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Uganda - Eviction of peasants in Mubende District to pave way for coffee plantation

Honorable Faith Mwonda
Judge at the High Court Nakawa
P.O.Box 7085
Kampala, Uganda
E-mail: faithkmwondha@yahoo.com
Heidelberg, Germany, 31 March 2010

Honorable Faith Mwonda,

Greetings from FIAN International, the human rights organization which advocates for the realization of the Right to Adequate Food at global level, with consultative status to the United Nations (UN).

We are following the case of the 396 families of the Communities of Kitemba, Luwunga, Kijunga and Kiryamakobe (High Court Civil Suit No. 179 of 2002) in Mubende District who were brutally evicted by the Ugandan army in 2001 to pave the way for Kaweri Coffee Plantation Ltd. The eviction has caused violations of the Right to Adequate Food of the evictees, including malnutrition and increased incidence of diseases, which have caused the death of children. Since they are farmers, the evictees depend on their land as the main source for their livelihood.

Ever since the violent eviction took place in 2001, the families have been living as squatters in the neighborhood of the plantation without access to adequate land. According to a study by Action Aid Uganda, their living conditions are still worse than before the eviction. More people are affected by the lack of adequate food and by diseases, while fewer children have the means to go to school.

Those families had lived on the disputed land for many years, many of them even for generations. Some of them hold written land titles. Due to their long history as tenants on that land, the evictees know very well the location of the borders between different Blocks.

Taking into account that the proceeding at court have lasted for 8 years already, and considering the hunger and malnutrition of the evictees, we urge you to take concrete measures to come to a final decision. One of the most urgent measures would be to conduct a land survey. This will give the evictees the opportunity to prove their land rights by identifying the land marks.

We greatly appreciate your attention and kindly ask you to keep us informed about the measures

Sincerely,

Flavio Luiz Schieck Valente
Secretary General