Monitor | 25 February 2022
By Derrick Wandera
“We are asking the government to expedite the process of compensation, mediation, and negotiation because many people are suffering yet they have been in this land for generations but they cannot get justice from the authorities,” Mr Odokorach said told journalists.
30,000 evicted locals cry to govt for compensation
By Derrick Wandera
More than 30,000 residents, who were evicted from their land in Kiryandongo District by multinational companies, have cried out to the government to expedite the process of their compensation and resettlement.
The residents say the companies that occupied the land that they had been settling on for generations are being guarded by police, military and other security agencies who intimidate them.
Dr Chris Baryomunsi, the minister of Information, Communications Technology and National Guidance, told Daily Monitor early this week, that he did not have facts about the number of affected people but the government would assess if they are eligible for compensation.
“Sometimes these people are occupying the land unlawfully so that we just give them some support but if they are genuine owners of the land, I can assure them that they will be compensated,” Dr Baryomunsi said.
The people said they were evicted from the land measuring about 9,500 acres where the companies are practicing agribusiness.
In a press conference in Kampala early this week, civil society organisations claimed the continued silence by the government on the evictions in Kiryandongo has hindered the deserved justice for the affected people.
Mr Francis Odokorach, the country director of Oxfam International, said most of the people they have spoken to have accused their evictors of rape and other human rights violations.
“We are asking the government to expedite the process of compensation, mediation, and negotiation because many people are suffering yet they have been in this land for generations but they cannot get justice from the authorities,” Mr Odokorach said told journalists.