Issues of land Accessibility and Retention among the Rwandan D iaspora C ommunity in Uganda

1. Issues of land Accessibility and Retention among the Rwandan Diaspora Community in Uganda Presentation to Mbarara Seminar Series By Jason Kamusiime May 2013

2. Introduction • Migration has been an integral part of Uganda’s history • While country-specific manifestations of migration exist in each country, Uganda has a history of intensive inflows of migrants prompted by demographic, economic, and political factors.

3. The Rwandan Diaspora in Uganda • The populations of southwest Uganda and Rwanda shared languages, cultures. • Uganda has been a home for many Rwandese immigrants dating from the 1920’s. • A large number of Hutus migrated to Uganda to work in mines and provide casual labor • The biggest numbers were however registered in the 1960’s,due to political turmoil in Rwanda. • These were mainly Tutsis who were seeking refugee as the Hutu took over power in Rwanda

4. Tutsis in Uganda were de jure refugees, but gradually the majority became de facto citizens. • Former Ugandan President Milton Obote ordered for Rwandese registration as a first step towards their expulsion and grew during Amin’s rule.

5. The return of Obote to power (1980-85) however saw the resumption of the threat to expell the Tutsi from Uganda. • September 1982, officials of the government, joined by parliamentarians from the southwest, orchestrated the violent displacement of the Rwandan refugees. • Most fled back into the relative safety of the refugee camps but some were even forced to return to Rwanda.

6. By 1993, over one million Ugandan residents were of Rwandese origin. • Due to their nomadic way of living, the Rwandese refugees were allocated pastoral land in Nakivale and Oruchinga refugee settlement and along the cattle corridor all the way to Hoima and Nakasongola. • After 1994, some returned home including those who had fled in the 50’s,60’s and 70’s,however, some still remained and went ahead to claim Ugandan citizenship.

7. Land access versus migration status • This discussion is limited to migrants of Rwandese origin in Uganda during the last four decades. • Dating as far back as the colonial rule time, land tenure systems in Uganda have been reported to be highly not in favor of migrants but resolution of this question is a politically and economically expensive affair. • The first group of Rwandese refugees arrived in Uganda in 1920’s.

8. By 1962, approximately 44 % of the population in some counties of Masaka District was of Rwandese origin. • Rights on land are increasingly individualized along two dimensions; • The range of rights held • The extent of autonomy afforded by the landholder in exercising these rights.

9. land access will be defined as the process by which people individually or collectively gain rights and opportunities to occupy and utilize land on a temporary or permanent basis. • Opportunities for the immigrants to acquire full rights of ownership of land represent the strongest form of access to land

10. Policies relating to land access are equally concerned with opportunities for immigrants to access and secure use rights to land and natural resources according to need. • History is indeed replete with serious conflicts over access to land and with instances of wasteful uses of the land, both privately and socially.

11. Land is not only a factor of production and as such a source of agricultural output and income, it is also an asset, and hence a source of wealth, prestige, and power. • Its use affects environmental sustainability or degradation.

12. Findings • 16% of the total lifetime immigrants in Uganda came as refugees. • Immigrants in Uganda is estimated to be 333,000, 13.6% of which are from Rwanda • Out of the 2,497,449 total respondents, only, 2.26% said they were immigrants from around Africa, ie, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda etc as well as from all over the world.

13. Sudanese were the majority immigrants with 29.4% to the total number of migrants followed by 19.43% Rwandese. • 10,989 respondents who claimed Rwandese nationality, only 58.97% were born in Rwanda, 41.03% could have been born here in Uganda or even in other countries. • 0.2% of the total population reported to have Rwanda as their previous place of residence. • only 9,232 revealed their activity status. Majority, 28.2% said they were full time students, 21.1% were paid employees while 0.08% were retired pensioners.

14. Out of the 4,052 Rwandese migrants,66.7% were doing crop farming while 7.1% were involved in livestock farming • Most Rwandese, 13.2% were staying in Mbarara district, 13.1% were staying in Masaka while 11.5% were staying in Mubende districts

15. Conclusion while reforming the pattern of land access is difficult to achieve, far more difficult is to make access complete in the sense of securing the competitiveness of beneficiaries so they achieve income growth, poverty reduction, and sustainable use.