Poor landowners caught up in fight for land in oil-rich Buliisa

Perched on a wooden stool under a tree shade in his courtyard, Mr Eriakimu Kaseegu, props his cheek in his right palm, seeming to be in deep thought. His home is located in Kisimo Cell, Buliisa Town Council in Buliisa District, some 284 kilometres northwest of Kampala. The area has at least 26 oil wells.

“Ever since oil was discovered in our village, we have become restless,” Mr Kaseegu says with a yawn. He hesitates and seems to relapse into deep thought once again.

After a while he resumes his tale, saying that over the past decade, many rich individuals have invaded the area and claimed ownership of land adjacent to the oil sites. The oil prospecting firm Tullow discovered Kasemene-1, Kasemene-2 and Kasemene-3 oil wells in Kisimo cell, Mr Kaseegu’s village.

Since oil was discovered in Bunyoro sub-region in 2006, the value of land adjacent to the oil the sites have increased dramatically. The discoveries triggered a rush for land acquisition by investors and speculators.

Oil wells were discovered in communal settlements, game parks and on the shores of Lake Albert. The area is mainly inhabited by fishermen, subsistence farmers and hunters, who lived on customary land and had no formal documentation to prove the ownership.

Consequently, investors continued to acquire land for oil-related projects such as oil waste treatment plants, central processing facilities, pipelines, industrial parks and other petroleum- related investments.

This has raised the stakes for land ownership and the rights of customary land owners are at risk as the wealthy and influential elites attempt to gain titled land in what is called the Albertine graben.

“Although, we have owned this land communally since time immemorial, there are rich people coming here claiming to have land titles for our land in anticipation that government intends to set up an oil Central Processing Facility (CPF) here,” said Mr Kaseegu, who is also the Kisimo LC1 chairperson.

Customary land ownership is one of the three ways acknowledged by Article 237(3) of the Constitution, along with freehold and mailo tenure systems.

Many customary land owners in the oil-rich Albertine graben claim the rich and politically connected individuals are processing freehold land titles on their land without their consent and approval.

“New land claimants who had never expressed interest in the land before oil discoveries have emerged in Buliisa district, threatening the interests of residents who have owned land communally for so long,” says Mr Angalia Mukonda, the chairperson of Buliisa Elders Forum.

New “landlords”
New “landlords” emerged in Kiryamboga village, Buseruka Sub-county in Hoima District when Tullow Oil drilled Waraga-D oil well in December 2013.
Hoima district, located 202 kilometres northwest of Kampala, has over 18 oil wells.

According to the Kiryamboga village chairperson, Mr Geoffrey Nnsi, more than 400 families who owned the land under a joint customary ownership since time immemorial permitted Tullow Oil to prospect for oil in the area.

But the residents were shocked, he says, when they received a copy of a letter from Ntambirweki Kandeebe & Company Advocates indicating that the land where the oil well had been discovered belonged to Gids Consult Ltd as a registered proprietor with a title (FRV 146 Folio 13).

“Our clients have found drilling rigs and fences on their land. There are also vehicles belonging to you and other equipment parked on our clients’ land,” Mr Ntambirweki Kandeebe wrote to the Tullow Uganda General Manager in a letter dated February 27th, 2014.

“You have gone ahead to construct roads on our clients’ land without our clients’ knowledge and permission thereby impeding their use of land and interference with their freehold ownership,” he stated.

The law firm said they had instructions to demand from Tullow Shs200 million for forcibly entering their clients’ land without prior permission or compensation, and Shs20 million as legal fees.

In response, Tullow Uganda’s General Manager, Mr Jimmy Mugerwa, said prior to clearing the oil site and deploying equipment, Tullow obtained permission from the local council leadership in a letter dated August 1, 2013. The letter indicated that the land was located within a community conservation area, and thus belonged to no specific individual but to the community.

“It is worth noting that your client only acquired a certificate of title to the land where Waraga-D oil well is located on January 7, 2014, over five months after Tullow had commenced operations on the land,” the letter dated March 13, 2014 read.

The claims by Gids Consult puzzled the locals who considered the land to be their communal land. They applied to the commissioner of surveys and mapping in the Ministry of Lands for guidance on the ownership of the contested plot 93, Bugahya block 5, Hoima District.

Mr Nnsi claims that they discovered six titles had been obtained for almost the entire land in Kiryamboga village without the knowledge of the existing customary owners.

Mr Nnsi and three others, on behalf of the residents of Kiryamboga, have filed a suit at Masindi High Court against MrMoses Kyamanywa, the former Hoima Assistant Chief administrative Officer, Gids Consult Ltd and four others, who include Mr Edgar Agaba, the former Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) executive director.

In his affidavit filed in Court, Mr Nnsi claims he and 141 others own land customarily in Kiryamboga village; measuring 193 hectares.

“Recently the respondents trespassed onto our land and even secretly applied to have the same registered,” Mr Nnsi states in the affidavit seen by the Sunday Monitor.

In the court documents, the applicants claim to be the true owners of the various blocks of land that are in contention.

They have asked court to order for the cancellation of the titles, order compensation, and they pray that the land is restored to its customary owners. The case is yet to be determined by the High court.

In their defence, the accused officials insist they acquired their titles genuinely and without dispute, and that they followed regular procedure.

“The defendants shall contend that they cannot trespass on their own land and the complainants are not entitled to any of the remedies sought,” a defence dated July 11, 2016 filed at Masindi High Court read in part.

The accused claimed in their defence that the complainants were not born in the area, and have never lived or occupied the land in contention as alleged.

According to Mr Bashir Twesigye, a lawyer, despite customary land ownership being legally recognised in the Constitution and the Land Act, in practice the tenure is less respected.

“This is because the formal land titling system offers documented land ownership, which is treated more legitimate than the non-documented customary ownership,” Mr Twesigye says. He is the executive director of Civic Response on Environment and Development (CRED), an oil advocacy NGO.

He adds that in practice, the land is being titled in the Albertine graben without considering the rights of weaker communities holding land customarily.

Oil company complains
On September 29, 2014, Total E&P Uganda, one of the three licensed oil firms, wrote to the Lands minister over an executive directive temporarily prohibiting the issuance of land titles in the Albertine graben area.

“It came at our great surprise to learn that Buliisa District Land Board has given provisional approval for titling of over 5,000 hectares of land in favour of one individual,” a letter by Total’s General Manager Francois Rafin said.

He said the offer was a concern to Total E&P Uganda considering that most of its oil field development facilities, including well pads, central processing facilities, and pipelines will be located in Buliisa district, possibly in parts of the areas which are subject of these proposed titles.

He requested the Ministry to investigate the land transaction “and ensure the status quo be maintained in accordance with the executive directive”. Mr Rafin was recalled to the company’s head office in Paris in January 2015 and replaced by Mr Adewale Fayemi.

Museveni intervenes
The cries were many and almost every official was petitioned. President Museveni eventually intervened.

On March 5, 2011, Mr Museveni wrote to then Prime Minister Prof Apolo Nsibambi informing him that he had sent his legal team to Buliisa District to investigate whether those who have been acquiring big chunks of land were doing so legally.

According to the President’s letter, the land boards of Masindi and Buliisa districts were issuing land titles on recommendations of local land committees without informing residents and other stakeholders, contrary to the law.

Mr Museveni said many of these land titles could be fraudulent and directed the minister of Lands to cause a review of all land titles given out in Buliisa District.

“He should cancel all the titles he finds to have been given out fraudulently,” Mr Museveni wrote.
The President’s directive notwithstanding, land transactions continued in the Albertine Graben and shrouded in controversy, suspicions and contestations.

Solicitor General clears land transactions
At the Lands ministry, the permanent secretary, Ms Mulinde Mukasa-Kintu, on October 7, 2011, wrote to the Solicitor General seeking a legal opinion on whether land occupiers in Buliisa and the Albertine Graben region were allowed to title their land.

“Is it in order and lawful for the ministry responsible for lands not to issue titles in Buliisa district and the greater Albertine Graben region to individuals taking into account that the district land board is an autonomous body, allocating land and forwarding the applications for titling?” Ms Mukasa-Kintu wrote.

In response, the Solicitor General cautioned the Lands ministry against blocking issuance of land titles in the Albertine Graben on grounds that occupiers of land in Buliisa and the Albertine Graben are entitled to own land in the region as per Article 237(1) of the Constitution.

In a letter dated January 24, 2012, the Solicitor General said under Article 237(2)(a), Article 244(1) and Section 2(1) of the Petroleum Act, when petroleum is discovered on a land, the government is required to compensate the land owner prior to taking over the land.

“In light of the above, the Ministry of Lands should issue titles to occupiers of the land where it is clear that petroleum has not been discovered on advice of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, ” Mr B.J Abang wrote for the Solicitor General.

“The occupiers of land in the Albertine Graben and Buliisa should be issued with titles. The law provides a process that government can use to acquire land if petroleum is discovered,” the Solicitor General added.

Ban on land titling
On May 4, 2015, however, the Lands ministry permanent secretary wrote to the Buliisa chief administrative officer (CAO) suspending any processing of land applications in the district, in line with the presidential directive.

According to the letter, the Ministry of Lands and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development conducted a fact-finding field visit in Hoima and Buliisa districts.

The team reportedly investigated land disputes arising from irregular allocations of big chunks of land to unscrupulous people who were speculating the existence of oil reserves in those areas.

The letter showed that the report of the probe was already before a parliamentary committee chaired by the Prime Minister for consideration.

“The purpose of this letter therefore, is to inform you that the moratorium on land transactions from Buliisa district has not yet been lifted until the committee completes its work,” the letter stated.

Ban disregarded
But the executive directives to halt land transactions were ignored and the Buliisa District Land Board Chairman, Mr Sabiiti Tundulu, says the Board continues to operate normally.

“We continue to receive and process applications so long as our activities are within the law,” Mr Tundulu said.

Mr Stephen Mukitale Biraahwa, the Buliisa County MP, accuses some district officials of siding with land speculators who are acquiring large chunks of land in the district at the expense of communal land owners.

But Mr Tundulu insists that the Board acts lawfully and independently and has not sided with land speculators as alleged by the area MP.

Minutes of the Buliisa District Land Board meeting held on June 26, 2014, indicate that the Board provisionally approved nine applications for land titles measuring approximately 5,743 hectares, out of which 5,721 hectares were applied for by one businessman, Mr Francis Kaahwa.

Mr Kaahwa, a Kampala-based businessman, has sued Total E&P Uganda for allegedly trespassing on his land without compensating him.

Ms Ahlem Friga-Noy, the Total E&P Uganda’s Public Relations Officer, confirmed that Mr Kaahwa has filed three law suits against Total E&P Uganda at the Chief Magistrates Court in Masindi in respect of the land on which Mpyo 6, Gunya 2, Ngiri 1, 4 and 7 well pads are located.

Ms Friga-Noy said compensation delayed because the suit land was subject to various land ownership claims that were yet to be resolved by the claimants involved.

Mr Kaahwa told this reporter that over 18 oil wells have been discovered on his land, which he said he acquired lawfully, on a willing buyer, willing seller basis.

With powerful individuals like Mr Kaahwa and the oil companies in the fray, Mr Kaseegu and people like those he leads in Kisimo Cell who have customary claims to land may not stand a fighting chance.