The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) has noted with concern the accruing land grabbing incidents in the Bunyoro Sub-region ever since huge deposits of commercially viable oil and gas were discovered there.
Led by the UHRC Chairperson, Dr Katebaliirwe wa Irumba Amooti, members of the Commission observed residents in the oil rich Hoima, Kikuube and Buliisa districts are experiencing gross human rights violation by being evicted and threatened with eviction from their land by unscrupulous moguls.
In their assessment of the status of human rights in the Albertine region, Dr Amooti attributed the rampant land grabbing occurrences there to the discovery of oil and gas resources that has attracted land grabbers targeting compensation from the government and the oil conglomerates.
The UHRC Director of Research and Information Documentation, Kamadi Byonabye, told Kazi-njema News that in all areas they visited near the oil wells, the community complained about escalating land grabbing incidents; that calls for the Commission’s intervention.
Mr Amlan Tumusiime, the Kikuube Resident District Commissioner, said the presence of oil in the district has attracted grabbers evicting people from their land.
