Human Rights Violations in the name of Sugar Canes Plantations
More than 5000 people have been affected and at least 2000 hectares of land misappropriated for logging by Hoima Sugar Limited in Kikube District in the Albertine region of Uganda.
In the year 2000, the people of Kigyayo in Kiziranfumbi sub-county Kikube district were surprisingly attacked by Uganda police armed with Royal guards from the kingdom and started evicting them. Claiming they were working under instructions of Herbert Rwakiswaza Kimera as a legally registered owner of the land. RDC, Police, local council 3 intervened and found out that the eviction was illegal. They were told to go back to their land.
In 2012, this happened again and 4633 people were evicted and no authorities were there to help, the eviction took way, crops, houses destroyed by the use of bulldozers, caterpillars, and tractors to pave way for the growing of Sugar Cane and it was found out that the land had been sold by Herbert Rwakiswaza Kimera to the Indians to put up a sugar factory.
During the eviction process, Hoima Sugar Ltd managed to destroy the evictees properties such as agricultural products, houses, households, animals, and birds worth Eighty-Two billions one hundred forty-seven million eight hundred sixty-three thousand and eight hundred sixty shillings only (82,147,863,860=) which were contained in the valuation report and this valuation was made for the 394 families who were evicted and however, many other families are on target to be evicted and these include the villages of Kyabataka, Ikoba 11, Buhumuriro, Kadic and Kyakasoro villages.
They ran to Court for justice, court-ordered for the stay of eviction but it did not work. Court ordered for the opening of boundaries of Block 6 plot 6 which was done, the survey was done and it showed that the title never existed in that area it was borrowed from the Kigorobya sub-county in the names of Kitana Growers co-operative society, not Herbert Rwakiswaza Kimera.
After the eviction, the Judge of Masindi High Court visited the locus and the camps in Kigyayo in Kiziranfumbi sub-county and ordered the security committee to make sure that Court orders are respected.
These people to date still suffer in the makeshift camps with no shelter, food, Education, conjugal rights have been denied and more misery as they have failed to attain justice in the Courts of Law. For 3 years High Court in Masindi has failed to read the Judgment. Besides that, they have been able to write many petitions to the office of the President, Commission of Inquiry into Land matters but no justice yet.