More than 200 residents in the island district of Buvuma have raised concerns after the National Oil Palm Project (NOPP) allegedly used their land without compensation.
The residents stormed the Buvuma district headquarters seeking government intervention to ensure that they are paid the money promised to them years ago when the oil palm growing project was established in the district.
The project was embraced with open arms by the Buvuma community after the government promised them jobs, good roads, electricity, and many other benefits.
These promises lured residents to willingly sign agreements.
The highly affected residents are from Nairambi and Busamizi subcounties.
The affected locals told us that they were stopped from using their land for farming without receiving a single penny.
They want the government to provide them with money so that they can find other places to relocate.
The angry locals say payments have been delayed since the evaluation, making their land redundant, yet it is their only source of livelihood.
“We could use our land to grow coffee, bananas, and other food crops, but I halted farming after I was promised money for the land,” one resident lamented.
Sylvia Adera, a resident of Kacanga in Nairambi subcounty, said she was told to stop cultivating her two acres of land.
She added that she was surprised when she saw graders clearing her land before she was compensated.
"They conducted every kind of assessment and took our particulars of ownership, promising to pay us, but they have never come back; it's now close to nine years," says Adera.
Frank Wazabwe, the local council chairperson for Kacanga Village, revealed that cases of domestic violence and theft have increased because most people have no source of livelihood to support their families.
He said residents are still uncertain when they will be compensated.
Ronald Senyonjo, the Busamizi subcounty chairperson, notes that they have written several petitions to the government regarding residents' compensation, but the government has never acted positively.
Senyonjo warned that if the government does not pay the residents within one week, they will mobilize all affected residents to storm the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF) headquarters in Kampala.
The Buvuma Member of Parliament, Robert Migadde Ndugwa, expressed concern about the delayed compensation for the locals, especially since parliament always approves millions for the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF), but the money is returned to the consolidated funds.
"It's absolutely unfair for the Ministry of Agriculture to return the unused money to the consolidated funds, yet the locals are demanding it," Migadde noted.
