Govt, rights defenders fight over 150-acre land
Men burn charcoal on the disputed land at Kasilo Village, Kamod Parish in Serere District at the weekend. PHOTO/LYDIA FELLY AKULLU
What you need to know:
- Mr Moses Omiat, the land owner, claims several top district officials have denied him access and have also continued to trespass on it, destroying trees and assaulting his people.
- In June 2022, Soroti High Court Judge Henry Adonyo declared Mr Omiat the lawful owner of the contested 150 acres of land, which Serere District local government was also claiming.
Soroti High Court Registrar has warned trespassers on the 150 acres of land belonging to a human rights defender in Serere District.
Mr Hussein Nasulu Ntalo, while presiding over a court session last Thursday, reasoned that it is wrong for the respondents (Serere District Local Government and four others) in this matter to continue trespassing on the land where court has issued a permanent injunction against them.
“Your actions in cutting trees, making bricks, accessing and using the decreed land are in contempt of court orders...The defendants will be liable for the destruction and loss of property on the land,” Registrar Ntalo said.
The other four respondents are Mr Joseph Atingu, Mr Stephen Ejanyu, Mr Sostine Okoja and Mr Calvin Olinga.
Disobeying lawful court orders is a criminal offense in Uganda and can lead to arrest and imprisonment of those involved.
Speaking to this publication on Saturday, Mr Alex Musisi, one of the lawyers representing Mr Moses Omiat, the owner of the land in question, said: “Registrar Ntalo directed them (trespassers) to leave the land or else they will face the arms of the law.”
Mr Musisi further said on several occasions, the trespassers have gone on Mr Omiat’s land, cut down the mango trees, Nyama trees, Etiriri trees, and other tree species to burn charcoal and bricks, coupled with attacking and harming his relatives who stay on the same land.
Mr Musisi warned that should anything happen to the human rights activist or any of his relatives who stay on the land, the encroachers will be the first people to be held accountable.
“If anything happens to Mr Omiat’s relatives or even Mr Omiat, we shall conclude that they are the ones,” he said.
In June 2022, Soroti High Court Judge Henry Adonyo declared Mr Omiat the lawful owner of the contested 150 acres of land, which Serere District local government was also claiming.
Also in his decision, Justice Adonyo fined Serere District Local Government Shs320m in legal costs for the destruction of trees on the said land.
But ever since the decision was handed down, Mr Omiat claims several top district officials have denied him access and have also continued to trespass on it, destroying trees and assaulting his people.
He further alleges that the district officials are instead allowing trespassers to access his land and they are cutting trees for timber; charcoal burning; using the land for brick making; and using part of the land to host a weekly market.
Background
The matter arose in 2016 when Mr Omiat as the administrator of the estate of his late grandfather, George William Amollo, sued 11 people for trespass on their ancestral chunk of land in Kasilo Village, Kamod Parish, Serere District.
He accused them of trespass and destruction of property on the said ancestral land that he inherited from his grandfather.
