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KASESE - Over 5,000 farmers, evicted some 20 years ago in a land conflict with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) in Kasese district, may soon sigh with relief if the ongoing pursuit of an out-of-court settlement between the parties materialises. 

The protracted impasse has been between the farmers in Kyabatukura village, Rugendabara parish, Kitswamba sub-county and UWA. 

The dispute has seen periodic clashes, some violent, clashing violently since 2001 over the ownership of the land, which is adjacent to Kibaale National Park. 

UWA evicted the farmers claiming they were encroaching on the park land.
Maintaining the land belonged to them, the farmers ran to court in 2009 but the matter has still not been resolved.

President’s Office intervenes 

To settle the standoff, the Office of the President, represented by Robert Ojula, recently convened a meeting which the involved parties attended.

The March 20, 2024, meeting held in Kampala to harmonise the land conflict, was attended by UWA executive director Sam Mwandha, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Nerima Perepetua, and Luke Kiiza, the farmers’ representative.

Resolutions 

According to the minutes jointly signed by UWA boss Mwandha, Ojula, Kiiza and Nerima, the parties resolved to settle the matter out of court. 

They also resolved that the controversial boundary be opened under the guidance of the Ministry of Lands. 

The minutes, a copy of which New Vision has obtained, further recommend that the Office of the President facilitates the boundary opening as soon as possible to avoid further clashes. 

The minutes further urge the Ministry of Disaster Preparedness and Refugees and Ibuga Government Prison authorities to be brought on board during the boundary opening. 
According to the document, once this boundary is opened as agreed by all parties, then the ongoing court case ceases.

High Court directive

The farmers’ lawyer presented the minutes to the presiding Fort Portal High Court Judge Vincent Mugabo seeking the case to be settled out of court.

However, the court directed the two parties to report back on June 6, 2024, with a progress report.

Kiiza said the prospects of ending the impasse excited him because the eviction had occasioned his people untold suffering.

“From the positive mood exhibited by the UWA, I am very optimistic that the controversy is going to end. The court also asked us to go and assemble surveyors,” Kiiza told the media on phone after the court session. 

According to the UWA boss Mwandha, the Kyabatukura land conflict is one among the thousands that have often strained the relationship between the communities neighbouring the conservation areas and UWA.   

“Our wildlife conservation challenges include heightened human-wildlife conflicts due to the human population proximity to the protected areas and increase in wildlife,” Mwandha told New Vision recently.