Basongora evicted from national park
THE controversial eviction of Basongora pastoralists from Queen Elizabeth national Park finally kicked off on Saturday. This followed a cabinet decision to allocate 30,000 acres of Government land in Kasese to the herdsmen.
By John Thawite
THE controversial eviction of Basongora pastoralists from Queen Elizabeth national Park finally kicked off on Saturday. This followed a cabinet decision to allocate 30,000 acres of Government land in Kasese to the herdsmen.
The agriculture minister, Eng Hillary Onek, who heads the inter-ministerial committee handling the relocation, directed that all pastoralists leave the park within two weeks.
Some members of the inter-ministerial team, including state ministers Serapio Rukundo (tourism) and Kasirivu Atwooki (lands) and the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) Executive Director, Moses Mapesa, are camped in Kasese district to oversee the eviction.
Mapesa said the first batch of 70 families would soon move to Mubuku Prison land as a holding ground for all the pastoralists. They were due to move sometime in the night on Saturday morning.
He said all the pastoralists would assemble at the holding ground before being tranferred to the resettlement areas.
He revealed the total number to be evicted as 8,000 people with 10,000 head of cattle.
He said cultivators who were settled in those areas illegally in the last three years would also leave.
“But those who have been there for the last 20 or 30 years with evidence that they have been there for a minimum of 10 years will be fitted in. That is why their land is not being taken over fully,†he said.
The land earmarked for resettlement includes part of Ibuga Prison Farm (1,400 acres), Ibuga Refuge Settlement Scheme (3,500 acres), Hima Army Production Unit (3,500 acres), Mubuku Prison Farm (5,300 acres), Karusandara (1,100 acres) and Muhokya (1,000 acres).
The land will be given to the Basongora to own and use communally. Another 17,000 acres out of a total of 25,000 has been set aside in Bukangara and Rwehingo.
According to the cabinet decision, the remaining 8,000 acres will be reserved for the Bakonzo and Bamba cultivators.
Communicating the cabinet decision in Kasese on Thursday, State minister Rukundo warned that anyone who obstructs the eviction would be arrested and prosecuted.
But the chairman of the Basongora Group for Justice and Human Rights, Wilson Okaali, said his people were still sorting themselves out before moving.
Okaali complained that they got the communication late from the inter-ministerial committee members who are in the district to oversee the exercise.
The district vice-chairperson, Joshua Masereka, called for a win-win situation, cautioning that the process of relocating the pastoralists should not trigger further conflicts among the pastoralists and the cultivators in the district.
“The committee is empowered to take the necessary legal action on any person found instigating acts of encroachment, hatred, violence or obstructing the implementation of the Cabinet decisions,†the statement said.
The Basongora, numbering about 650, migrated to Virunga Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1999. They returned in March last year with about 8,500 head of cattle after being evicted by the Congolese authorities for encroaching on a game park.
They settled in the northern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations.
The number of pastoralists and their cattle is said to have more than tripled since March 2006 as others claiming to be Basongora joined them from Kamwenge, Nakasongola, Luweero and Nakaseke districts.
After a series of consultative meetings, President Yoweri Museveni appointed the inter-ministerial committee to resolve the matter.
When UWA attempted to evict the herdsmen in June, the Basongora fiercely resisted the operation.
The Inspector general of Police stopped the exercise, accusing UWA of using excessive force.
Twelve of the rangers involved in the eviction exercise were arrested and charged with attempted murder.
The Queen of England is expected to visit the park during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November. The park was named after her.
THE controversial eviction of Basongora pastoralists from Queen Elizabeth national Park finally kicked off on Saturday. This followed a cabinet decision to allocate 30,000 acres of Government land in Kasese to the herdsmen.
The agriculture minister, Eng Hillary Onek, who heads the inter-ministerial committee handling the relocation, directed that all pastoralists leave the park within two weeks.
Some members of the inter-ministerial team, including state ministers Serapio Rukundo (tourism) and Kasirivu Atwooki (lands) and the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) Executive Director, Moses Mapesa, are camped in Kasese district to oversee the eviction.
Mapesa said the first batch of 70 families would soon move to Mubuku Prison land as a holding ground for all the pastoralists. They were due to move sometime in the night on Saturday morning.
He said all the pastoralists would assemble at the holding ground before being tranferred to the resettlement areas.
He revealed the total number to be evicted as 8,000 people with 10,000 head of cattle.
He said cultivators who were settled in those areas illegally in the last three years would also leave.
“But those who have been there for the last 20 or 30 years with evidence that they have been there for a minimum of 10 years will be fitted in. That is why their land is not being taken over fully,†he said.
The land earmarked for resettlement includes part of Ibuga Prison Farm (1,400 acres), Ibuga Refuge Settlement Scheme (3,500 acres), Hima Army Production Unit (3,500 acres), Mubuku Prison Farm (5,300 acres), Karusandara (1,100 acres) and Muhokya (1,000 acres).
The land will be given to the Basongora to own and use communally. Another 17,000 acres out of a total of 25,000 has been set aside in Bukangara and Rwehingo.
According to the cabinet decision, the remaining 8,000 acres will be reserved for the Bakonzo and Bamba cultivators.
Communicating the cabinet decision in Kasese on Thursday, State minister Rukundo warned that anyone who obstructs the eviction would be arrested and prosecuted.
But the chairman of the Basongora Group for Justice and Human Rights, Wilson Okaali, said his people were still sorting themselves out before moving.
Okaali complained that they got the communication late from the inter-ministerial committee members who are in the district to oversee the exercise.
The district vice-chairperson, Joshua Masereka, called for a win-win situation, cautioning that the process of relocating the pastoralists should not trigger further conflicts among the pastoralists and the cultivators in the district.
“The committee is empowered to take the necessary legal action on any person found instigating acts of encroachment, hatred, violence or obstructing the implementation of the Cabinet decisions,†the statement said.
The Basongora, numbering about 650, migrated to Virunga Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1999. They returned in March last year with about 8,500 head of cattle after being evicted by the Congolese authorities for encroaching on a game park.
They settled in the northern part of Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations.
The number of pastoralists and their cattle is said to have more than tripled since March 2006 as others claiming to be Basongora joined them from Kamwenge, Nakasongola, Luweero and Nakaseke districts.
After a series of consultative meetings, President Yoweri Museveni appointed the inter-ministerial committee to resolve the matter.
When UWA attempted to evict the herdsmen in June, the Basongora fiercely resisted the operation.
The Inspector general of Police stopped the exercise, accusing UWA of using excessive force.
Twelve of the rangers involved in the eviction exercise were arrested and charged with attempted murder.
The Queen of England is expected to visit the park during the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November. The park was named after her.