AFIEGO, Save Bugoma Lose Withraw From Bugoma Forest Suit

  Civil society organizations (CSOs) under the Save Bugoma Forest Campaign have withdrawn an appeal relating to Bugoma Central Forest Reserve from the Court of Appeal.   

The group, which includes the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), National Association of professional Environmentalists (NAPE), as well as Water and Environment Media Network (WEMNET) in a statement said its decision arose from frustration with the prolonged litigation.   

They say the delay by the court has allowed Hoima Sugar Limited (HSL) to continue destroying Bugoma Central Forest Reserve and has rendered the subject matter of the appeal overtaken by events.  

“While the case was filed with hopes that it would support efforts to stop the destruction of Bugoma forest, its prolonged stay in the judicial system is affecting our other advocacy efforts, necessitating its withdrawal" reads the statement. 

The withdrawal of the petition is a major blow to the environmentalists who hoped that the courts could help to ensure climate and environmental justice.      

In August 2020, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) issued an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) certificate of approval to Hoima Sugar Limited for its Kyangwali Mixed Land Use project.     

The certificate permitted Hoima Sugar Limited to engage in activities such as sugarcane growing, urban development, and other potentially harmful operations in Bugoma forest.     

In September 2020, the Save Bugoma Forest Campaign through AFIEGO, NAPE, and WEMNET filed a case at the High Court of Uganda seeking the cancellation of Hoima Sugar Limited’s Environmental Social Impact Assessment ESIA certificate of approval. 

The CSOs argued that NEMA’s ESIA certificate of approval to HSL violated several provisions of Uganda’s environmental laws including; Regulation 10 of the 1998 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations which requires that an environmental impact study be conducted following the terms of reference developed in consultation with NEMA and the lead agency.   

It said NEMA did not further abide by regulation 12 of the 1998 EIA regulations which requires developers to consult with all potentially affected communities before conducting an ESIA, a requirement it said Hoima Sugar Limited HSL failed to meet by only consulting one community out of the many surrounding Bugoma forest.  

NEMA was also faulted for having acted in contravention of other regulations including one that required that NEMA’s Executive Director invite the general public to comment on the environmental impact statement through a widely circulated newspaper.    

The High Court however ruled against the petition on May 7, 2021, refusing to cancel Hoima Sugar Limited’s ESIA certificate.  

The High Court according to the CSOs left Bugoma forest under destruction and the destruction is ongoing to date. Following the High Court decision, AFIEGO, NAPE, and WEMNET appealed to the Court of Appeal in May 2021, seeking to overturn the High Court’s decision.

The CSOs asked the Court of Appeal to cancel HSL’s ESIA certificate of approval to stop the destruction of Bugoma forest.         

Since 2021 to date, AFIEGO and other appellants say they have continued to engage relevant authorities including the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice, and other Ugandan government officials to expedite the hearing of the appeal to save Bugoma forest, but the efforts have been in vain. 

They allege that because of the delays, Hoima Sugar Limited has continued to destroy the forest, and has violated the conditions in its ESIA certificate of approval.  

“ This is evidenced by the September 2022 restoration order issued by NEMA to HSL through which NEMA indicated that Hoima Sugar Limited had destroyed the natural reserved forest areas contrary to condition 4.3 in HSL’s ESIA certificate of approval. The order also showed that “there was deforestation of the eco-tourism site contrary to approval condition 4.3 (i)(c)”. 

NEMA also canceled the permission it had earlier given to HSL to set up an urban centre in Bugoma forest,” read a statement issued by AFIEGO on Tuesday.      

Dickens Kamugisha, the Save Bugoma Forest Campaign chairperson, says, “Withdrawing our appeal from the Court of Appeal has been painful and difficult, but it is necessary. The courts in Uganda have demonstrated that they are unwilling to support forest conservation efforts due to the failure to hear and conclude cases. Having withdrawn the case, we will redirect our resources to other much-needed efforts to stop the ongoing destruction of Bugoma forest.”  

Joshua Mutale of WEMNET said they withdrew the appeal because the judiciary has failed in its duty of hearing cases immediately.   “It is unfortunate that our judicial system remains insensitive and weak which has resulted in worsening destruction of critical ecosystems such as forests, national parks, wetlands, lakes, rivers, and others. This also explains the increasing cases of land grabbing, abuse of community rights, and others,” he said.       

The group says that despite the withdrawal of the appeal, it has not abandoned its efforts to stop the destruction and save the Bugoma forest.  

“We want to increase our efforts to conserve Bugoma forest through other strategies that include: mobilizing communities to build more pressure on the government, NEMA, and other relevant agencies to ensure that HSL complies with the restoration order issued by NEMA. It further says that it will ensure that the boundary opening report of Bugoma forest is released by the Ministry of Lands to ensure that every inch of Bugoma forest is protected.    

Bugoma Central Forest Reserve is a protected Tropical rainforest located in Western Uganda in the South-western side of Kikube district, North-eastern side of Kyenjojo Town and eastern side of Lake Albert found in Kikube District and is managed by the National Forestry Authority (NFA). . It is home to Chimpanzees, Monkeys, Reptiles, Birds and Butterflies, and Tree Species some of which are endemic to Bugoma. The Reserve is near the Oil Exploration sites which has precipitated the migration of many grassland Species due to Habitat Disturbance. Those that can occasionally be seen include Uganda Kobs, Buffaloes and Elephant