Over 80 families living in Kinumu village, Masindi district have petitioned President Museveni protesting the eviction of 3000 residents from the 8 square miles which is part of 25 square miles of land currently occupied by Kiryandongo Sugar for sugarcane plantation.
Residents want the president to intervene and find a solution to the land dispute between investors and the residents.
Mr Costantine Rwanyindo the leader of the residents to be evicted says their crops are being uprooted to pave way for the sugarcane plantation.
According to Mr Rwanyindo, Kiryandongo Sugar Company had allocated 8 square miles to the residents for agriculture but the same company is destroying their crops and evicting them from the given land.
“We had been allocated 8 square miles for us to carry out agricultural activities, but to our surprise, they are telling us to vacate the land and pave the way for the sugarcane plantation,” Mr Rwanyindo said.
Mr Deo Byarugaba, one of the residents, decided to petition the president after failing to be helped by the local authorities.
“We informed all district authorities but we have not got any help, our livestock is being taken by people guarding the land and when we speak they arrest us, it’s only the president who can save us now,” Mr Byarugaba said.
Mrs Gaudencia Kamayanja, another affected resident, has been ordered to move out of her garden twice and warned to be arrested if she is seen there again.
The contested 23 square miles of land formerly belonged to Bunyoro growers who later sold it to Lochab agricultural company before Kiryandongo Sugar took it over for cane growing.
The residents have now petitioned President Museveni asking him to halt the activities of Kiryandongo Sugar and order them to compensate all the tenants on the land before eviction.
“We are currently living under the fear of eviction and lost morale to farm because we are on the verge of eviction and no compensation package has been prepared for us,” Mr Kaira Robert, another affected person, says.
However, Mr Johny Masagazi the Public Relations Officer at Kiryandongo Sugar says the company has not yet received written documentation of the claims from the residents.
“Am hearing those claims in the media, but we have not been notified, once I get the company’s position on how we shall deal with those residents, I will notify them for a clear way forward,” Mr Masagazi said.
