Ever since Uganda granted licenses to companies drilling for oil, and started on the process of building its own refinery, there have been unending and at times violent evictions most of which are followed by claims of unfair compensation or broken families, some of these evictions have also led to the establishment of internally displaced People’s camps in the area, not because of war but because of oil evictions.`
Appealing to the Country’s government to its job, the Advocates coalition on development and the environment (ACODE) a policy think tank based in Uganda has asked the Ugandan government to establish a commission of inquiry into the Land evictions and compensation process in the Oil rich Albertine Basin.
In a report Titled ‘’the Threat of Land Conflicts and Evictions on Community Livelihoods and Security in the Albertine Graben’’ ACODE warns the Ugandan government on the threats that could come up because of land conflicts pointing out that ‘’Worsening inequality, vulnerability, and social impoverishment and forced evictions intensify inequality, they lead to homelessness, physical and psychological torture, emotional trauma, medical hardships and the outset of diseases, physical injury and death resulting from arbitrary violence’’
The report further points out that land conflicts end up ‘’Fermenting anger, hatred, and conflict that may culminate into ethnic tensions. Land evictions are creating a landless class that can barely find means of survival. The arrest and imprisonment of those resisting evictions, loss of faith in the legal and administrative systems create frustration and a situation of hopelessness. The affected population becomes an easy target for recruitment in criminal gangs and anti-government activities. It can also create ethnic tensions in areas where given ethnic groups are largely affected’’
ACODE also called on the Uganda government to Allocate adequate resources for the implementation the National Land Policy, operationalize the land fund so instead of selling their lands, absentee landlords can be compensated.
This report comes at a time when Uganda is readying itself for oil production and a contract for the construction of a 60,000 Barrel a day refinery has been awarded to a Russian-South Korean consortium and will therefore serve as a wake-up call for the Ugandan government to sort out the lands issues before they get out of hand.
