Defending land rights and advancing corporate social responsibility in Uganda

UCCA was formed in 2015 and currently has 23 members working on Business and Human Rights issues in different parts of Uganda. KIOS’s other Ugandan grantee, Initiative for Socio-Economic Rights (ISER), acts as UCCA’s secretariat.

UCCA’s local members are responsible for a large part of UCCA’s activities and their implementation. UCCA member BIRUDO was able to engage in human rights work in a challenging context of Covid-19 pandemic and land rights-related issues. These topics are often sensitive for civil society actors. BIRUDO conducted its work in the rather remote areas of Buliisa and Pakwach in Western Uganda, where the need for human rights work is great, but the number of human rights actors is low.

The construction company Coil Company Limited is behind an irrigation project that will contribute to increased food security and poverty reduction among farmers in Uganda. Disagreements with the Paten clan began when the authorities sought to expand the land for the project, which originally started in the Nebbi district of northern Uganda. You can read more about the human rights violation related to this project from an article published on KIOS website here.

According to members of the Paten clan, who have lived in the area for generations, the authorities demanded an area of 365 acres – something they were allowed to use for the project. Later, the authorities stated that it was a question of 365 hectares, which is more than twice as large of an area.

BIRUDO’s lawyer supported the Paten clan in filing a case of strategic litigation, a civil suit against Pakwach district local government, Coil Company, and Uganda Government Attorney General in the High Court of Uganda at Arua. BIRUDO and UCCA also successfully supported the Paten Clan members in making an official claim to the Independent Review Mechanism.

KIOS has supported the work of UCCA since 2017 and Birudo since 2019.