Kabarole district halts eviction of over 800 families

The Kabarole district chairperson Richard Rwabuhinga has halted an eviction process of over 800 families in Kasenda Sub County.

The families were being threatened by Hima Cement factory in Kasese district which is said to have acquired an exploration license to excavate limestone and pozolana both raw material from the area.

The affected villages are Rwigo, Kasenda and Rwimi.

Emmanuel Tugume the area district councilor says a team of land surveyors, Geologists and a team from Hima Cement Limited had been surveying the land without permission from both local leaders and the land owners.

"Land is a source of income to most of our people here. Anything that threatens their land directly has negative effect on their livelihoods" Tugume said.

While meeting the locals at Rwankenzi Catholic Church Rwabuhinga stated that his office has never been informed about any ongoing activity by Hima Cement Factory in the district.

Am going to write to the relevant ministry informing them about the issue at hand, you can't just evict people without at least notifying the local leaders" Rwabuhunga said.

Rwabuhinga also said he would discuss the matter at the district security committee. "Land conflict is a security threat which can't be taken lightly. We don't want to see our people shading blood here" he added.