Bunyoro residents run to Kabuleta over land grabbing - want the Oil pipeline project stopped

 

A group of  residents from   Bunyoro are worried about the alleged involvement of Government officials in grabbing land in the oil-rich Albertineregion. The residents have mostly accused Hoima resident district commissioner (RDC) for conniving with Land dealers to grab their land. 

The locals, who were attending a press conference organized by former presidential candidate Kabuleta  were explain to journalist how land grabbing has affected them, most especially when the oil was discovered.

Tafega Stephen  kapaka sub -county, Hoima district  accused the RDC  of conniving with government officials to grab land near the oil wells and where the pipe line is allocated in the Albertine region.

Tafega said the acquisition of land threatened the wildlife in the game reserves like Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve.

"They also kill our cows, destroy out crops and burn out houses, we are few here because some of our friends have been arrested others have disappeared from there home to save their lives''- said Tafega.

Another local resident of Hoima district by the names of Akiki Jackson  blamed the Uganda Land Commission and the district land board for allowing foreigners to acquire land in the region and blocking the natives of the area. 

"we have tried out best to process ownership on our land but the district land board blocks us while in process, when other outsiders process, they are given easily" - Akiki.

Akiki added that the land grabbers are suspected to be going through the commission and land boards to acquire land and process titles quickly.

While making his submission, The National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) leader Joseph Kabuleta suggested that all works on the oil pipe lines must be stopped in order to resolve land issues. 

"The people you see here are not even 10% of those that have been affected by land grabbers in Bunyoro, it is so funny that the land grabbers are highly connected in Government, these people are now helpless because even police in the area has been compromised by land grabbers" - Kabuleta.

The politician further pinned the government for deliberately denying the local people Bunyoro region  their full rights of owning land by refusing to give them land titles. By doing this, Kabuleta said the government makes iteasy for  to grab land that belongs to the indigenous people.

He however, advised the locals not to lower the guard, saying they should stand up and fight for what rightly belongs to them.

“Nowdays its very hard to get a land title. Government is doing it deliberately not to give you titles that show ownership but I call upon you to be cautious against those people who want/ are stealing your wealth. Fight for your cattle, land and other resources. Show those people that they can’t take them because there are some serious repercussions if they do so.

“Now if you’re born in this land, all the wealth that God invested in it, you’re supposed to have a stake and nobody is going to give you the stake by sitting back and hoping. It’s going to be given to you by standing up and making a strong claim on it and making sure that people who come to steal those resources are not given an inch of what is not theirs,” Mr Kabuleta asserted.