Kaweri Coffee land row unresolved for 20 years

The dispensation of justice for thousands of residents who were evicted in Mubende District to pave way for the establishment of Kaweri Coffee Plantation Limited has been delayed for 20 years.

The firm is owned by the Germany-based Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, a coffee service and trading group with more than 50 companies operating across 26 countries.

Those evicted occupied a 2,524-hectare mailo piece of land that spread across Kitemba, Luwunga, Kijunga and Kiryamakobe villages.

Mr Peter Baleke Kayiira, who sounded the call against the eviction, says they were evicted at the barrel of the gun on August 18, 2001 when army officers led by Maj Ibrahim Ssebagala raided the area alongside then Mubende Resident District Commissioner, Mr Perez Katamba.

“Katamba said anyone who stays on the land would see the wrath of government. I was confused when a woman told me that one of the army officers gave instructions that you should be killed, I had documents in my briefcase and I fled into hiding,” Mr Kayiira recalls.

In the aftermath of the eviction, some locals who were represented by Mr Mwesigwa Rukutana filed a petition in the High Court. Mr Rukutana was elected as the Rushenyi County MP in 2001 and appointed as State Minister in the Finance ministry.

The residents then hired Mr Joseph Balikkudembe as their lawyer.

Government then sent Mr Gilbert Bukenya, who was then the minister for the Presidency.  “His intention was to convince us to drop the case. The Limitation Act gave us 365 days to sue. They told us that we should form a committee to negotiate with government. I went ahead and sued at the Nakawa circuit of the High Court,” recalls Kayiira.

He says as a result of his decision to sue the firm, he has been harassed and detained several times ‘so that I can back off the case.”

On March 28, 2013, High Court Judge Anup Singh Choudry gave a verdict against the firm and awarded Shs37b to the plaintiffs.

However, on July 21, 2015, the Court of Appeal in Kampala set aside the judgement and ordered a retrial at the High Court by another judge.

On July 2, 2019, the plaintiffs appeared before High Court judge Henry Kaweesa who ordered for mediation.

“The outgoing Attorney General says we should get Shs1.9b instead of Shs3.8b but added that government has evidence that we were all compensated,” Mr Kayiira says.

“This means that we would be obtaining money by false pretence, government wanted to give with one hand and take away with another hand,” he adds.

Mr Kayiira says on December 16, 2019, government agreed to give them compensation without any interest.

Two groups have now emerged; one of 262 families that consented to this agreement and another 139 families that have rejected the compensation.

However, Neumann Kaffee Gruppe  (NG) claims that in 2001, the previous owner of the land sold his interest to government.

The firm claims that those who had settled on the piece were informed of plans to sell the land and were subsequently offered compensation.

“One hundred sixteen families entitled to compensation accepted the offer and 25 families, some of who erroneously believed that they lived on another property than the one in question, refused the compensation rates and were forced to leave the land,” writes their managing director Pablo Garcia.

“Government authorities assisted the former owner in this process. Neither NG nor Kaweri were involved in any part or aspect of this process. NG very much then and now regrets how these 25 families were treated,” he adds.

Mr Emmanuel Acidri, the legal and policy officer of FIAN Uganda, a human rights organisation, says there is no justification in the way the government appropriated the land given to the investor.

“The Constitution - promulgated five years before the eviction obliges the government to effect prompt and adequate compensation to affected persons before compulsorily taking over their land. This was not done,” he argues.

Mr Acidri accuses government of effecting an illegal eviction using brute force, contrary to the non-derogable right from cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.

 “Considering the interdependent nature of rights, the effects of these violations are bound to spill over into other rights such as education and livelihoods.”

“The fact that the surviving victims of this eviction are still waiting for justice two decades later is itself an indictment on the government’s commitment to uphold and promote the rights and freedoms of individuals and groups as obliged by the Constitution,” says Mr Acidri.

Families speak out

Isaiah Kayondo, one of the affected people, says since the eviction, children have grown up without going to school because people are living in abject poverty.

Plaxeda Nalwadda says the community went through a lot of pain. “What hurts me most was the failure to educate my children.”

Francis Kayiira: “They found us on our land and sold us into slavery. I will die because of the pain of being evicted. They are now playing divide and rule games.”