“At first we resisted but on the realization that we had no alternative, we reluctantly surrendered the land after threats of forceful eviction and, as a way of compensation, the few that were compensated got peanuts with a person owning 3 acres, getting paid for only half an acre in many incidents,” Bamusuute said.
After a decade of bitterness, tears and harsh confusion Buvuma islanders have been going through following delayed, uneven and in some cases total absence of compensation for their land surrendered to the Malaysian palm oil investment complex of BIDCO, tears have at last been replaced by fresh hope in the wake of an executive intervention by President Museveni.
In a message delivered to the islanders on 30th December 31, 2025 by a team headed by State Minister for Lands, Dr. Sam Mayanja accompanied by the State House Special Presidential Assistant on Corruption, Rebbeca Atwine, the President ordered immediate payment of sh14bn which was recently released out of the sh28bn to the affected persons.
Additionally, Museveni ordered for the arrest of any official cited in being personally involved or fueling incidents leading to the plight of Buvuma peasants. The development comes in the wake of a protest visit of 400 islanders to Entebbe State House where they poured out their hearts to President Museveni.
The President who is slated to visit Buvuma islands on 3rd January 2026 on his ongoing countrywide round canvassing for election support, directed that the above directives be effected within two days from the day of issuance on 30th December, 2025 before the date of his visit.
In a meeting at Maggyo on Buvuma mainland, the islanders, some shedding tears, narrated to the team their suffering including uneven partial compensation, forceful slicing of parts of their land by the assessment team, releasing the payment to people hailing from outside Buvuma islands, diverting the money deposited into their accounts to unknown people, gross under assessment and underpayment, forceful eviction from their bibanja by the National Forestry Authority, and total non-payment to majority of the would-be bona fide beneficiaries.
Some of the most adversely affected areas, according to residents who addressed the minister’s team, include; Kacanga, Ttojjwe, Kaziru, Bukalabati,Namuziru, Bukiyindi, and others.
Abbas Bamusuute from Katambula-Namavundu village, Buwooya parish in Buwooya sub-county who represented settlers in Buvuma Town Council and the sub-counties of Nairambi, Busamuzi and Buwooya, said that since 2014 when BIDCO arrived in their area with promises of getting them out of poverty, they have only witnessed suffering.
He said that although they were initially promised free seedlings and money for clearing their bibanja, planting and caring for the palm plants, the idea was almost immediately discarded and replaced with a new one of government paying them off to vacate the land for BIDCO to handle the project.
“At first we resisted but on the realization that we had no alternative, we reluctantly surrendered the land after threats of forceful eviction and, as a way of compensation, the few that were compensated got peanuts with a person owning 3 acres, getting paid for only half an acre in many incidents,” Bamusuute said.
The LC 2 chairperson for Buwaga parish in Nairambi sub-county, Ismael Kabanda said that in 2019, now the State Minister for Kampala and Metropolitan Areas, Kabuye Kyofatogabye, on an assignment to the islands, asked them to surrender more land as the required 6.500 hectares needed by BIDCO had not been realized.
“Later on, in 2020 however, Project Manager Susan and one Anthony Nkwasibwe arrived, turned over the process and verified us afresh under one Magemeso, and this marked the beginning of our suffering in earnest”, Kabanda narrated.
He said the Ecobank accounts they had opened for their payment had been declared dormant, and in the next few years, many were forced to open fresh accounts over and over again for the same reason.
He was backed by one of the landlords, David Mukasa Kaamu who owns 624 acres of land whose titles he already submitted and the investor took possession of them, planted palm plants which have also started harvesting yet he has not been paid.
Kaamu added that he has over and over again continued opening new bank accounts as earlier ones were closed for redundancy.
A former district council deputy speaker, Nambalirwa Nuur whose land is located at Bukalabati village, said they have for over the years kept disclosure papers indicating they were assessed but that they have turned out to be meaningless.
Nantumbwe Robinah of Bukwaaya village, who pointed out that their tormentors connive with unnamed LC1 chairmen to grab their land and pay them peanuts. “I was paid sh8m for my 8 acres and I am in court because I am not satisfied,” she said.
Naisanga Mariam could not control her emotions and practically broke into tears when she reported that district leaders have been involved in stealing of their compensation money, while the offices of the RDC and the LC V chairmen have not done enough to protect or help them jump out of the impasse.
At Kacanga landing site, area member of parliament Robert Migadde Ndugwa told Minister Mayanja that after a meeting with President Museveni, the locals agreed to vacate their land to create room for topping up to meet the investors’ 6,500-acre requirement, on the understanding that payment was coming shortly.
Years later, and after vacating the land from where they used to grow food which had become a nucleus estate for BIDCO, the islanders now depend on handouts from well-wishers for feeding their families, and added that out of anger, they are at times attempted to burn the palm plantations belonging to the investor.
“Hon minister, with the known story of mistreatment on the lake by the anti-illegal fishing UPDF task force, the locals here have been rendered penniless in addition to having no food for subsistence,” Migadde said.
In his communication, Dr. Sam Mayanja stressed the presidential stand that forcing people off their bibanja, let alone paying them less than the reigning market price and on a willing-seller-willing -buyer basis, constitutes a criminal offence punishable by law.
He then disclosed contents of President Museveni’s directive to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit to investigate, arrest thieves and have them refund the islanders’ money in addition to other harsh punishments.
The directive also asked the Ministry of Finance, working with the Ministry of Agriculture, to ascertain who are the unpaid or partly paid, and begin effecting payment within two days.
The Special Assistant to the President Rebecca Atwine disclosed that sh14bn has been released for such payment, with the next batch of sh14bn on the way soon.
Atwine also disclosed that an additional sh2.5bn has been identified by the project handlers to make sh16.5bn immediately available.
Buvuma Deputy Resident District Commissioner Dauda Kato said he inherited the problem on assignment to Buvuma just five months ago, adding however that he had established that there are some people who turned around after compensation, and made fresh claims because of the appreciating value of land.
The Deputy RDC appealed to the islanders not to tag the forthcoming presidential elections to this matter because he argued, it is President Museveni who initiated this project because of his love for the islanders.
