Kotido, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | John Moding, a resident of Rengen village in Rengen Sub County in Kotido district is pondering his next move after it emerged that part of his land is a gold depot. Government has leased part of the land to an investor for mining.
However, Moding is not entitled to any compensation since he has no document to prove ownership of the land despite the fact that everyone in Kotido knows that the land belonged to his late father.
Moding, his 10 children and grandchildren must vacate the land voluntarily or else face forceful eviction. However, Moding has nowhere to go or money to buy alternative land for his family.
“When my father died 15years back he left me with 12 acres of land and we decided to divide among ourselves as children. Each got five acres of land but now when the minerals were discovered in Karamoja and in Kotido particularly, we are the most affected, we are here but the investor wants us off our land yet I have nowhere to go and take my 10 children and my grandchildren,” he said.
Moding is not alone. Lokolong Lothigiria, an elder in Lokitela Ebu in Kotido district has a similar problem. The government leased his land to African minerals without his consent. Lothigira is not sure how he will recover his land that has been marked without his consent.
“We lost our animals as a result of cattle rustling and the disarmament exercise now what we were only remaining with was land. But now the land is also going and we don’t know who can help us,” he said.
According to Lothigira, they have tried to speak to their elected leaders on how they can be helped but most of the leaders seem to fear the land grabbers, saying they might support their political rivals to remove them from their elective positions.
However, Moding, Losigira and other people with similar problems in Karamoja have a reason to smile, thanks to LandCode, a nongovernmental organization that has set up shop in Kotido to help secure Karimojong community land.
Richard Muganzi, the Executive director of LandCode told URN in Kotido over the weekend that their interest to help the people of Karamoja stems from the current land conflicts arising from mineral exploitation that has left many families landless.
He explained that their main aim is to create awareness among the local communities on the importance of registering their communal land. “By registering the Communal land, the community will not be cheated in terms of compensation because they will be having all the required documentation for their land,” he said.
Muganzi said the programme is currently running in Kotido but expected to roll out to the entire region. John Adome, the LC I Chairperson of Losilang village in Kacheri Sub County in Kotido District, hailed the free communal land registration program, saying it has come at a right time when very many people are losing their land in the name of mining.
“These are some of the services that we the people of Karamoja have been lacking. How I wish other partners could help to do what LandCode is doing, people will not become landless, “he said.
Mbrose Lotuke, the Kotido District LC V Chairperson hailed the ongoing communal land registration saying it will empower residents to have a voice to bargain when it comes to land management. As the district chairperson of Kotido where this exercise is taking place am so happy because we shall deal with land grabbing,” he said.
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