Farmers’ rights to land
What you need to know:
- Yet Godfrey Mutemba, the Lwengo District resources officer, is of the view that all farmers to be relocated should not be compensated with cash but rather with actual land for them to carry on with farming.
Farmers greatly treasure land because it is on land that they grow crops and graze animals.
As a factor of production, land is valued in terms of agricultural potential, natural resources, and geographical location, among other considerations.
Yet nowadays, it is not uncommon to hear of cases of entire communities being evicted from land they have always known to be their home.
To most of those evicted, it often means loss of their livelihood because they cannot do farming without land. In some cases, the evictions are intended to create space for national development projects or for big private investments viewed as essential for the country’s economic progress.
Sometimes the projects or investments cause environment pollution with dire consequences for the host communities.
Normally, the evicted families are somehow compensated for their loss. However, it is important that they are also emotionally prepared for that loss. It is the reason NGOs such as Community Transformation Foundation Network(COTFONE), Uganda Consortium on Corporate Accountability (UCCA), and Global Rights Alert, (GRA) are holding meetings with local leaders in the districts through which the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) is to pass sensitising them about smallholders land rights.
“The communities giving up their land ought to have all the information relating to the project by government or private entities and how it will affect their general well-being before it is implemented,” says Dalton Bakashabaruhanga from UCCA. Yisto Kayinga Muddu, the Coordinator of COTFONE, insists that consent of the affected communities ought to be sought long before the relocation of the indigenous communities and that it should be informed choice.
Yet Godfrey Mutemba, the Lwengo District resources officer, is of the view that all farmers to be relocated should not be compensated with cash but rather with actual land for them to carry on with farming.
“What some family heads do after obtaining cash is to go off to towns and squander it,” Mutemba says. “To them compensation cash means payment for the land, which is not the case. There should also be consideration whether the project will remove or damage cultural sites from the affected communities.”
Mr Mischael Ssali is a veteran journalist and a farmer
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