CSOs ask government to compensate people illegally evicted in Kiryandongo

Civil Society Organisations(CSOS) have called upon the government to come up with a robust quick response to address and prevent forced evictions in the district of kiryandongo.

According to the report, more than 30,000 families living approximately 9500 acres of land in Kiryandongo district in Western Uganda were forcefully and violently evicted from their lands in November 2017 despite their occupancy being legally recognised.

The report indicated that there were human rights abuses, allegedly by security forces during the eviction. However, CSOs said that no action was taken against the perpetrators.

Speaking to the media in Kampala, the country director of Oxfam Uganda, Francis Shanty Odokorach said as CSOs they are concerned about the growing forced evictions that are rampantly being meted against the people of the Kiryandongo district.

"This was brought to the attention of the government, which promised to deal with the situation under the Minister of Lands. To this end, nothing has been done for the affected persons. The evictions were further escalated in 2020-2021 when the Covid-19 pandemic followed by lockdown that hit the country," he said.

Odokorach said the evictions have paved the way for three multinational companies to carry out large agribusiness, calling upon the government to respect the principles of the Constitution of Uganda.

"All evictions must be carried out in a manner acceptable by national law that is compatible with international human rights standards and in accordance with principles of reasonableness and proportionality depending on the particular circumstances," he said.

Human rights lawyer Eron Kiiza noted that legal remedies should be provided to those affected by eviction order, adding that all affected individuals have a right to adequate compensation for any affected property.

"It should be noted that the economic and social rights are directly affected by land management decisions .These decisions can either ensure the enjoyment of these rights or lead to the weakening of social safety nets, thereby hampering the realisation of these rights which we have witnessed in Kiryandongo land evictions," said Kiiza.

The ActionAid Uganda Country director, Xavier Ejoyi, called upon the government to allow negotiations for those wrongly evicted from their lands to be returned to their lands.

He said it should ensure the possession of the land restored and compensation adequately paid for any loss of crops or developments they may have made on the lands.,

"We call upon government security operatives to desist from engaging in acts of gross violation of human rights that have been sporadically reported by the affected communities of Kiryandongo," he said.