Bring Kiryandongo communities back home!

The people from Kiryandongo district in northern Uganda have seen a wave of forced evictions after the government’s policy to restructure the commercial ranching schemes has failed to materialise. Disregarding the land rights of the local communities, lands are granted to multinational companies, leaving the communities homeless and abandoned.   

Violent eviction

Since 2017, more than 30,000 families on over 9500 acres of land in Kiryandongo district were evicted from their lands which they have been living on for decades and cultivating crops to earn a living. The forced evictions were carried out under violent conditions, placing the victims under much physical and phychological pressure and violating their basic human rights. Due process of the law has not been followed in claiming these lands and communities have not been consulted or made aware of the developments proposed in their lands, let alone conducting a process of obtaining their free, prior and informed consent. 

The conditions have aggravated during the Covid-19 pandemic as the companies have made use of the lockdown and curfew to force people off their lands disregarding a directive issued by the government of Uganda to halt evictions. Their houses have been demolished, hundreds of acres of cultivation have been destroyed, community leaders, activists and lawyers have been arrested and charged by the police, leaving the community with no assistance to secure their rights. 

Stand with Kiryandongo communities  

With this petition, we ask the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Lands Housing and Urban Development to: 

• Revisit the land allocations made under the 1995 Presidential Directive to ensure that all subdivisions of ranches that were made are implemented. 
• Revisit the valuation process to determine adequate compensation. 
• Put in place a compensation and resettlement plan before squatters are evicted from the ranch to deal with alternative areas of accommodation and support to livelihood restoration. 
• Make details of all subdivisions of ranches and land allocations to squatters publicly available, issue outstanding land allocation certificates and facilitate the land registration process and issue leaseholds to the land allotees.  

Sign the petition now! 

More information:

* Read ‘Women particularly vulnerable during evictions‘, or Much more than a loss of a leg and a fractured arm, stories from the evicted victims of Kiryandongo.

*Read the briefing note to learn more about the evictions and the stakeholders involved in the case: Briefing note – January 2022.