Emmanuel Gyezaho, Francis Mugerwa & Angelo Izama
16 July 2007
Buliisa — 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.
Rich oil deposits were confirmed in the western Uganda districts of Hoima and Buliisa in 2006 after 17 painstaking years of exploration. Tullow Oil has already set up a seismic camp near the disputed land, 20km from Waisoke village. It is expected that drilling will commence early 2009.
When contacted for comment on Saturday, the lead technocrat in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Kabagambe Kaliisa, referred Daily Monitor to "the maps that the government has already published" detailing the prospective oil wells.
According to a map released by the Petroleum Exploration and Production Department in March 2006, the contested land is within the 4,675sq km of land licensed to Tullow Oil for exploitation.
Now with the prospect of oil, the contest over who enjoys legal rights (and stands to be handsomely paid off) is set to take a new dimension. "After realising that the land we bought has oil deposits, the Bagungu have turned against us. They want to illegally repossess this land," said Benon Bangirana, a Mulaalo.
A highly placed source at the Buliisa District headquarters, said the conflicting parties want to obtain "exclusive ownership" over the resourceful land "so as to have a share on the petrol dollars."
"The issue of oil is paramount," he said, "Both sides have powerful backup but the issue of oil is very paramount." But Mr Kaliisa dismissed the claim. "There is no linkage between our exploration effort and the clashes in Buliisa," he said, adding that oil exploration started 20 years ago and yet the clashes have just appeared.
Asked if the recent announcement of discoveries could have increased tensions between the communities, he said, "not at all", adding that there was no guarantee that o
Last week, Tullow Oil announced it had found gas alongside oil deposits in one of its exploring areas in Bunyoro.
MP Biraahwa, a chief protagonist in the Buliisa impasse, said optimistic company officials confirmed that their territory was "richer" than Tullow had originally projected. Mr Biraahwa, who is also a real estate dealer, has been roundly linked to the violence in Buliisa District. Although he has denied fuelling the violence, Daily Monitor has learnt that police are probing him in connection with the clashes.
"He has been on the radios and television. That issue can be investigated from anywhere, even Kampala," James Bangirana, the mid-western regional CID chief based in Hoima told reporters on Friday.
Sporadic clashes broke out last weekend in Bugana in Buliisa District injuring more than a dozen herdsmen. Several cattle were hacked to death with machetes by the Bagungu.
Police boss Kale Kayihura visited the area where police officials have now heavily deployed. Daily Monitor saw police posts after every two kilometres, with an average of eight armed policemen stationed at the spots. Several foot patrols are also active at all times through villages. Relative calm has returned in the area.
With the aid of the police, journalists from Kampala visited the clash scenes on Friday. Buliisa RDC Hussein Kato Matanda, who acted as the reporter's guide during the trip, cited several reasons including corruption, a poor land tenure management system, government's failure to address the issue of squatters in its ranches and incitement from political leaders as the inherent causes of the conflict.
However, the clashes have been the first sign that local friction could generate future problems in Uganda's newly discovered oil areas. A total of slightly 12,000 km is under exploration by Tullow and Heritage Oil and Gas. According to one estimate, the area holds 973 million barrels of oil. Considerable gas deposits have also been found.
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