Encroachers lose court case to block NFA eviction from forest
NFA officials assess the destruction of part of Matiri Forest. Photo By EPHRAIM Kasozi.
What you need to know:
Dismissed. The Court of Appeal also dismissed an application by 200 families who had sought to block their eviction from Matiri Forest
KYENJOJO.
Court in Kyenjojo District has dismissed an application in which a group of encroachers sought to block the National Forest Authority (NFA) from implementing its activities in Matiri Forest reserve in Kabarole and Kyenjojo districts.
In the ruling, Kyenjojo Grade One Magistrate Asuman Muhumuza overturned an earlier interim order which had barred the forestry authority staff from evicting encroachers, saying they had entered into the forest reserve.
“When court visited the disputed area, it found that the people had not settled there as alleged. The homes of the complainants were well far away from the forest boundaries with the exception of their gardens. This is contrary to the argument that they would suffer irreparable damage if the order is not granted,” Mr Muhumuza ruled.
They alleged that they had taken possession of the controversial pieces of land and have settled there on, constructed homesteads used the land for cultivation and animal grazing.
The case comes two years after the High Court in 2014 ordered the eviction of encroachers from Matiri Forest Reserve upon submission of a boundary opening report by the government surveyor.
The Court of Appeal also dismissed an application by 200 families who had sought to block their eviction from Matiri Forest by the forestry authority.
The lower court ruled that the complainants through their lawyer failed to prove any damage because they only have seasonal crops in the reserve like maize and tobacco which cannot be compensated in monetary terms.
Court heard that the contested land is purely a forest reserve on compartment 3 of Matiri forest sector.
The NFA’s Matiri sector comprises Ibambaro, Lwensambya, Buhingiro and Matiri Central Forest Reserves. A Presidential directive issued in January 2013 ordered NFA to evict all encroachers from the reserves, following massive encroachment.
The case
Five people: Mwesige Bwana, Edward Garubanda, Champion Byamugisha, Augustine Baguma and Godfrey Yerwanire, sued NFA claiming ownership of separate pieces of land situated at Butunduzi Town Council in Kyenjojo and all the pieces of land border Matiri Forest Reserve.
