The residents said they had been settled on this land since the 1960s. They first heard about the land being leased to McAlester Natural Resources Company in 2014 when they were evicted. The High Court annulled the eviction in 2017 and slowly the residents started returning to rebuild their lives before they got wind of yet impending eviction. 54-year-old George Odaga said he has lived here since 1968 and has vivid memories of the first eviction. “It was very early in the morning on 25th August in 2014, there we heard a bullet of a gun shooting. They started here along the road, I was there down then we did ask ourselves what is that?” Said, George Odaga – Resident.
With the residents worried about their future, they met the area MP Daniel Muhairwe to forge a way forward. “Why would I be running at this old age? I want to stay on my land in peace.” “It hurts calling me a Congolese yet even I have a National ID.” “We would allow compensation if these people’s titles are canceled so that these people bargain on their land physically not that they bargain under somebody, under somebody’s title.” Said, Aloysius Onzima – LC I, Rwamutonga Village. “They should not take the law in their hands because of anything, in case of anything you can consult with the Police.” Said, Beatrice Atako – OC, Buseruka Police Station.
Human Rights body Global Rights Alert wants Court to expedite the process of pronouncing itself on the matter. “We are calling upon a very first judicial process to sort out the issue of land ownership so that we know who is to be compensated at how much then we shall benefit from natural resources.” Said, MichealAboneka – Programs Officer, Global Right Alert.
Muhairwe has condemned the arrest of area leaders who have come to the defense of the villagers. “So when these people see their leaders being arrested daily, they also get weak and they cannot do meaningful development because their leaders are being threatened.” Said, Daniel Muhairwe – MP, Buhaguzi County. McAlester group have given their take on the matter. “There are no evictions…what we are trying to do is that we recover the money that these people stole from us. The bangle lady down she sold us a property that she did not own and we realized that.” Said, Leonard Durst – Operations Manager, McAlester. According to the residents, the McAlester investors want to build an oil waste management plant here. However, the said development without the involvement of the community cannot be sustainable.
