"Lands Minister Betty Amongi, Buliisa residents clash over oil compensation rates"

By 2020, government projects that it will begin pumping oil from the Albertine graben for commercial purposes. And as a result, it has already issued production licenses to oil companies to kickstart the production process. This requires several acres of land, which will be acquired from the locals occupying it. The process of acquiring land in Buliisa district has started, and on this, a central processing facility for oil and gas production will be set up. An inter-ministerial team led by the lands Minister Betty Amongi met district leaders and the affected locals at Kasenyi in Buliisa to persuade them to accept the government compensation rate of 2.1 million shillings per acre. Even after the discussions to increase the rates from 2.1 million shillings to 3.5 million, the locals were still adamant, with some threatening not to sell their land to the government.

Amongi laboured to explain but met stiff resistance with some of the locals walking out of the meeting in protest.The ministers returned this morning to renegotiate with locals. The team comprised...finance minister...state minister for mineral development...State Minister for Defense....State minister for local government...and Bunyoro affairs minister Ernest Kiiza. About 816 people could be displaced from the 888 acres of land at Kasenyi in Buliisa district.