Amuru RDC Dragged to Court over Impounded Charcoal

A Kampala based businesswoman, Sumbuwa Shamim Lala, has dragged Amuru Resident District Commissioner– RDC and Amuru District Local Government to Court for impounding his charcoal.

Through Alaka & Company Advocates, Sumbuwa is demanding a compensation of 38,270,000 million Shillings in special damages suffered after the RDC, Linda Agnes Auma aided by police and military, to seize his 750 bags of charcoal, valued at 112,500,000 million Shillings.

He accuses the RDC of inciting the public in Amuru to loot the charcoal that was being transported from Adjumani and Moyo Districts via Amuru enroute to Busia Sofia Market in Busia Town . The incident happened between December 2019 and January 2020.

He argues that around August 2019, the price of charcoal at the Busia border post was high and competitive costing up to 150,000 Shillings and it was against this background that in the course of her business, she discovered that one, Gabriel Maku Goli, was granted license by Adjumani District Local Government for land opening and burning charcoal on his farmland.

According to the court documents, Maku had burnt charcoal pursuant to the license and had charcoal to sell for commercial purposes before being approached by the plaintiff to purchase the said charcoal.  

The plaintiff, in August 27, 2019, paid for an application form for casual license for buying and selling of charcoal from Adjumani Local Government and was given and the same form approved by Local Council Offices; Secretary for Production and District Forestry Officer.

Upon complying with the conditions, the plaintiff further attests that she paid for and obtained all the necessary licenses including the Forest Produce Movement Permit for the consignment of 450 long bags of charcoal.  

On December 17, 2019, she waved off her employee Brian Nyabuga to leave with the Truck loaded with charcoal to Busia as stipulated in the movement permit.

But later she got a phonecall from the employee that the Truck was stopped and impounded at Atiak Police Station. While the employee produced all the relevant documents for the movement of the charcoal, the police allegedly demanded a bribe of One million Shillings’ failure of which, they called the RDC, who arrived with her military body guards and demanded four million Shillings.  

Upon protesting to pay the said money, the RDC in the company of Atiak Sub-County  Chairperson, Alfred Odiya Baguma incited the mob who descended on the Truck and looted all the bags of charcoal including a jet-50 turns, full carpet and five pieces of body rails. Meanwhile, Brian Nyabuga was beaten by the rowdy mob and later detained at Atiak Police Station.

Again, on January 20, the plaintiff claims she sent her agent Bashir Nyabuga to buy 300 long bags of charcoal from Moyo District after fulfilling and paying for all the requirements.  But again on reaching Atiak, the RDC in the same manner stopped the Truck, took it to Atiak Police Station and caused the same to be looted in a similar fashion by the public.

Now the plaintiff argues that actions by the RDC,  the Uganda Police Force  and Uganda People’s Defense Force – UPDF were unlawful and illegal as they demanded for bribes, disregarding all the official documents allowing her to transact business and mobilizing the public to loot all the goods.

According to the Plaintiff, the action of the accused and security forces were arbitrary, without any court order, unconstitutional and oppressive and caused her anguish, pain, trauma, and she was economically inconvenienced as her source of income financing the whole transaction was a loan she picked from different sources.

The Attorney General, the RDC and Amuru District Local Government are yet to respond on the matter.