Fifty-year-old George Mugenyi, a resident of Uduku I village, is among the 5,600 residents who will be displaced to pave way for the establishment of the Tilenga Oil industrial project in Ngwedo sub-county in Buliisa district.

He avers that despite the little compensation being offered to him by the government for his 7acre piece of land at sh3.5m per acre, the money has been delayed.

His immediate fear is that when he finally gets the money, he won’t be able to buy an equivalent piece of land elsewhere as land is appreciating every day on the open market following the discovery of oil in the area.

New Vision has established that in the lower Buliisa on the shores of Lake Albert, land is cheaper because it is not as fertile and can only support pastoralism compared to the Upper Biiso sub-county which is arable land where farming can do better.

Thus, prices differ depending on such factors. An acre in the lower Buliisa is at sh4m up from sh2m two years ago, while in Upper Buliisa goes for sh7m up from sh3m.

The government took over physical occupation of the land since it announced the cut-off date in August 2018, implying that they were supposed to be paid thereafter.

Oliver Nyakato, a resident of Kasinyi village says since then they stopped growing permanent crops from where they used to earn a living and are now facing hunger.

She says they can longer rent out the land to get money as they used to do since it (land) is in the hands of the government.

“We don’t know when we shall be paid our money. We have in the past petitioned the relevant authorities and nothing has been done about it,” she added.

Her other worry is sellers hike the prices of land after knowing they are selling to the compensated evictees because they have enough money.

Apart from revising the compensation packages, Nyakato, a mother of six, thinks the process should be quickened to allow them to resettle.

Operated by Total E&P Uganda, the Tilenga project will consist of a central processing facility (CPF) with the capacity to produce an estimated 190,000 to 200,000 barrels per day of oil when production starts.

Covering the existing licenses in Buliisa and Nwoya districts, the project will also have a feeder pipeline to transport processed crude oil to the export hub and the refinery in Kabaale village, Hoima district.

Others are a 250 kilometres flow lines which will transport crude oil within the oil fields and over 312 wells (including 189 injector producers and 33 observers) which are planned to be drilled on 35 well pads.

The CPF is an infrastructure used to process crude oil, which is received directly from the oil wells, by removing impurities and water and also separating the produced gas from crude oil.

Ismail Kusemererwa, the Executive Director for Mid-Western Anti-Corruption Coalition (MIRAC), a local organization, says they are equally concerned from a human rights perspective over the delayed compensation of the project affected persons (PAPs).

“Compensation should be fair, adequate and timely and prior to taking over land,” he added.

Kusemererwa said to their chagrin the government is silent on the delay and was not involving the people in its plans so as they are updated on what is taking place.

He faults the government for being slow at grievance management, adding that unresolved grievances is one of the things delaying the exercise from moving on.

Although Total E&P Uganda is non-committal on who exactly were paid, it has been established that some of the PAPs who agreed to the rates being offered were paid sh3.5m each per acre and given 30% of the compensation value as disturbance allowance two years ago.

These could have been the 622 PAPs identified under RAP I occupying the industrial area and associated facilities-CPF which covers 318 hectares (786 acres).

However, others like Geofrey Byakagaba a resident of Kasinyi village in Ngwedo sub-county, the epicenter of the Tilenga oil project and whose 9 acres were taken, is part of the petition dated January 23 to the ministry of energy and mineral development over delayed compensation.

Byakagaba said they have been living in misery because they have not been using their land to earn a living, adding that as a result his children dropped out of school due to lack of money to pay fees.

Although Total E&P has incessantly promised to ensure prompt delivery of cash and in-kind compensation, followed by the physical relocation of PAPs and the implementation of Livelihood Restoration Programmes, another nine land owners refused cash compensation.

They say the sh3.5m per acre that was offered was too little to enable them buy land elsewhere. They later asked to be relocated, a thing which is contested by the government.

The Attorney General on July 23, 2020 filed an application at the Masindi High Court asking to deposit the sh368m of the money for the 74 acres that was determined by the chief government valuer for the aforesaid 9 land owners.

The Attorney General said this would avert the daily costs being incurred by both the government and the oil firm to enable oil activities to go on.

The application, however, did not say how much costs are being incurred as a result of delayed commencement of the work due to compensation conflict.

He (Attorney General) to that effect published a statutory instrument on November 9, 2018, declaring the land as required for a public purpose.

The respondents whom the Attorney General said neglected to present their particulars to the chief government valuer have since filed a defence before the same court still disputing the compensation value.

"Several attempts to have the 9 sign compensation agreements were in vain, which further complicates matters."

The issue of delayed compensation punctuated the handover of the 29 resettlement houses on Monday to the primary residents affected by the Tilenga oil project.

The between one and four bedroomed houses which cost sh3.6b are located in Uduku II in Ngwedo sub-county in Buliisa district.

They are resettlement plots selected by the respective primary residents with designs approved by PAPs and the district Physical Planning committee.

Simon Agaba Kinene, the Buliisa district LC5 chairperson who also claims to be affected by the oil project, said compensation for the PAPs was long overdue.

He said those affected are eagerly waiting to get compensated, adding that the more it delays the more the people get angry because it affects their socio-economic conditions and also delays oil production timeline.

Total E&P in a statement said the implementation of the resettlement housing project, paves the way for the launch of various compensation and livelihood restoration programmes of the PAPs.

“This is an important symbol of our commitment to undertake the development of the project while observing utmost human rights standards. We are therefore implementing all the necessary initiatives to ensure that we adequately restore and improve the living standards of those affected,” the statement added.

A source said what is remaining are Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs) two to five that also includes acquisition of the feeder pipeline right of way.

Pierre Jessua, General Manager, Total E&P Uganda, told New Vision on the sidelines of the handover of the houses that they wished the compensation could be quickened so that the processs that started in 2013 does not last for many more years, again.

Jesssua who attributed the delays in giving compensation to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in movement restrictions and delayed signing of a final investment decision (FID), said nothing is perfect and that there is always room for improvement.

Robin Goloba, the acting director legal and corporate affairs department at the petroleum authority of Uganda told New Vision that certainly if land acquisition takes long it has an impact on oil production timeline.

Without divulging details, Goloba said the government has intervened by engaging the stakeholders to ensure remaining phases of land acquisition are smooth and speedy.

He added that they were completing the return of assessment forms to the remaining project affected persons.