Buliisa Locals in bloody land fights as oil flows
May 21, 2011
SINCE the discovery of oil in Bunyoro, there has been a mad rush for land in the region.The Bagungu, a minority tribe in Buliisa district, who used to own land communally, are now being sidelined as rich individuals take over their land. <b>Gerald Tenywa</b> visited the area and now writes
SINCE the discovery of oil in Bunyoro, there has been a mad rush for land in the region.The Bagungu, a minority tribe in Buliisa district, who used to own land communally, are now being sidelined as rich individuals take over their land. Gerald Tenywa visited the area and now writes
Isaac Bitamale, a 57-year-old farmer who lives near Kasemene oil well in Buliisa district near Lake Albert, is not happy.
As strong winds blow across the dry landscape from the nearby lake, Bitamale and his colleagues are furious that their ancestral land, on which they grazed their cattle, is being taken from them without their consent.
Bitamale says rich individuals from Kampala claim to own the land where oil wells have been discovered. “After the discovery of oil, we thought we would benefit but now they want to get rid of us. This is unfair,†Bitamale says.
He added: “Why are they coming now yet nobody cared about this land before? The oil belongs to all Ugandans and we must be compensated for our land.â€
Bitamale was speaking on the eve of the swearing in of President Yoweri Museveni for a fourth term in office. In his speech, the President said oil drilling would start in three years.
Jimmy Kiberu, the head of corporate affairs at Tullow Oil, confirmed that oil production would start by 2013.
COMMUNAL LAND OWNERSHIP IN BULIISA
The LC3 chairperson, Kubalirwa Nkuba, 52, says most land in Buliisa is communal and cannot be sold by an individual.
Prior to the discovery of oil, Buliisa was part of Masindi district. It was bordered by Lake Albert on one side and Bugungu Wildlife Reserve on the other. Nkuba blames its location for lack of development.
But with the discovery of oil, Buliisa can start developing although this can be a threat to the people’s most valuable asset, the land.
Centuries ago, the Bagungu, were the indigenous tribe living around Lake Albert. But wars with Bunyoro and Buganda together with an outbreak of sleeping sickness reduced their population. A number also fled to Busoga and eastern DR Congo.
The land they left became home too wildlife and some of it was eventually gazetted as wildlife reserves, national parks or forest reserves.
According to Buliisa MP Biraahwa Mukitale, the few Bagungu who were left in the area started sharing resources and living communally.
Mukitale says the discovery of oil has come with capitalism which thrives on greed and is likely to destroy Buliisa.
Under the proposed Bills on Petroleum, 3% of the oil revenue should go to land owners. This, according to Nkuba, is what is driving speculators to take over land where oil wells are being discovered.
“It is suprising that areas where speculators land are the same areas where oil is being discovered. This cannot be a coincidence,†says Nkuba.
ONE MAN BOUGHT OVER 1000 ACRES OF LAND IN BULIISA
Five years ago, there was a conflict in Buliisa between herdsmen commonly known as Balaalo and the indigenous communities. The herdsmen allegedly took their animals to Buliisa without movement permits and settled there.
Buliisa MP Biraahwa Mukitale says when he complained about the Balaalo, the Police refused to evict them and instead deployed to guard the herdsmen. “It only took a directive by President Yoweri Museveni to drive them out. The herdsmen had camped at Waiga, which is one of the areas with many oil wells,†Mukitale explained.
A few weeks ago, another bloody conflict unfolded when a group of refugees from DR. Congo allegedly sold land to Francis Kaahwa, a tycoon from Kampala, without the consent of the indegenous Bagungu.
When Kaahwa and a team of district officials started demarcating the land to process a land title, the local people rose up in arms against the officials and the refugees. Many were wounded and three people were arrested but were eventually released on bail. The refugees fled back to DR Congo.
When asked why the trespassers were not arrested, the district Police commander, Ibrahim Sayiga, said: “We made immediate arrests but to our dismay, some of the people who had gathered for a blood bath included the local council chairmen.â€
Kaahwa said: “I am not the only one who has bought land, in Buliisa. You are wasting time following up the issue. I have a list of people including judges, who have bought land. If you have a problem you report to the Government.â€
Kaahwa’s list of the people who have bought land has over 50 names. Most of them have less than 20 acres, but Kaahwa owns more than 1,000 acres in Kirima village where the Warthog oil well is located, in addition to having more land in other parts of the district.
On April 25, two villages fought over grazing ground that was once communal. Residents of Kasenyi, fought with the people of Kirima after they found some people trying to fence off the land near Warthog oil well. That land had allegedly also been bought by Kaahwa. Both communities claimed the land was theirs.
The Police chief Sayiga said: “The Police do not engage in land matters until there is crime. The communities should produce documents proving ownership, instead of fighting.â€
Currently, there are private security guards on the contested piece of land and construction work is on-going.
The district chairperson, Fred Lukumu, said the people in Buliisa are conservative and are resisting change. “Development takes time but this is progressively waking the community up. The people who are being accused of taking over land are increasing the value of the land. People should get free-hold land titles. This is better than keeping communal land.â€
He confirmed that Kaahwa had bought a lot of land, but added that other individuals had also bought land.
“What is wrong with buying land? I also buy land, the only difference is that rich people buy more.â€
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?
Land rows have also been reported in Hoima and Amuru districts. ,
Esther Obaikol, the executive director of Uganda Land Alliance (ULA), says ownership is bing converted from customary to a free-hold system.
According to a research conducted by ULA, lease applications in Hoima have been increasing since the discovery of oil. In 2005, there were only 14 applications but by 2006, the number had increased to 183. In 2007, the number went to 723, before reaching 1,234 in 2008 and falling to 985 in 2009.
“The Government should create awareness. Oil comes with benefits and challenges,†Obaikol says.
She adds that in the short run, people’s livelihood would be affected because they would not have enough land and would be unemployed, leading to an increase in crime.
Ferguson Ebow, a community relations expert from Ghana, explained that in the Niger Delta, the peaceful Ogoni tribe, who were mainly fishermen, took up arms when their fishing grounds were polluted and they had no source of livelihood.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The chairperson of the Buliisa NGO Forum, Isaac Nkuba, is mobilising the people to register their land under an association, hoping to apply for land titles later.
This, he explains, would protect the people from exploitation as they would lease out their land instead of selling it to the Government for oil development. But, because there are no land officers in the district, this may take long to be implemented.
Nkuba adds that the Government should put a caveat on land transactions within Buliisa, until land officers have been appointed to advise the land board on how to go about matters of land.
Isaac Bitamale, a 57-year-old farmer who lives near Kasemene oil well in Buliisa district near Lake Albert, is not happy.
As strong winds blow across the dry landscape from the nearby lake, Bitamale and his colleagues are furious that their ancestral land, on which they grazed their cattle, is being taken from them without their consent.
Bitamale says rich individuals from Kampala claim to own the land where oil wells have been discovered. “After the discovery of oil, we thought we would benefit but now they want to get rid of us. This is unfair,†Bitamale says.
He added: “Why are they coming now yet nobody cared about this land before? The oil belongs to all Ugandans and we must be compensated for our land.â€
Bitamale was speaking on the eve of the swearing in of President Yoweri Museveni for a fourth term in office. In his speech, the President said oil drilling would start in three years.
Jimmy Kiberu, the head of corporate affairs at Tullow Oil, confirmed that oil production would start by 2013.
COMMUNAL LAND OWNERSHIP IN BULIISA
The LC3 chairperson, Kubalirwa Nkuba, 52, says most land in Buliisa is communal and cannot be sold by an individual.
Prior to the discovery of oil, Buliisa was part of Masindi district. It was bordered by Lake Albert on one side and Bugungu Wildlife Reserve on the other. Nkuba blames its location for lack of development.
But with the discovery of oil, Buliisa can start developing although this can be a threat to the people’s most valuable asset, the land.
Centuries ago, the Bagungu, were the indigenous tribe living around Lake Albert. But wars with Bunyoro and Buganda together with an outbreak of sleeping sickness reduced their population. A number also fled to Busoga and eastern DR Congo.
The land they left became home too wildlife and some of it was eventually gazetted as wildlife reserves, national parks or forest reserves.
According to Buliisa MP Biraahwa Mukitale, the few Bagungu who were left in the area started sharing resources and living communally.
Mukitale says the discovery of oil has come with capitalism which thrives on greed and is likely to destroy Buliisa.
Under the proposed Bills on Petroleum, 3% of the oil revenue should go to land owners. This, according to Nkuba, is what is driving speculators to take over land where oil wells are being discovered.
“It is suprising that areas where speculators land are the same areas where oil is being discovered. This cannot be a coincidence,†says Nkuba.
ONE MAN BOUGHT OVER 1000 ACRES OF LAND IN BULIISA
Five years ago, there was a conflict in Buliisa between herdsmen commonly known as Balaalo and the indigenous communities. The herdsmen allegedly took their animals to Buliisa without movement permits and settled there.
Buliisa MP Biraahwa Mukitale says when he complained about the Balaalo, the Police refused to evict them and instead deployed to guard the herdsmen. “It only took a directive by President Yoweri Museveni to drive them out. The herdsmen had camped at Waiga, which is one of the areas with many oil wells,†Mukitale explained.
A few weeks ago, another bloody conflict unfolded when a group of refugees from DR. Congo allegedly sold land to Francis Kaahwa, a tycoon from Kampala, without the consent of the indegenous Bagungu.
When Kaahwa and a team of district officials started demarcating the land to process a land title, the local people rose up in arms against the officials and the refugees. Many were wounded and three people were arrested but were eventually released on bail. The refugees fled back to DR Congo.
When asked why the trespassers were not arrested, the district Police commander, Ibrahim Sayiga, said: “We made immediate arrests but to our dismay, some of the people who had gathered for a blood bath included the local council chairmen.â€
Kaahwa said: “I am not the only one who has bought land, in Buliisa. You are wasting time following up the issue. I have a list of people including judges, who have bought land. If you have a problem you report to the Government.â€
Kaahwa’s list of the people who have bought land has over 50 names. Most of them have less than 20 acres, but Kaahwa owns more than 1,000 acres in Kirima village where the Warthog oil well is located, in addition to having more land in other parts of the district.
On April 25, two villages fought over grazing ground that was once communal. Residents of Kasenyi, fought with the people of Kirima after they found some people trying to fence off the land near Warthog oil well. That land had allegedly also been bought by Kaahwa. Both communities claimed the land was theirs.
The Police chief Sayiga said: “The Police do not engage in land matters until there is crime. The communities should produce documents proving ownership, instead of fighting.â€
Currently, there are private security guards on the contested piece of land and construction work is on-going.
The district chairperson, Fred Lukumu, said the people in Buliisa are conservative and are resisting change. “Development takes time but this is progressively waking the community up. The people who are being accused of taking over land are increasing the value of the land. People should get free-hold land titles. This is better than keeping communal land.â€
He confirmed that Kaahwa had bought a lot of land, but added that other individuals had also bought land.
“What is wrong with buying land? I also buy land, the only difference is that rich people buy more.â€
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?
Land rows have also been reported in Hoima and Amuru districts. ,
Esther Obaikol, the executive director of Uganda Land Alliance (ULA), says ownership is bing converted from customary to a free-hold system.
According to a research conducted by ULA, lease applications in Hoima have been increasing since the discovery of oil. In 2005, there were only 14 applications but by 2006, the number had increased to 183. In 2007, the number went to 723, before reaching 1,234 in 2008 and falling to 985 in 2009.
“The Government should create awareness. Oil comes with benefits and challenges,†Obaikol says.
She adds that in the short run, people’s livelihood would be affected because they would not have enough land and would be unemployed, leading to an increase in crime.
Ferguson Ebow, a community relations expert from Ghana, explained that in the Niger Delta, the peaceful Ogoni tribe, who were mainly fishermen, took up arms when their fishing grounds were polluted and they had no source of livelihood.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The chairperson of the Buliisa NGO Forum, Isaac Nkuba, is mobilising the people to register their land under an association, hoping to apply for land titles later.
This, he explains, would protect the people from exploitation as they would lease out their land instead of selling it to the Government for oil development. But, because there are no land officers in the district, this may take long to be implemented.
Nkuba adds that the Government should put a caveat on land transactions within Buliisa, until land officers have been appointed to advise the land board on how to go about matters of land.