"Uganda government ignores its directive on COVID evictions, evicts thousands of smallholder farmers, artisanal miners"

Uganda government ignores its directive on COVID evictions, evicts thousands of smallholder farmers,  artisanal miners. With the pandemic striking higher in Uganda, poor families continue to be forced off their land by their government and investors despite several directives halting evictions during the COVID period...

However, with the increased commoditization of land, such directives are hard to conform to. Of the worst cases of forced evictions that have been documented in both lockdowns, the government of Uganda has had a lion’s share. For instance, in May 2020, the government using armed forces forcefully evicted over 600 smallholder farmers in Hoima and Kikuube districts citing that they were occupying illegal fish land sites...

Sharing a brief history of gold exploration in Kisita, Wegule Isaac says the activity began in the 1970s. “In those years, very few people knew gold, the foreigners who knew it would purchase it from us but at low prices,” Mr. Wegule, one of the oldest people in the area said in an interview with this defender. But in the early 2000s, mining activity boomed and many villagers switched from farming to gold mining in the hope that they would be able to increase their income. However, the new boom was short-lived as the government is now threatening the villagers with eviction.