Court orders encroachers out of Matiri forest

Jul 30, 2014

THE High Court in Fort Portal has ordered encroachers who settled in the Matiri Central Forest Reserve in Kyenjojo to vacate immediately

By Patrick Jaramogi 

THE High Court in Fort Portal has ordered encroachers who settled in the Matiri Central Forest Reserve in Kyenjojo to vacate immediately.

The over 1,000 encroachers who had invaded the larger part of the forest and created Mukonomura enclave (trading centre) in Rwibale Butunduzi in Kyenjojo district were ordered to vacate immediately.

Justice David Batema Akiiki (N.D.A) also lifted the court injunction that had earlier been awarded to the plaintiffs to stay in the reserve.

Delivering the two judgments, Justice Batema ruled, “All court orders of injunction in this case are hereby lifted. The defendant (NFA) is free to plant trees to protect and preserve the forest and promote the fragile environment in Matiri Central Forest Reserve pending the final disposal of the main suit.”

The applicants, through Omuhereza Rwakaboyo and 119 others and Patrick Kalubanga had sued NFA for illegal eviction.

Batema ruled that all people who settled in lands outside Mukonomura enclave whether or not protected by the former court orders have up to August 2014 to harvest their food crops and peacefully move out of the suit land.

“Their continued stay and cutting of the forest for timber and charcoal is causing irreparable damage to the National Forestry Authority and court shall have no forest to hand over to NFA if they (NFA) win the case,” he said in the judgement.

National Forestry Authority legal manager Ruth Kisakye said the encroachers had petitioned court against eviction prompting the Fort Portal court to put a temporary injunction. 

“But to their dismay, the same court ruled that their activities were dangerous to the forest and caused irreparable damage. The same court also dismissed the temporary injunction against NFA,” she said.

Joseph Kwesiga the NFA counsel in the case said the judge directed that all farming activities, cutting of timber and burning of charcoal in the forest reserve be stopped forthwith. 

The over 40 applicants led by a one Patrick Kalubanga filed a civil suit (No. 27 of 2013) against National Forestry Authority for a declaratory order, an injunction restraining NFA from evicting them from pieces of land that they occupy.

They asserted that the land they occupied in Mukononomura, Rwibale and Butunduzi in Kyenjojo district was not part of the Matiri Central Forest Reserve. The applicants applied for interim orders of injunction that they enjoyed since November 2013.

But in his judgement, Justice Batema ruled: “This court is surprised to learn that people can claim to be lawfully settled and carrying out farming activities in the middle of the a gazetted reserve. I chose to visit the locus in-quo to see for myself the type of lawful settlement of the plaintiffs in the forest reserve.”

He added: “ I didn’t want to listen to academic argument and maintain a status quo of cutting trees and cultivating in a forest reserve which was unlawful from the word go or gave no cause of action.”

Batema said he discovered that the Matiri Central Forest Reserve is well and dully gazetted (in law) by virtue of the Forest Reserves Declaration order of 1998. 

“It is held in trust, managed and controlled by government on behalf of the people of Uganda for common good of all citizens and no individual should be allowed to own and occupy parts of the Central Reserve,” said the Judge in his ruling.

Batema ruled that these are clearly illegal encroachers degrading the forest and abusing the court process to secure injunctions against NFA.

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