Uganda: Disputed Buliisa Land Sitting On Vast Oil Deposits

Ethnic clashes in Buliisa District in Western Uganda could have more to do with oil discoveries than grazing rights.

Contrary to the impression created that the Bagungu natives and the Balaalo pastoralists just woke up a few weeks ago and started feuding over rights to use land for either cultivation or grazing, the groups unknowingly represent bigger interests in Uganda’s newly discovered oil.
Daily Monitor has established that the 25 square mile piece of land for which the duo is contesting ownership is part of a 55km stretch of land that oil explorers have earmarked for exploitation.

The local MP Steven Biraahwa has confirmed that he was officially notified by the oil prospectors that the area under dispute is sitting on vast oil deposits.

“We were told just 10 days ago that we have more oil,” he said by telephone on Saturday, adding that he is sure that the Balaalo had been pushed by “rich men” in Kampala to occupy the Bagungu land for other reasons than pasture.

“They have refused free grazing land. Why do they want [these] particular lands,” he asked when contacted at Kyankwazi where he and other Movement MPs are attending a study retreat.

The Bagungu and Balaalo are currently embroiled in a bitter contest over who enjoys full rights of land that is communally owned. The Bagungu have claimed that they want to cultivate cotton on the land which they say is rightfully theirs while the Balaalo say they bought the land.

Daily Monitor has accessed official maps of the oil fields which have been in the possession of Buliisa District authorities for quite some time. It has emerged that this information was also available to powerful “big shots” in Kampala who local politicians accuse of fronting the Balaalo pastoralists.

The maps reveal drawings of seismic lines, used to identify and map oil and gas deposits prior to drilling, of the specific areas in Buliisa District that the explorers have earmarked with oil potential. The contested land in Waisoke and Bugana villages is in the middle of the exploration blocks.

AllAfrica