Land wrangles threaten food security, government projects in Bunyoro

Masindi. Land conflicts are threatening agriculture production and food security in the oil-rich Bunyoro Sub-region, leaders have said.
The disputes, some of which have turned bloody, have displaced thousands of people, leaving them with no land for cultivation.
The appreciation in the value of land following the discovery of commercially viable oil and gas deposits has fuelled the land wrangles as wealthy individuals and companies move to set up oil-related infrastructural projects.

Several court injunctions have been slapped on many contested pieces of land, leaving squatters in uncertainty.
One such conflict is in Bwijanga Sub-county, Masindi District, that is pitting former Presidency minister Kabakumba Masiko against more than 4,000 residents.
Although the residents say they customarily own the estimated 690-acre piece of land, Ms Kabakumba claims to have purchased it from the custodian board. The land neighbours Kinyara sugar estate.
The residents have been given up to 90 days to vacate, says Mr Julius Kahiira, the sub-county councillor.

No productivity
He says a court injunction was early this year slapped on the land, restraining the occupants or its claimant from using it for any activities.
“We cannot plant food for our survival because we are to be evicted any time,” Mr Kahiira says.
Recently, the affected residents held a fundraising drive in a bid to raise Shs50 million needed to hire lawyers to defend them in court.

However, Ms Kabakumba says she is open to dialogue with her “squatters” to resolve the matter amicably.
Another land dispute is in Kamengo Sub-county, Masindi District, between residents and the Uganda Investment Authority over ownership of a 20-squaremile piece of land.
The district vice chairperson, Mr Kasiimu Kabagonza, says as a result of the dispute, the district has witnessed low maize production this year.
“People fear being evicted from this land and they have abandoned mass maize production. People used to plant maize and sell it but now they cannot [do so] since they live in fear of being evicted by the Uganda Investment Authority,” Mr Kabagonza says.

The affected residents have resorted to hiring small portions of land outside the contested area for subsistence maize production.
In other land conflict in the district, several people residing in Masindi Port are currently not allowed to cultivate on a piece of land measuring about 100 acres, which is being claimed by investors.
Court battles resulting from the land disputes are also financially draining vulnerable parties, one of them being Ms Aisha Muhororo, 78, who for five years has been battling a land case with her neighbour.
“I would have bought another house and a plot of land but I have nowhere to get the money because I have been spending it on the land case,” Ms Muhororo says.

Court battles take toll
Mr Harrison Magezi, the chairperson of Albertine Oil Reporters Network, says peasants in the sub-region may become poorer because of court injunctions on land.
He is part of a group of residents who have been engaged in a court battle with an investor since 1994 over about 50 acres of land in Kiryamba Vllage, Bugambe Sub-county in Kikuube District.
Mr Sulaiman Byabazaire, a resident of Kihande-1 Cell in Masindi Municipality, says he lost his land after failing to pay legal fees after he was dragged to court by his neighbours.
In a desperate attempt to protect his land, he sold half an acre at Shs4.5 million in order to raise the fees. The lawyers helped him save an acre and he now survives on renting pieces of land to grow food for home consumption.

The Masindi Resident District Commissioner, Mr Godfrey Nyakahuma, says the peasantry class may lose confidence in the Judiciary if their land cases are not handled fairly, expeditiously and transparently.
Recently, while at Masindi Main Prison, the Masindi High Court judge, Justice Rugadya Atwooki, said there is a need for more judges to handle rising land cases.
In a bid to improve access to justice, the Judiciary has approved a proposal to open a High Court circuit in Hoima District, Justice Rugadya said.
“Land disputes are very rampant in Bunyoro. At times they begin as civil matters but they turn criminal because we register cases of murder, assaults and injuries which originate from land disputes,” says Mr Julius Hakiza, the Albertine region police spokesperson.

Government projects not spared
The land wrangles have also affected the completion of many government projects. In Kakumiro District, residents have threatened to block the construction of Mubende-Kakumiro-Kagadi road over delayed compensation and undervaluation of their properties.
Between 2015 and 2016, the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) started valuing properties of residents of Mubende, Kakumiro, Kibaale and Kagadi districts who are affected by the 104km road that is fully funded by the government at a cost of Shs484.8 billion.

China Communication Construction Company was awarded the contract and they commenced construction works in February 2016 even before all project affected persons (PAPs) could be fully compensated. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in February 2019.
Ms Beth Nakyanzi, one of the local leaders, who is also affected by the project, says during the evaluation process, her town plot was taken and she was only given Shs6 million as compensation, which she rejected.
‘‘The Chinese are just taking away my land even when our grievances are (still being) handled by UNRA. The contractor started works and is asking for more land for expansion without even compensating me,” Ms Nakyanzi says

She claims that in several meetings with UNRA, the PAPs agreed to resolve the issues as the contractor temporarily halts work but nothing has happened.
Mr Joseph Isingoma, another PAP, says: “My building was not valued well. They did not include my kitchen and my trees on the evaluation list. We want the whole [valuation] process repeated so that we can be fairly compensated.”
Like other complaints, Mr Sunday Luke says he was only offered Shs380,000 for his piece of land, which he rejected on grounds that the money could not be used to buy another plot elsewhere in the town.
At a meeting with UNRA officials recently, the Kakumiro Town Council chairman, Mr Fred Mwesigwa, suggested that people’s properties be re-valued and the compensation process expedited.

“We want the road but it should not deprive us of the little we have,” Mr Mwesigwa said.
Mr James Mwebesa, who was contracted by UNRA to handle the compensation process, said all PAPs’ grievances will be presented to the chief government valuer for redress.
The project manager in-charge of surveys from the Government Chief Valuer’s office, Mr Paul Mungati, asked the aggrieved parties to put their complaints in writing and submit them to UNRA for redress.

Other wrangle
Kikuube. Thousands of residents in the villages of Kijayo, Ikoba, Muziranduuru, Kyabataka, Kadiki, Kyakasoro and Kabango in Kikuube District were displaced and scores killed after the violent eviction on February 20, 2015.
This is after Hoima Sugar Ltd, owned by Kenyan investors, purchased the contested nine square miles of land from Bunyoro Prince Herbert Kimera Rwakiswaza in 2011 to plant sugarcane.
The affected families now live in squalor in mud and wattle structures and others have constructed shacks adjacent to the area from where they were evicted. The piece of land was offered by the Local Council chairperson, Mr Edward Kasigwa, for free.

Compiled by Ismail Bategeka, Alex Tumuhimbise & Francis Mugerwa

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