “Pearl Sweet” ahead of commercial production, positioning the energy sector as a cornerstone to grow the national economy from an estimated $69 billion to $500 billion.
Furthermore, EACOP Ltd recently announced that construction of the 1,443-kilometer East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP)—which will transport Uganda’s crude oil to Tanzania’s Tanga port for export—has reached 99 percent completion.
Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja has ordered officials from the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development to repeat the valuation and compensation assessment for land acquired for an iron ore mining and processing project in Rubanda District following complaints that some affected residents were under-compensated.
Ms Nabbanja issued the directive on Wednesday while officiating at the handover of 60 acres of iron ore-rich land in Mufumba Village, Butare-Katojo Town Council, to Devki Steel Mills (U), which plans to mine and process iron ore in the area.
Some local leaders told the Prime Minister that several project-affected people were dissatisfied with the compensation they received, saying the money was insufficient to enable them to acquire alternative land for farming and settlement.
Ms Nabbanja later handed a land certificate to Devki Steel Mills (U) chairman Raval Narendra and directed the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development to expedite the company’s mining licence.
“I hereby order the officials from the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development that conducted this exercise to work with the local leaders and move house to house, piece of land to another and ensure that the raised concerns on under-valuation are fully addressed and everybody is satisfied,” Ms Nabbanja said.
“We don’t want to hear that our investor has land issues here and there because President Museveni was clear on this matter. After two weeks I will come back here to verify that everybody in this area is fully satisfied.”
Her directive followed complaints from Mufumba LC1 chairman Paulo Tibenderana and Rubanda District LCV chairman Stephen Kasyaba over the compensation process.
“Although people in this area are welcoming the investor, they claim that the money given to them is not enough to facilitate them acquire alternative pieces of land for their livelihoods,” Mr Kasyaba said.
He said the district council had already earmarked 52 acres where an iron ore processing plant could be constructed, as requested by President Museveni.
Mr Kasyaba also asked the government to consider compensating owners of land neighbouring the acquired project area to avoid disputes and other inconveniences associated with mining and crushing activities.
However, the ministry defended the valuation process.
The ministry’s chief government valuer, Gilbert Kermundu, said officials had consulted the Rubanda District Land Board, the 161 project-affected people and other residents before setting the compensation rate at Shs40 million per acre.
He said the rate took into account land scarcity in the area and that compensation was calculated according to the size of each affected person’s landholding.
“We paid the project affected people using this measure because individual land size was different as some people had less than 0.03 acres of land,” Mr Kermundu said.
He added that the affected residents were entitled to an additional 30 per cent of the compensation as disturbance allowance to facilitate their relocation.
“Kindly accept what the government has given you,” he said.
The ministry’s Under Secretary, Dr Emmanuel Mugunga, said about 99 per cent of the project-affected people had been compensated, questioning the basis of the complaints raised during the ceremony.
The compensation dispute comes as the government seeks to clear outstanding land issues and enable Devki Steel Mills to commence the planned mining and processing operations.
Mr Narendra appealed to the government to extend hydropower electricity to the project area to support the company’s operations.
He also pledged to employ local residents and support schools in neighbouring communities through education sponsorships and school feeding programmes.
