Deal #8954 Version #84630

Pakwach district is seeking an extension of 365 hectares of land for the irrigation project after observing that the initial part of 1000 hectares that the project required is occupied by Ragem government prison farm. As an alternative, the district identified Adiri community land near the established scheme that the clan members are reluctant to offer on suspicion that the government intends to grab the community land. The community has raised concerns about the amount of land sought for the project, which would leave them with limited use for their own agricultural and other needs. The community consented to offering 365 acres (equivalent to 145 hectares) for the project but later realized that the project would actually take up 365 hectares of their land. The community feel that they were deliberately misled regarding the amount of land needed, and therefore no longer trust the project implementers

On August 10, 2021, sixteen members of Paten Clan, a community in Pakwach District in northern Uganda, were shot at and wounded by local police and army officers, as a retaliation for their opposition to the Wadelai irrigation project .Staff of the construction company in charge of implementing the project, together with representatives of the local authorities and the police, forcefully entered the community. When communities questioned and protested against the trespass, the local police and members of the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) started firing bullets and teargas to disperse them. 16 community members were injure. The day after, UPDF officers arrested and beat up four women, including one pregnant woman, while they were on their way to fetch water. These attacks are just the latest example of the ongoing retaliations faced by community members and human rights defenders in Pakwach District, who are being targeted for their opposition to the government’s acquisition of their land for agricultural production under the Wadelai Irrigation Project that they are concerned will impact their livelihoods and way of life.Nine members of the community have also been criminalised following the protests. They have been accused of sabotaging the project by local police and are currently out on bail. The clan and community members argue that the land in question is an identity of the entire Paten clan members from which they derive their livelihood by grazing animals, laying bricks, and excavating sand for building houses. In the several unfruitful dialogue meetings with the community in Wadelai, the majority of the clan members have distanced themselves from a list containing forty-seven members purporting to have consented to the giveaway to the government to fulfill the extension project.

On September 9, a group of organizations that are members of the Coalition for Human Rights in Development and other allies sent an open letter to the African Development Bank and the Nordic Development Fund, calling on them to take immediate actions to address reprisals against a community in Uganda impacted by the Wadelai irrigation project