Sensitize vulnerable citizen on land laws, policies to reduce on land grabbing and evictions
land laws
By: Ireen Twongirwe
Worth Noting:
- It’s important to note that Land grabbing in Uganda is intensifying and spreading throughout the country due to industrial scale agriculture projects to supply global commodity markets, oil and gas which has been discovered in Uganda, destruction of tropical forests in the name of planting perennial crops such as sugar cane which is so dangerous for our environment.
- This has deprived local communities to access natural resources, exacerbating rural poverty and aggravating the risk of food crises. This greatly affects the lives of the local communities.
- Furthermore, government leaders have taken part in land grabbing of the communities especially areas where oil is going to be extracted in Hoima, Rwenge, and Masaka among others.
Land grabbing means swift acquisition of property (such as land or patent rights) often by fraud or force. Grabbing of land is a serious issue that affects the environment, economy, social welfare and human rights.
Editor, Land grabbing is not a new phenomenon. For centuries, communities have been
intimidated to abandon and forcibly removed from their land. Land grabbing continue to occur when land that was previously used by local communities is leased or sold to outside investors, including corporations and governments.
According to the Ugandan Constitution: “Land in Uganda belongs to the citizens of
Uganda and shall vest in them in accordance with the land tenure systems provided for
in the constitution. Under the Constitution, citizens owning land under customary ownership have to acquire certificates of ownership .It’s very absurd that, the majority of the community members especially the vulnerable in rural areas do not have land titles and/or certificates and don’t know how to go about acquiring the certificates. Its therefore my appeal to Ugandan government, relevant stakeholders in lands especially Catherine Bamugemerire to sensitize local communities on land rights , policies and laws to reduce on land grabbing and land evictions.
It’s very absurd that Ugandan police are taking advantage of the vulnerable and take over their land in the name of not knowing what to do. So if the locals are sensitized at least they can know how to protect their properties.
It’s important to note that Land grabbing in Uganda is intensifying and spreading throughout the country due to industrial scale agriculture projects to supply global commodity markets, oil and gas which has been discovered in Uganda, destruction of tropical forests in the name of planting perennial crops such as sugar cane which is so dangerous for our environment. This has deprived local communities to access natural resources, exacerbating rural poverty and aggravating the risk of food crises. This greatly affect the lives of the local communities.
Furthermore, government leaders have taken part in land grabbing of the communities especially areas where oil is going to be extracted in Hoima, Rwenge, and Masaka among others. Community lands have been grabbed and the compensation promised by the government have not been provided to them. This has caused a lot of injustices in the communities.
As a consequence, peasants, herders, fishers and rural households are being dispossessed of the means to feed themselves and their communities, local populations are being evicted and displaced, human rights are being violated, and the environment, as well as traditional community structures, is being destroyed.
It’s also important to note that in Uganda, the Government, keenly attracts foreign investment, which has allowed foreign companies to move onto large areas of land for a range of projects, including discovery of oil for drilling, destruction of Bugoma forest, and Bundibugyo in masindi district. Communities are being displaced and losing vital access to natural resources, including land for farming, firewood, forest products and in some places, water .Forests have been cleared to make way for the plantations and wetlands have been drained, damaging the rich natural biodiversity plies economy, the way of life and the natural environment. This also led to torture, and human rights violations.
I therefore call upon the ministry of land, housing and urban development on behalf government to organize and sensitize local communities about land laws so that they can be able to know them and able to acquire their land titles hence be able to own their land. More so, both family members should always have a consent if there are to sell their land.
More to that, there is need to respect and protect natural forests rather than promoting plantations at the expense of natural forests rich in biodiversity areas, Oil companies should stop violating community land rights to enable sustainable food production and biodiversity conservation, Allow communities to mobilize into communal land associations to defend their land rights and livelihoods.
There is also need to hold International financial institutions (IFIs) and World Bank to account for funding projects that reduce poverty rather than those that promote poverty through violation of community rights and subsequent land grabbing. This will help in social economic transformation of our country.
For God and my country
Ireen Twongirwe
Executive Director, Women for Green Economy Movement Uganda (WoGEM Uganda).
Similar Posts by The Mt Kenya Times:
- Mt Kenya Times ePAPER July 28, 2026
- The DP gamble that could cost Ruto everything
- Just war theory and Kenya’s political journey: When the state meets the street
- Supreme Court tax ruling tests Kenya’s constitutional order
- The rotten diaper of tumbocracy in Kenya
About the Author
