"Tilting land laws: Minister Amongi’s poisoned chalice"

Once again the contentious issue of compulsory land acquisitions is back on our agenda. The beneficiaries of this state-led and coercive measure will result in dispossession of land owners for the benefit of the government, private companies or individuals...The emphasis is on infrastructure and public services...If the amendments pass, we shall see more forceful evictions, destructions of homes and crops. Affected individuals and communities will be excluded from decision making...

In 2011 Oxfam report says about 20,000 farmers were evicted from a government-owned forest reserves in Mubende and Kiboga districts in order to facilitate a project by New Forest Company, a private British agroforestry company. For its troubles, Oxfam was threatened with expulsion...Defenders of land acquisitions claim residents get access to roads, telecommunications and schools...

...Ugandans should resist the proposed amendments of the land law: First, it is a violation of human rights. The right to own property is a sacred right. The amendments undermine security of tenure. Second, it undermines the principle of informed consent which should come without coercion and before the said acquisitions. Third, in promoting the proposed amendments, the public interest is waved in the face of citizens...Fourth, our experience with land acquisitions has revealed a consistent trend of opaque dealings and lack of transparency in terms of entrenched written contractual obligations as to job opportunities and equitable sharing of benefits. Fifth, even while arguing altruistic motives, the context of the land acquisitions reveal lack of inclusive participatory planning and strong institutional oversight by the national legislatures.