Govt to pay Kibaale evictees
Jul 18, 2010
THE Government has accepted to pay sh21b to 3,549 people who were evicted in 1992 from the area currently occupied by the Kibaale Game Reserve.<br>The agreement was reached after a 10-year protracted court battle.
By Andante Okanya
THE Government has accepted to pay sh21b to 3,549 people who were evicted in 1992 from the area currently occupied by the Kibaale Game Reserve.
The agreement was reached after a 10-year protracted court battle.
Over 30,000 peasants were expelled from a strip of land between the Kibaale Forest Reserve and Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The eviction was intended to create a wildlife corridor between the reserve and the national park. The expulsions took place under the Kibaale Forest and Game Corridor Programme, part of the World Bank’s Forestry Rehabilitation Project, which was co-financed by the European Community.
In 2001, the victims petitioned the High Court, seeking orders to declare that the Government “illegally and unlawfully deprived them of their settlement†in the former Kibaale game reserve area.
They argued that between March and April 1992, armed persons tortured and shot at them during the eviction.
“We were not even given an alternative settlement or compensation,†said the evictees.
They also said they had lived in the area since 1959, having been settled there by the then central government and the kingdoms of Ankole and Tooro.
“We acquired statutory and historic rights of residence of the area. After the Government evicted us from our residence, they turned it into a national game park,†they argued.
In 1993, Kibaale changed from a game reserve to a national park. It is home to over 1,400 chimpanzees, 335 species of birds, 21 species of snakes, and 250 butterfly species.
THE Government has accepted to pay sh21b to 3,549 people who were evicted in 1992 from the area currently occupied by the Kibaale Game Reserve.
The agreement was reached after a 10-year protracted court battle.
Over 30,000 peasants were expelled from a strip of land between the Kibaale Forest Reserve and Queen Elizabeth National Park.
The eviction was intended to create a wildlife corridor between the reserve and the national park. The expulsions took place under the Kibaale Forest and Game Corridor Programme, part of the World Bank’s Forestry Rehabilitation Project, which was co-financed by the European Community.
In 2001, the victims petitioned the High Court, seeking orders to declare that the Government “illegally and unlawfully deprived them of their settlement†in the former Kibaale game reserve area.
They argued that between March and April 1992, armed persons tortured and shot at them during the eviction.
“We were not even given an alternative settlement or compensation,†said the evictees.
They also said they had lived in the area since 1959, having been settled there by the then central government and the kingdoms of Ankole and Tooro.
“We acquired statutory and historic rights of residence of the area. After the Government evicted us from our residence, they turned it into a national game park,†they argued.
In 1993, Kibaale changed from a game reserve to a national park. It is home to over 1,400 chimpanzees, 335 species of birds, 21 species of snakes, and 250 butterfly species.