Three companies named in Kiryandongo land grabbing

Three companies dealing in agribusiness have been blamed for the ongoing land grabbing in Kiryandongo district.

According to a report titled, "Land Grabs at Gunpoint", land grabbing is happening on abandoned national ranches which have for long been settled on and farmed by people fleeing war and natural calamities in neighbouring areas.

The report names the multinational companies — Agilis Partners, Kiryandongo Sugar Limited and Great Season SMC Limited as being at the centre of the violent evictions of people from their homes.

Agilis Partners is currently preparing the land to grow simsim (sesame), maize, sunflower and soybean.

Kiryandongo Sugar Limited is planting and producing sugar on 2,400 hectares and Great Season is growing coffee on 1,165 hectares.

The report notes that residents from Kiryandongo are being displaced without notice, alternatives or even negotiations and are right now trying to save their homes and lives.

The report states that more than 35,000 people from over 20 villages are homeless after being evicted from about 9,300 acres of land in Kiryandongo to pave the way for large-scale farming.

The report and research was done by Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, Witness Radio Uganda and Grain, a non-profit organisation, which operates in areas where thousands have been evicted and are on the verge of losing their land.

The Witness Radio Uganda, project co-ordinator, Geoffrey Wokulira, said gross human rights violations have been meted out on natives by the above investment companies.

"The companies have used law enforcement bodies and private security firms, among others, to forcibly evict bonafide occupants, unlawfully arrest, detain and harass the native communities," he said.

He made the remark while launching the report at Hotel Triangle in Kampala yesterday. Wokulira said the negative consequences of the Kiryandongo land giveaway include forced evictions, human rights violations, lost livelihoods, broken families, rising food insecurity and, ultimately, increased poverty.

He noted that children caught up in the fracas are no longer going to school.

"Hundreds of young girls are marrying early because they have no future and the companies are not showing any responsibility," Wokulira said.

One hundred arrested

He said over 100 people have been arrested by the Police in an attempt to intimidate the evicted residents.

The report says when the companies came talking about agricultural projects, residents were, at first, open-minded.

"The companies only needed to have come in properly, made the right arrangements, acquired land in an appropriate manner and acknowledged the communities that they found in the ranches," Wokulira said.

The report recommends that it is imperative for the Government to protect children and all vulnerable groups whose livelihoods are constantly threatened by limited land use and access.

"African governments must stop handing out farmland to foreign companies and start prioritising their own people's access to land and local food systems," it says.

The report recommends that evictions be stopped, reserved and villages fully compensated for any damages they have suffered.

The report further asserts that there is need for an independent investigation into the crimes of fraud, torture, sexual abuse, corruption and all illegal activities alleged to have occurred during eviction of the communities from their homes.

Efforts to speak to officials from the three companies were fruitless as they did not take our repeated calls.

Victims speak out

Sixty-year-old Florence Nassaka, a resident of Canaan village in Kiryandongo, said she was evicted by Agilis Partners.

"What kind of development did they bring? Do they give us some of the maize that you see there? Try walking into that maize farm and pick just one cob. See what will happen to you. It is only for the white man," Nassaka said.

She said the worst thing is the authorities in Kiryandongo do not help the affected at all. They just eat the white man's money and move on.

Sarah Apio, a resident of Kikungulu, Kitwara parish, said she, her nine children and husband, James Olupot, continue to live at ‘Ranch 28', but their family is one of the few that still remain.

However, their home is surrounded by a sugarcane plantation.