The Ugandan government is doing everything it can to expedite the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project, aiming to strengthen the country’s energy infrastructure.
However, this rush is causing problems for many people whose land has been taken for the project.
A group of 80 people who claim ownership of 41 pieces of land in Lwengo, Kyotera, and Rakai are caught up in a legal fight that might stop them from getting the compensation they are supposed to receive, even if the money is sent to the court.
The case was supposed to be heard yesterday at the Masaka High Court but has been delayed until September 16, 2024, because the judge, Rolex Tweyanze, is on leave.
For the affected individuals, this delay adds to their uncertainty, as many are depending on the compensation to move forward with their lives.
The government, however, is eager to keep the project moving and has ordered the judge to return from leave to handle the case quickly.
The date was set even though the affected people, through their lawyers, asked for at least two more weeks to respond to the government’s case. Their request was rejected.
According to Aminah Acola, one of the lawyers representing the affected people, this means that the affected people and their lawyers have only two working days within which to file their responses.
“Many of the affected people have no idea about court processes. They trickled into court yesterday with big files containing documents that are written in English, a language that many do not understand. For many of the people, it was unclear to them why they were sued,” she recounted.
Nearly 70 people from the families sued by the government, including women, the elderly, Persons with Disabilities (PWD), and men, showed up in court yesterday.
Among them was a 102-year-old woman from Mutukula in Kyotera district, who did not understand why her family had been sued.
Other affected people such as Ms. Sarah Namatovu whose family was sued for lacking a legal representative also expressed confusion.
According to Namatovu, NewPlan Ltd, the company hired by TotalEnergies to assess their property, visited their home in 2018 and told them that their death certificate was not valid because it wasn’t issued by the National Identification & Registration Authority (NIRA).
NewPlan promised to help them get the correct death certificate so they could process the necessary paperwork and receive compensation, but that help never came.
Instead, the next thing they heard was that they were being sued for rejecting the compensation, even though they hadn’t done so.
Counsel Peter Arinaitwe, who represents some of the affected people, explained that several years ago, the government instructed the Administrator General to halt issuing certificates of no objection and letters of administration for estates under the Buganda Kingdom.
This means that estates listed in the Succession Register of Buganda Kingdom are now managed by the kingdom itself.
“Because of that directive, it has been difficult for some people in Buganda to obtain certificates of no objection from the office of the Administrator General to process letters of administration,” he added.
Most of the people affected by the EACOP lawsuit fall into this category. As a result, Arinaitwe explained, even if their compensation is deposited with the court, their families cannot access it without the required letters of administration.
CSOs and ACtivists intervene
Dickens Kamugisha, the CEO of AFIEGO, argues that if the affected people cannot access their compensation, it violates the 1995 Ugandan Constitution, which states that the government cannot take possession of citizens’ property without first providing compensation.
Kamugisha asserts that the government would then have no legal or moral right to use the land taken from these families without proper compensation.
“Any company that claims to respect human rights and follow international standards should not use land taken from poor and vulnerable people without compensation,” Kamugisha added.
However, he said, It is in TotalEnergies and CNOOC’s best interests therefore to desist from using land taken for the EACOP from people amidst grave acts of unfairness.
According to Kayinga Muddu Yisito, the Coordinator of Community Transformation Foundation Network (COTFONE), they acknowledge the importance of the judicial process and respect the role of the High Court in ensuring that justice is served.
However, they are concerned about the limited time given to the EACOP-affected individuals to file their responses.
“Despite requests for more time, only a few days have been granted for these vulnerable individuals to prepare,” Kayinga stated.
He further urged the court to consider the circumstances of those involved and to allow sufficient time for them to adequately respond.
“We trust in the court’s commitment to fairness and justice, and we hope for a process that ensures all voices are heard and the rights of all parties are respected,” he said.
Case Details
It’s important to note that the government has sued different groups of people affected by the EACOP project in Lwengo, Kyotera, and Rakai.
This includes six households with 11 landowners who rejected the compensation because they felt it was too low, ten households with 18 landowners involved in disputes over who owns the land, and 17 households with 41 landowners who don’t have any official representatives.
Additionally, two households with four landowners lack land titles, five landowners who are not currently on their land, and one person who refused to leave even after being compensated.
However, in this case, the government is asking for several things including; permission to deposit the compensation money with the court, the right to take control of the land for EACOP project use, eviction and demolition orders against the affected people, release from any responsibility for claims related to this case, and for the affected 80 landowners to cover the legal costs of the case.
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