Rukungiri town in southwest Uganda was recently (mid-2010) upgraded to a municipality by expanding its area into Kagunga sub-county. In upgrading the township to municipality status, the procedures at the district council and parliament levels were not followed, raising many suspicions. Since the upgrade and expansion, more suspicions are emerging from Kangunga residents due to a number of factors.
First, Rukungiri town is surrounded by two other sub-counties besides Kagunga. The other two sub-counties are Buyanja and Nyakagyeme. Buyanja and Nyakagyeme have flat topographical features suitable for urban expansion. Yet the expansion has covered only Kagunga sub-county which is hilly with deep and narrow river valleys making the area not suitable for urban growth. Kagunga unlike Buyanja has no electricity supply and Nyakagyeme can easily be supplied with electricity because it is closer to the town center. Technically and geographically Buyanja and Nyakagyeme should have been chosen over Kagunga. A better alternative is to let the town expand naturally.
Second, the upgrading of Rukungiri town into a municipality did not follow established procedures. The Ministry of Local Government did not issue advance notice that Rukungiri town was being considered for municipality status. This ministry which has mandate for municipal matters was kept out at the district council and parliament levels. The meeting of the district council to recommend Rukungiri municipality status took place under emergency session on a Friday afternoon and the following Monday parliament adopted the resolution in a hurry as well. One wonders when the necessary documents were prepared and distributed to members of parliament in time for debate and approval! The presentation to parliament was not made by the Ministry of Local Government as mandated but by Major General Jim Muhwezi, Member of Parliament of Rujumbura Constituency where Rukungiri Town is located. Major General Jim Muhwezi has no mandate to do so.
Third, procedures require that the people to be affected by municipal status should be consulted in a transparent and fully participatory manner by their district council representatives. No such consultations took place. The people of Kagunga learnt of the decision that their sub-county had been incorporated into the municipality through the media. They were then informally told that all land in the municipality had become public land and no resident can plan its use including constructing a simple structure without the approval of municipal authority. The public purpose for which their land has been taken over by the municipality has yet to be explained by authorities. The rumor that the municipal idea was to create a constituency is not convincing because you can have a constituency without converting land into a municipality. Municipality transfers land ownership from previous owners to the municipal authority. Creating a constituency does not make one lose his/her land hence the fundamental difference between a municipality and a constituency. The Speaker of parliament and Chairman of Rukungiri district council who have been approached for an explanation have declined to respond.
Fourth, immediately after parliament upgraded Rukungiri town to a municipality Major General Jim Muhwezi who has never shown keen interest in the development of Kagunga sub-county announced that the area would receive grid electricity. Again residents of Kagunga were not consulted. After a decision had been taken, the residents were asked to cooperate when electricity is being installed because some damage to property including gardens would occur. Major General Jim Muhwezi knows full well that given the level of poverty in the area, most households will not be able to afford electricity expenses. So why bother with a grid-electrification project instead of alternative and affordable sources contained in the proceedings of a conference under the theme of “The most important strategic power event for the eastern African region”. This conference was held in Uganda October 16-18, 2000 at Sheraton Hotel Kampala. In their article titled “Energy services to rural areas: an integrated approach”, D. I. Banks, J. Willemse and M. Willemse, noted that for some areas grid electricity would be expensive. Off-grid electrification was recommended for those areas as the most effective option for basic electricity supply.
Fifth, a few months before Kagunga was incorporated into the municipality, a report had been issued that minerals were found in the hilly area of Kagunga sub-county after extensive aerial surveys. People suspect that the decision to incorporate Kagunga sub-county (which is difficult to develop because of its hilly topography) into the municipality was to facilitate transfer of land from the peasants to the rich without too much fuss. The installation of grid electricity is according to residents designed to attract investors who will receive land from the municipal council and force peasants out in the name of development and profit accumulation by developers.
The dilemma is that this decision has violated the inalienable (God-given) right of Kagunga residents in a highly Christian country and district. Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes the right of everyone to own property…and that no one should be arbitrarily deprived of their property (UN-HABITAT 2008). Article 26 (2a) of the Uganda Constitution (1995) states that “No person shall be compulsorily deprived of property or any interest in or right over property of any description [like land] except when “…the taking of possession or acquisition is necessary for public use or in the interest of defense, public safety, public order, public morality or public health”. None of these exceptions appear to apply in the matter under discussion.
The residents of Kagunga sub-county are mostly functionally illiterate and depend on their land for livelihood. For them land is life. They have no skills to earn a living outside agriculture. Therefore the unilateral decision to take away their (Bairu) ancestral land of such cultural significance without good public reason or consultation has devastated them. They had all along understood that the NRM government and the NRM area representative in parliament Major General Jim Muhwezi would intervene to guarantee their land tenure security against encroachment. On page 69 of his book titled “Selected Articles on the Uganda Resistance War”, Yoweri Museveni stated concern for displaced people then and in future due to poorly-thought out development projects or sheer illegal land-grabbing by businessmen or state officials.
In 2008 the United Nations Habitat published a report titled “Secure Land Rights for All”, noting that “Secure land rights tend to promote social stability by reducing uncertainty and conflict over land; they also mitigate the insecurity, unemployment, poverty and social exclusion associated with landlessness and homelessness. Contested access to land and natural resources has also been a factor underlying armed conflicts and territorial disputes.
“In many societies, access to land or natural resources is seen as a crucial element of cultural identity. Without secure land rights, people are unable to play a full part in society, citizenship is restricted and exclusion grows…Excluding large sections of the population from legally secure access to land generates alienation; it also discourages respect for the rule of law, which can surface in various forms of anti-social behavior, with the costs and problems involved” (UN-HABITAT 2008).
The British colonial administration recognized how important land was to Uganda peasants for their livelihood, cultural identity and law and order in general and decided to respect peasants’ tenure security rights after fierce debate between London and Entebbe thanks especially to S. Simpson, Director of Agriculture from 1911 to 1929 who made no secret of his wholehearted support for peasant agriculture and F. Spire, Provincial Commissioner for the Eastern Province who shared Simpson’s views (V. Harlow and E. M. Chilver 1965). Even during Amin’s repressive days the benefits of owning a piece of land were confirmed. Many Uganda urbanites stayed out of harm’s way by returning to their land in the countryside where they managed to feed their families and save their lives.
In Uganda and in Kagunga sub-county in particular where poverty and unemployment are very high, land has become life and the only asset peasants have. Therefore taking land away in these suspicious circumstances has caused much anxiety. People are worried. They have sought to know the reasons for taking away their land, the exact boundaries of the municipality and what will happen to them but no one is answering their questions, with all the psychological and health implications.
The discovery of oil in Bunyoro kingdom has led to a rush by the rich and powerful to grab land, threatening the livelihood of indigenous people and raising political tensions with new comers. Similarly, the discovery of minerals in Kagunga sub-county appear to be the reason for incorporating the entire sub-county into the municipality so that land can be dished out easily to the rich avoiding conflicts which have occurred in Bunyoro.
The ‘rumored’ suggestion that the ousted peasants will be compensated should not be entertained because land in Kagunga sub-county is not being earmarked for genuine public purpose as contained in Article 26 (2c) of Uganda’s 1995 Constitution namely “for public use or in the interest of defense, public safety, public order, public morality or public health”.
The above analysis of Kagunga situation leads to the conclusion that “In many societies, control over land rights is a means of accumulating and dispensing political and economic power and privilege through patronage, nepotism and corruption. Addressing these issues is critical to improving governance, but will require considerable commitment from policy-makers and practitioners…Land governance must shift its emphasis… towards approaches based on a better understanding of the political economy of land (e.g., the nature of vested interests and power relations, and their impact on land access and land rights…)”(UN-HABITAT 2008).
Many people in Kagunga and their sympathizers believe that Major General Jim Muhwezi and Rukungiri district councilors conspired to rob the politically powerless and voiceless Kagunga peasants using Rukungiri town expansion and upgrade to a municipality as a convenient disguise so that the mineral endowed land is acquired by the rich and powerful. In the absence of official explanation from district and national authorities, Kagunga residents are demanding their land back.