Conflict over grazing land in Karamoja

“From olden times, communal grazing land is shared by everyone and therefore it’s a community resource,” says Achia.

“No person can claim ownership of land or a dam here. But of recent, people have started fencing off our land threatening our right to land and pastoralism as a livelihood,” the puzzled pastoralist adds.

According to the Executive Director of Ecological Christian Organisation (ECO) Isaac Kabongo, changes in land tenure in the region don’t worry Achia alone. It’s a concern bothering over a million Karimojong who depend on agro-pastoralism as the means of livelihood.

As peace prevails in the region, investors and private companies have continuously sneaked into it in pursuit of cheap land and minerals.

“As they settle, they unfortunately individualise the communal land. They start acquiring leases and freehold land title on our land, leaving us landless,” Ms Margaret Naduku, a resident of Lokwakwa Village, Nadunget Sub-county in Moroto District, says.

Ms Naduku says fencing of the land is more frequent in areas that bear minerals.

With 27,000 square kilometres, approximately 54 per cent of the land in Karamoja is under wildlife conservation, 12 per cent is covered by Central Forestry reserves and 24.8 per cent is exclusive to mineral exploration.

Meanwhile, pastoralism and agriculture share the rest.

According the report, Tenure in Mystery: Status of Land under Wildlife, Forestry and Mining Concessions in Karamoja Region, done by Associates Research Uganda with support from Trocaire Uganda and Oxfam GB, the status of land under forest and wildlife reserves is unlikely to change in the near future, because they embody critical water catchment areas linked to bio-diversity or sensitive eco-systems. The obscurity for their non-access and non-use by communities in Karamoja, matches the desolate anonymity associated with minerals and mining concessions offered to private companies for approximately 25 per cent of the land area.

“All this, takes place within a policy mindset characterised by enduring negative perceptions about the region, taken to be chaotic, backward, economically irrational and environmentally destructive under the pastoral land use and production system,” says Herbert Kamusiime, Executive Director of Associates Research Uganda.
In some parks like in Kidepo Valley National Park, there is strictly no grazing and once a person is found doing so, they are arrested.

In some areas like in Matheniko, Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) fenced off people’s communal grazing land, after they vacated it due to insecurity.

Mr Isaac Kabongo, Executive Director of Ecological Christian Organisation (ECO) notes that although land is held in customary tenure, claims to rights of access, use and ownership are not backed by formal documentation.

“Because pastoralism as a way of life and as a livelihood is not recognised by government and many stakeholders, the rights of indigenous communities are often violated,” says Mr Kabongo.

He says investors and private companies are taking advantage of the community’s ignorance, poverty and illiteracy to confuse communities with partial or incomplete information to stealthily acquire land with mineral potential in the region. Kabongo says that there is need for transparency and accountability in the way licenses are acquired and how benefits are shared.

Mr Simon Nangiro, the Chairperson of Karamoja Miners Association (KMA), says despite the fact that the region is gifted with endowment of yet to be exploited mineral resources, fertile soils and the rich culture, local people are yet to benefit from them.

“Due to difficulties, some people have abandoned pastoralism to join artisanal and small scale mining. But mining is not lucrative since prices, quality and quantity are determined by the traders and middlemen, each with their own scales and standards in this informal business,” Nangiro who speaks of the existence of about 50 different minerals and precious stones, says.

He adds, “Because of this state of affairs, a small piece of gold is bought at as low as Shs5,000. If one is to earn Shs50,000, they have to sell not less than 10 points of gold, which is so difficult.”

The minerals in the region include, gold, silver, copper, iron, titanium, manganese, cobalt, niobium, tantalite, chrome, rare earth and radioactive minerals, among others.
Food shortage is endemic, forcing residents to largely depend on humanitarian food aid; a family that can afford two meals a day is a rarity. Further, poor sanitation and lack of clean water, have kept the region prone to disease outbreaks.

Meanwhile, in an effort to change the status quo, with support from Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA), ECO organised Karamoja Development Expo and Symposium 0n January 28, 2011 at Hotel Africana to raise the voices of the pastoral communities in Uganda with special focus on Karamoja sub region.

The dialogue was meant to stimulate public awareness and debates concerning the human rights violations and marginalisation of the Karimojong and encourage inclusion of their issues on the national development agenda.

“We wanted the public and policy makers to understand and appreciate the rights of pastoral communities in the equitable and sustainable transformation of Karamoja region,” Mr Kabongo explains.

Mr Charles Kabiswa, ECO’s Programmes Manager, says raising the pastoral communities voices will change the pathetic situation, which goes against any human rights standards and principles.

“Young children and women doing artisanal and small scale mining look miserable, the environment is degraded, and people are starving,” Mr. Kabiswa explains.
He says there is need to build the capacity of the local people through information dissemination,advocating for both communities and investors on issues of formalised land ownership, volume and nature of mineral deposits and possible private-public partnerships as far as exploration, prospecting and mining is concerned.

Currently, there is a big gap in communication of accurate and factual information on the status of land under conservation in the region and communities in Karamoja region are unable to distinguish, degazetted lands that have been returned to them, from lands still under conservation

“The community has the right of way or passage including animal movement for grazing in areas under mineral exploration with private companies which must be observed,” Mr Kabiswa adds.

ECO is also mobilising resources to ensure that the youth are equipped with knowledge, skills and information to act as key partners in order to engage and negotiate for their involvement in investment ventures and other opportunities on the basis of entitlements contained in land and mining policies for their community benefits and collaborative co-existence of the community herds and other land uses within Karamoja.