Africa-Press – Uganda. The people living near Mt Elgon National Park continue to suffer from gross human rights violations at the hands of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) staff, according to reports.
Several victims claim that they have been shot and injured on the borders of the park while their gardens have been cut down by UWA rangers.
A case in point of Mr Jimmy Chelangat, 31, a resident of Benet Sub-county in Kween District, who in August last year was allegedly shot while grazing cattle near the park.
“The ranger found me grazing animals and I tried to flee but he shot me,” he alleged.
Another resident, Mr Nicholas Ruto, 27, claimed he was shot at by the ranger and the bullet is still in his body.
“The bullet is still stuck in my body after failing to get money for the operation,” Mr Ruto, whose large intestine was severely damaged and experiences difficulties in easing himself, told.
The locals say their settlements and grazing fields are near the national park where they were allegedly evicted by UWA.
Mr David Chemutai, the coordinator of the Mosopisyek of Benet indigenous community, expressed fear over the ongoing conflict between UWA and locals in the region.
He said the Mosopisyek of Benet indigenous community were forcefully evicted from their ancestral land on Mt Elgon to create a national park and are now landless.
He said the government should degazette the 6,000 hectares and resettle Mosopisyek of Benet and also degazette 2,250 hectares to be planted with indigenous trees.
“As Mosopisyek of Benet indigenous people and council of elders comprising 37 clans, we value conservation and we cannot accept our forest to be destroyed due to farming but UWA treats us as destroyers of the forest,” Mr Chemutai said.
Sironko District Woman Member of Parliament Florence Nambozo during an interview accused UWA of destroying people’s crops and houses in the region.
Last week while appearing before the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) at the latter’s headquarters in Kampala, Ms Nambozo said lives have been lost at the hands of the government agencies’ staff, as the locals attempt to eke a living on the park boundary.
Mr Micheal Masika, the NRM chairperson for Bunamulunyi Parish in Namisindwa District, said UWA officials destroyed his two-acre banana plantation and other crops.
“The UWA officials forced me to sign an unknown document under duress, threatening further destruction if I refused to comply,” he said.
Mr David Timbiti, a resident of Namisindwa District, told that his onion garden was destroyed by UWA rangers when he declined to sign unspecified documents.
“Despite my efforts to seek help from district authorities, no assistance has been forthcoming. I appeal to local leaders for support,” Mr Timbiti said.
Mr Denis Cherop, the chairperson of Kaseko Sub- county in Kween District, said UWA are harassing people in the area.
“UWA has started forcing people to register as encroachers and people are not willing to register. But others were forced to register. When I refused to register, I was chased by armed rangers who wanted to shoot me,” Mr Cherop said.
Ms Ruth Chelangat, a human rights activist, complained that for a long time now, the UWA officials have failed to live in harmony with people neighbouring the park.
She claimed UWA officials have killed persons who go near the park in search of herbs, to plant, weed, or harvest their crops.
She said the communities now want Parliament to prevail over the government to dialogue with UWA officials to resolve the impasse. Mr Stephen Sunguka, an elder in Benet Sub-county, Kween District, and one of the victims, said the land was given to landless people by President Museveni when Mt Elgon was turned into a national park, but is being grabbed by UWA.
“There is a demarcation of 1983, referred to as the red line but UWA didn’t honour the red line and went ahead to start harassing people in their land,” he said, adding that in 1992, UWA took over the forests to be a national park and found them there.
Residents’ demands
The communities also demand that relatives of those that have over the years been killed and injured as a result of UWA activities around Mt Elgon Park get compensation from the government.
Ms Agnes Chemutai,38, a resident of Kisangani Village, Kaproron Sub-county, Kween District, who was in the year 2000 evicted from her land in Mt Elgon National Park, said UWA rangers are ruthless.
“They even torched our houses,” she said.
Mr Stephen Musobo Ayeko, the chairperson of Kapchesuke Village, Mulungwa Parish in Kaseko Sub-county, Kween District, said the battles over control of park land have seen several communities living around the park being tortured and harassed.
“You can imagine our crops were uprooted and we are now starving. We don’t have food. We request for government intervention,” he said.
The residents and leaders made the remarks during the UWA and media tour in Benet Sub-county, Kween District, recently.
For close to 27 years, the Bugisu and Sebei Sub-regions respectively have been rocked by deadly battles between UWA and locals.
Mr Emma Bwayo, the Namisindwa District youth councillor, condemned what he called UWA’s defiance of court orders.
“There was a 2005 interim order from Mbale High Court, which prohibited UWA from evicting or damaging crops but they don’t respect that,” he said.
Mr Joseph Nashimolo, a member of Namisindwa Land Owners Association, said for the past couple of decades, they have tried to fight for their land rights and identity as indigenous citizens of Uganda but like thousands of other settlers across Mt Elgon, they have failed.
He revealed that UWA has the 1954 colonial boundary, 1983/84, 1990/93 and the 2003/04 boundaries that have confused people for the last 15 years to the extent that many encroachers believe that boundaries are forged.
“There have been cases of sexual molestation of women who go to the forest inside the park to fetch firewood and mushrooms,” he said.
Mr Fred Toskin, 49, another victim, said he was shot by rangers as he was coming back from a trading centre in Bukwo District.
“There was an alarm in the area. When I tried to see what was happening, I was shot and I was seriously injured. Part of my knee was damaged, [now] I cannot walk,” Mr Toskin said.
In response, however, Mr Samuel Amanya, the chief warden at Mt Elgon Conservation Area, said the ongoing operations are not intended to harm people living near the park or to destroy any crops.
“In the process of enforcing the law, we use tools and weapons to guard ourselves from the community. The community also attacks us and rangers defend themselves by shooting in the air to scare them but sometimes the stray bullets can get some rioters,” he said.
He asserted that the operation aims to identify and profile individuals cultivating within the park.
“Farmers should remain calm and comply with officials, the only requirements are a valid National ID and an LC1 letter. We are registering the people who are residing beyond the temporary line,” Mr Amanya said.
He said some of the local communities are refusing to be registered.
“For those who refused to be registered, the rangers destroyed their crops to attract them to come and register. We have done that in all eight districts in two Sub-regions of Bugisu and Sebei,” he said.
Mr Bashir Hangi, the communications manager for the Uganda Wildlife Authority, also said there is encroachment in the protected areas. “We are trying to have a good relationship with the community neighbouring the park and UWA uses both soft and hard methods,” he said.
Looking back
Mt Elgon central forest reserve was established in 1938 by the British colonial masters and in 1993, it was gazetted as a national park by government of Uganda without clear boundary demarcation.
All attempts to formalise it have failed close to 20 years because of hostility from some neighbours to the park.
The change in status from a forest reserve to a national park was in recognition of its water catchment, biological, cultural, historical and other values.
Mt Elgon National Park is about 127,900ha in size and this includes the 49,382.9 ha forest that many people still claim is their ancestral land.
The Mt Elgon Conservation Area currently has about 5,000 individuals living within its boundaries across the eight districts of Bugisu and Sebei sub-regions.
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
