Banks| Policies| Dodgy Deals| Campaigns
About us| Blog| Publications| Successes| Contact us| Donate
About BankTrack
Visit us
Organisation
Our team
Our board
Guiding principles
Team up with us
Jobs at BankTrack
Our annual reports
Funding and finances
History
BankTrack in the media
Our privacy policy
Donate
2023-01-23 00:00:00
Berta Cáceres: new rules for banks could help stop defender killings
2023-01-16 00:00:00
In the balance: Why European due diligence legislation must cover financial services
2022-12-08 00:00:00
Exposed: Western banks funding Qatar’s carbon bombs
2022-12-08 00:00:00
Right-wing attack on sustainable finance is the latest form of climate denial
2022-12-14 11:08:26
HSBC announces it will no longer finance new oil and gas fields
2022-10-13 15:56:39
More major banks and insurers refuse to support EACOP
2022-09-16 10:38:48
European Parliament passes emergency resolution against human rights violations & environmental threats linked to EACOP
2022-06-27 09:49:16
Crédit Agricole takes first step to phase out from the oil and gas sector
Connect
2022-11-22 00:00:00
Banking on Thin Ice: Two years in the heat
2022-11-17 00:00:00
BankTrack Global Human Rights Benchmark 2022
2022-10-21 00:00:00
Burning forests in the name of clean energy? How banks are failing to exclude the harmful wood biomass industry from finance
2022-06-28 00:00:00
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP): Finance Risk Update No. 3
2022-04-05 00:00:00
The BankTrack Human Rights Benchmark Asia
2022-03-30 00:00:00
Banking on Climate Chaos 2022
See all publications
Browse
Home
Banks
Policies
Dodgy Deals
Campaigns
About
About BankTrack
Donate
Contact BankTrack
Publications
Victories
Follow Us
News
BankTrack blog
Facebook
Twitter Fossil Banks No Thanks Twitter Fossil Banks No Thanks Instagram
Affiliate Websites
Fossil Banks No Thanks
StopEACOP
Forests & Finance
Banks & Biodiversity
Drop JBS
Bank of Coal
Don't Buy into Occupation
Home › News
Give us back our land: Ugandan oil palm project taken to court over land-grab claims
Start
Banks
Dodgy Deals

By: Anne van Schaik and Frank Muramuzi
2015-02-19
Kampala/Brussels/London

Contact:

merel@banktrack.org


Share this page:

Go to:
Start
Related Banks
Related Dodgy Deals

Press release

Kampala/Brussels/London, February 19 - Farmers in Uganda evicted by oil palm plantations are  today presenting a lawsuit against a joint venture co-owned by oil palm giant Wilmar International. They are claiming restitution for their grabbed land and fair compensation for damages, three years after their land was taken for plantation development.
 
Friends of the Earth International is backing the communities' land grab case, filed after three years of dialogue with the government and the company which has failed to bring them justice.

John Muyiisa, one of the plaintiffs said, "When I lost that land, I did not only lose my livelihood, I also lost my pension and a secured income for my children and grandchildren. I did all I could to get the land back - I even went to the office of the President of Uganda. Now I am looking to the court to provide us with justice."

Frank Muramuzi, director of the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE)/Friends of the Earth Uganda said: "Wilmar and the other palm oil companies are aware of the fact that communities have been displaced but have to date not resolved the problems. This project was sold to the residents of Kalangala with promises of employment and a brighter future. But they were not fairly compensated for the loss of their livelihoods, and now without access to land face a daily struggle to get by."

The land grab occurred on the islands of Kalangala - situated in Lake Victoria, Uganda - in 2011, leaving at least one hundred small-scale farmers landless. Displaced smallholders received little compensation, if any.

The flagship oil palm project received initial seed money from the World Bank, which subsequently pulled out. Several governments also provide funding via the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
 
Wilmar International receives money from several European banks and financiers. In 2014 EU and US financiers had a total of €371 million worth of shares in the corporation, and €1.1 billion in loans outstanding to them.  In the Netherlands, ING held more than €26 million in shares; the British bank HSBC held €298 million in loans, while BNP Paribas and Dutch Rabobank held €189 million and €111 million respectively. Deutsche Bank held €4 million in shares and €12 million in outstanding loans .  Friends of the Earth groups in Europe and the US have regularly brought the case to the attention of Wilmar International and their European and US financiers .

Anne van Schaik, accountable finance campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe conducted a field visit in January 2015 to talk to John Muyiisa and other affected people, as well as to local leaders and government officials in Kalangala. Her experience made it abundantly clear there must be strong regulation to prevent European financiers supporting such damaging projects.

Despite voluntary environmental and social governance commitments from Wilmar International and its financiers, peoples' rights continue to be violated by their palm oil projects.

Anne van Schaik said: "This case clearly shows that we cannot expect companies and financiers to regulate themselves. We need strong rules for financiers in Europe to stop them from providing financial services to companies like Wilmar."

John Muyiisa and the other plaintiffs are now waiting for a hearing date in court in Masaka . If the judge sustains their complaint, over 100 farmers will receive compensation and the restitution of their land.

***
Notes:
 
The project is carried out by Oil Palm Uganda Limited (OPUL). OPUL is a subsidiary of Bidco Uganda, which holds 90% of its shares. Bidco Uganda is a joint venture formed between Wilmar International, Josovina Commodities and Bidco Oil Refineries, a Kenya-based company. Wilmar International holds at least 39% of the shares of the joint venture and is providing technical expertise for the project.
 
Additional financing for the project came from the Ugandan government and the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). IFAD provides loans and grants to approximately 119 national governments. The court case comes after various attempts by NAPE/Friends of the Earth Uganda to resolve the land conflict by bringing all stakeholders together and initiating a commission to investigate the problems and provide recommendations.
http://www.foeeurope.org/wilmar_clean_up_act_10022014
 
The broken promises of Wilmar and its financiers: http://www.foeeurope.org/broken-promises-wilmar-financiers-220514
 
Against the tide: tackling palm oil in Indonesia: http://www.foeeurope.org/wilmar-rowing-against-tide-090514
 
European banks fuel land grabs in Uganda http://www.foeeurope.org/euro-banks-fuel-land-grabs-uganda-210513
 

 

For further inquiries and interview requests, please contact:

Anne van Schaik, accountable finance campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe
Tel + 32 2 893 10 20, anne.vanschaik@foeeurope.org
 
Frank Muramuzi, Executive director NAPE/ Friends of the Earth Uganda
Tel:  +256 414 530 181, nape@nape.or.ug / napeuganda@yahoo.com

Go to:
Start
Related Banks
Related Dodgy Deals

Related banks

BNP Paribas France

active

Deutsche Bank Germany

active

HSBC United Kingdom

active

Rabobank Netherlands

active
Go to:
Start
Related Banks
Related Dodgy Deals

Related Dodgy Deals

Companies

There are no companies active for this item now.
on record

Wilmar International Singapore

Agriculture for Palm Oil
Browse
Home
Banks
Policies
Dodgy Deals
Campaigns
About
About BankTrack
Donate
Contact BankTrack
Publications
Victories
Follow Us
News
BankTrack blog
Facebook
Twitter Fossil Banks No Thanks Twitter Fossil Banks No Thanks Instagram
Affiliate Websites
Fossil Banks No Thanks
StopEACOP
Forests & Finance
Banks & Biodiversity
Drop JBS
Bank of Coal
Don't Buy into Occupation
Vismarkt 15
6511 VJ Nijmegen
The Netherlands

Tel: +31 24 324 9220
Contact@banktrack.org
©2016 BankTrack                Webdesign by BankTrack and EASYmind
BankTrack is a registered charity in the Netherlands (ANBI) - RSIN 813874658
Find our privacy policy here

Stay up to date

Sign up now for all BankTrack's news


Make a comment

Your comment will be reviewed, before being posted