Firm compensates 55 farmers for Mbale-Tirinyi roadworks

More than 55 farmers from Nakabale and Bukasa villages in Magada Sub-county, Namutumba District, have been compensated by Dott Services Limited, a private company rehabilitating the Mbale-Tirinyi Road.
The compensation comes after farmers were seeking a court injunction to halt all quarry activities of Dott Services for delaying to compensate them.
Mr Azizi Sayid, the site manager, at the weekend said the delays in payment were caused by the verification exercise of the beneficiaries since they were collecting land titles to avoid double payment.
“Some farmers inherited land from their fore parents and lacked titles,” he said.
Mr Sayid said the 55 farmers within a 500-metre radius, sitting on 74 acres of land have been given a “disturbance compensation.”
“We are not compensating them (farmers) to take their land because even after compensation, they will still have full powers over their land,” he said.
Mr Sayid added that compensation will be done in phases, adding that the next step will involve building for people whose houses were damaged by the process.
Mr Mathias Mufude, the Magada Sub-county chairperson, acknowledged that most farmers lacked land titles and national identification cards which delayed the compensation process.
Mr Mufude urged beneficiaries to invest the money in farming.
“I am urging you to use the money to buy other plots of land or invest in farming other than resorting to drinking,” he said.
Some farmers, however, claimed they had received peanuts compared to the damages caused.
“We expected to get more money compared to what we received. I feel cheated. I thought Dott Services would compensate me for every damage caused and property destroyed,” Mr Moses Mushebo, a beneficiary, said.
“The only property which has been valued is land yet others like crops were not,” he added.
Mr Hamidu Kyaka, another farmer, said the company did not follow government valuation laws before compensating them, dismissing the exercise as ‘unfair’.
Mr Joseph Amirikori, another beneficiary, said the company did not consult them on how much they were to be compensated.
“We expected them to agree on the money that we were going to get per acre, but are surprised to learn that Shs330,000 was valued for each acre,” Mr Amirikori said.
Daily Monitor has since learnt that most farmers were compensated between Shs330,000 to Shs930,000, with the highest beneficiary receiving Shs4m.