An Investigation into The Compliance of the Legal and Operational Framework with International Principles and Best Practices on Compulsory Land Acquisition for Petroleum Activities

Abstract

The discovery of oil in Uganda’s Albertine region came with increased demand for land, required for oil infrastructure such as industrial park, oil refinery, international airport, waste management plant, pipelines, central processing plants, storage tanks and a network of roads, among others. This necessitated government to compulsorily acquire large chunks of land from the traditional land owners who were disposed and displaced. This study aimed to establish if the process of compulsory land acquisition used complied with international principles and best practices. The study used a purposive but stratified method in which a sample of 150 respondents were selected and interviews conducted or questionnaires administered on the affected landowners, government officials, oil companies, local government leaders, NGOs, and professionals in the oil sector. The data was analyzed using SPSS and presented using frequency tables and standard deviation. The study revealed that a majority of people consider rights to own land as one of the most important human rights they have; that the oil projects are of public purpose because they benefit the public, but want parliament to legislate the specific projects to be considered public purpose; that the land owners did not participate in the process of land acquisition, and as such compensation was not transparent nor was it in good faith. The majority also say compensation for their land was not timely nor adequate, and do not agree that government should have a right to take over land before fully compensating land owners. Generally, a majority believe that Uganda does not comply with international principles and best practices in compulsory land acquisition. The study recommends that the compulsory land acquisition policies, laws and practices be reformed to comply with international principles and best practices in acquiring land for oil activities.