Karamojong evicted after land acquisition in Uganda

Members of the Karamoja Development Forum compiled a 30-page report “Take anything, leave our land” (2015) on two cases of land acquisition by state agencies in Nakapiripirit and Napak Districts of the Karamoja Region in northeastern Uganda. They document events during 2013–14 that led to eviction of the Karamojong agropastoralists who had been living on what they regarded as communal land and had been growing crops and grazing their livestock there. The report aims to increase understanding of the effects of such land acquisition on the local communities, and provides a platform for the voices of the evicted people to be heard. These two cases are examples of the “growing storm” over land resources in the drylands of Uganda – heightened now by investment in extractive mineral industries – which is leading to increased dependency of the local people on food aid and forcing their migration to cities. The report concludes with recommendation to the Uganda Government and to civil society, asking for support in protecting the land rights and human rights of Karamojong communities.

Posted on 6 March 2015 in Pastoralism & Extractives, Pastoralism & Natural Resources, Pastoralism & Peacebuilding, Pastoralist Livelihoods & Nutrition