Life in Hoima has not been easy since 25th August 2014 when over 1,000 people were violently evicted from their land to create room for the development of an Oil Waste Management facility. Access to best necessities like education, medical care, and the food became the biggest challenge faced by these people. “Health facilities, when we talk about health facilities; they are in a bad situation, the distance is very far with Seruka being the nearest at about 4 to 5 km, because of such poor condition it is at time hard for them to go there.” Victims accused Basigarawo Robert and Tibagwa Joshua who connived in Courts of law to issue the eviction warranty. The two are said to have processed a land title for 250 acres of land without the consent of the people who were living on it. When the investors under the Macalester Energy Resource Limited showed up looking for land to construct a waste management facility, the land was willingly given to them by Basigarawo and Tibagwa. "So when the two consented and got a consent and pursued the order to evict Basigarawo, so that eviction order that was addressed to Basigarawo and his agents because he had given in his land to Tibagwa was used to evict people in Tibagwa – Basigarawo’s title, Tibagwa’s title and even other locals around.” Said, Atich Nelson – LC III Chairperson, Lwamutonga Village.
One Oketch Otieno was sympathetic enough to the victims that he offered them a place to stay as they wait to receive justice. However, for over a year now these people are still waiting for justice from Courts of law where they reported their case. "When you see these people suffering here, this is as a result of those investors getting engaged in the purchase of that land." They have not lost their hope as light seems to be at the end of the tunnel. They have so far secured one ruling that their eviction was improper. “The biggest problem we got from the Judicial service was that this matter started way back in 2014 immediately after eviction but it is now a year and we are getting only one ruling. The other one for the land title is still in Court, the other one could also take another one year. The only hope that these people have is in Court.”
The European Union Ambassadors who visited this place on a fact-finding mission were touched by the prevailing situation in this camp and promised to take the matter before the President. Much as the Ambassadors condemned the situation as unnecessary, they said oil development was not a bad idea but there was a need for thorough consultation before taking up such a decision like evicting people. “So here today we have just visited a community that has been evicted and displaced from their land and that, of course, is illegal and unfair, it shouldn’t have happened. They are victims of speculation of the land and they are now in Court looking for redress of that injustice.” H.E AMB Kristian Schmidt – EU Head of Delegation to Uganda.
The Ambassadors requested that Courts should act as neutral as possible to avoid being influenced by the rich and have the matter resolved as fast as possible. “The Courts must be independent and rule in this case. We cannot interfere with that, we have to trust that the Court will take the right decision on the basis of the arguments that are well presented by the lawyers. But I must say that I haven’t seen the case here and haven’t heard from the families that are affected, I can only wish that this is being done quickly.” H.E AMB Kristian Schmidt – EU Head of Delegation to Uganda.
