How candidates plan to manage land, natural resources

Article 237(1) of the Constitution states that land belongs to the citizens of Uganda, and Article 26(1) protects the right to own property, either individually or in association with others.

In September, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters appointed by the President on December 8, 2016 to look into land matters across the country was illegal. The Commission was restrained from exercising judicial powers.

The ruling perhaps presents the precarious situation of the land question in Uganda and key to the politicking and sloganeering in the current presidential campaigns that in many cases put issues of land and natural resources on the fringes in candidates’ manifestos.

The Justice Catherine Bamugemereire-led commission was to inquire into the effectiveness of law, policies and processes of land acquisition, administration, management and registration in Uganda.

According to Justice Bamugemereire, the commission received complaints totalling 8,528 from 123 districts, out of 135. This was during the period of inquiry from 2017-2019. This shows that rather than utilise Uganda’s vast arable land for development, a large proportion of these are either under conflicts or mitigation.

Two key questions that presidential candidates ought to address during their campaigns are on land and natural resources.

By 2014, the Ugandan government estimated that there was 6.5 billion barrels of oil in place, but recoverable oil was estimated to be between 1.8 billion and 2.2 billion barrels.  Oil production was expected to reach heights of between 200,000 and 250,000 bpd (barrels per day) based on the discoveries. 

However,  in June last year, Daily Monitor reported: “It emerged recently that during ongoing negotiations for the proposed East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), recoverable oil volumes now stand at 1 billion barrels instead of the estimates of between 1.4 billion and 1.7 billion barrels that officials previously quoted.”

Fast forward to September, 2020 the land matters, which are intertwined in handling natural resources, a lot still needs to be unpacked.

With a commission of inquiry report to handle land matters partially quashed by court, Ugandans still struggle to come to terms with the level of conflicts and impunity involving land acquisition and grabbing. Equally crucial is the manner in which Ugandans should be involved in the natural resource conversation and how they can contribute or benefit from this sector.

So far, participation in the oil and gas sector as specified in the Local Content policy are in the fringes of campaign talks.

But according to Ministry of Energy updates on progress in the petroleum subsector, “Government is in advanced stages of discussions with the licenced oil companies regarding legal and commercial aspects related to the oil and gas projects. Agreement on this will pave way for the oil companies to take a Final Investment Decision,” which had earlier been set for December 2020.

The new extractives sector has caused both unfounded and real worries on how employment and business opportunities for Ugandans and Ugandan enterprises will thrive when the first oil drops.

To do this requires the enhancement of the capacities of both the people and the enterprises to enable them to compete because the oil and gas sector is competitive and does not compromise on quality.

Currently, the government is upbeat about the nine out of 14 oil fields that have been granted production licences and are as good as ready for early commercial production. The licences were issued to Total E&P, Tullow Uganda Operations Pty Ltd and CNOOC Uganda Ltd between 2016 and 2017.

What candidates’ manifestos say
To understand the promises of National Resistance Movement party candidate Yoweri Tibuhaburwa Museveni in his 367-page manifesto, one needs to examine the elaborate explanations on especially the oil and gas sector. It promises better oil and gas resource management after investing in required infrastructure.

But the media has recently published numerous stories of repeated old promises in most parts of the country, especially on the regime’s delivery of roads and other social infrastructure after being in power for 34 years.

In his 2021-2026 manifesto, the incumbent promises to expedite the ongoing review of the National Oil and Gas Policy, 2008, promote the country’s petroleum potential and conclude the second licensing round, continue geological and geophysical surveys in frontier basins and unexplored part of the Albertine to prepare the basins for licensing and establishment of additional reserves for the sustainability of the industry.

In addition, he promises to continue the development of standards, codes and guidelines for upstream petroleum, support the implementation of the local content policy. Mr Museveni also promises to upgrade the existing geochemistry laboratories, produce refined oil and oil by-products for the local and export markets. 

The incumbent’s manifesto mentions briefly plans to improve fisheries and water transport but is silent on salient issues of the land question in the country.

It is also important to note that some candidates mention their plans for improving land use and management and natural resources, but most do not indicate how they will do that. Some are all together silent on the land question in the country.

Bobi Wine
In part four of his manifesto, National Unity Platform presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, promises better land and natural resources management and environmental protection. But the manifesto offers little or no explanations on how they will strategically implement some of the plans.

Mr Kyagulanyi promises to, among others, revitalise beach management units (BMUs) as legal bodies of all stakeholders in the fisheries sector to allow them to participate in decision-making regarding fishing.

 In recent years, fishing activities in major water bodies such as Lake Victoria are being managed by the military, which to some is a threat to the livelihoods of the fishermen.  But others argue that it has led to increased fish for export production and improved caged fish farming. 

NUP promises to make land transactions transparent by completing and operationalising the digital mapping of the entire country and computerisation of the national lands registry, begin a national dialogue to probe and resolve land issues and regulate the mining sector to empower mineral-owning communities.

Patrick Oboi Amuriat- FDC
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate Patriat Amuriat plans to compensate absentee landlords across the country by providing more Land Fund reserves to enable the resettlement of landless Ugandans, establish a national data bank on land and mineral resources to inform development decisions and effectively address the needs of landless people by enforcing existing laws, such as the Land Act and to control rampant evictions of lawful occupants of the land including community landowners.

Mr Amuriat also promises to design and finance a comprehensive land rights public education programme to make citizens more knowledgeable and able to defend their land rights and expedite the cancellation of illegal land titles in wetlands and forests across the country and without exceptions.

 Further, he wants to reduce water tariffs for priority public institutions like hospitals and schools.

Mr Amuriat’s manifesto is also elaborate in his promises for the minerals sector. He promises to carve out 60 per cent of large mines to be owned by Ugandans to forestall the otherwise massive repatriation of profits by foreign firms, establish cooperatives and extend special funding to them for small artisanal miners for purposes of collective bargaining and processing of minerals against the weighty force of large multinational  companies.

Mr Amuriat also plans to audit all existing mining licences to filter out redundant ones and re-issue them to other prospective and more serious miners. This will improve access to potential mineral resources while freeing large tracts of land from inactive speculative holders.

Joseph Kabuleta
Independent presidential candidate Joseph Kabuleta has no mention on how land conflicts and wrangles will be resolved, if elected president. He, however, focuses on land use and management to fulfil his main campaign theme of financial liberation. 

Mr Kabuleta is concerned that whereas 50 per cent of East Africa’s arable land is in Uganda with more planting seasons than its neighbours, agriculture only contributes 20 per cent to Uganda’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and just 1 per cent to government revenue.

To improve land use, he plans to re-prioritise land use with Operation Mayumba Kumi to enable each household that owns at least two acres of land to fully utilise their land to increase their household income.  

Mr Kabuleta says such people will “be encouraged and incentivised to set aside at least one to two acres for commercial purposes depending on their total land holding. [The] government will then support each of the farmers to transform those acres into viable commercial enterprises in line with the economic zoning strategy.”

He plans to ensure that fishing and commercial fish farming, currently a $120m industry, should be an exclusive preserve for Ugandans. This applies to sand mining too. The Independent candidate plans to conserve natural resources such as forests which have a great benefit for the environment and tourism.

Norbert Mao
DP Mao’s 48-page manifesto details how Uganda’s natural resources will be governed if elected president. 

The two-time presidential candidate promises to empower Parliament’s Natural Resource Committee (NRC) to oversee the development of, especially the oil and gas sector.

 In a country where people do not see a change in policy making and feel they are not being properly represented in the process, Mr Mao says with the policy as a decision-making tool, his government will invest in building a refinery and pipelines for effective harnessing and management of the newly discovered oil.

He plans to promote the sustainable utilisation of the natural resources for the current and future generations, but does not give concrete assurances on how land matters and other natural resources shall be efficiently governed.

Nancy Kalembe Linda
Ms Kalembe, the only female presidential candidate in a pool of 11 contestants, does not present concrete promises on land and natural resources and how her government, if elected into power, will handle the numerous land conflicts and compensation challenges for development projects.

Ms Kalemba only mentions government’s failure to cooperate with other East African Community countries to fast-track the construction of the 1,444km cross-border crude oil pipeline that is planned to run from Hoima to Tanga Port in Tanzania for export.

Gen Henry Tumukunde an independent candidate does not have concrete plans in his manifesto on how to improve land and natural resources management. 
He rather specifies the gaps and shortfalls in especially the oil and gas sector.