Nabbanja Says Elgon Families Are Getting Relocation Support, Not Compensation

What the report says

Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja has said the Shs18 million being offered to households in landslide-prone parts of the Mount Elgon region is meant as relocation support to help families move to safer places, not as compensation for land they leave behind. The clarification comes amid concern from leaders in the Bugisu sub-region about what the payments mean for ancestral land rights and whether families will be required to surrender ownership after relocating.

According to the Nile Post report, Nabbanja said the priority is to save lives by moving households from high-risk areas rather than compensating them for property. She said the ongoing verification exercise is intended to identify only those genuinely living in dangerous locations, and she questioned earlier figures that suggested about 13,900 households needed relocation. She also said some local leaders may have registered people in safer areas to access government money, while vulnerable families remained exposed.

The dispute has also touched on the size and fairness of the package. Budadiri East MP Julius Nakiyi has argued that a flat payment may not reflect differences in land, homes, coffee gardens and other investments, and has urged government to let families keep ownership of ancestral land after moving, with restrictions on resettling in dangerous zones. He says compensation for compulsory acquisition should be handled separately from relocation assistance.

The issue matters because the Office of the Prime Minister has indicated that vacated land may be integrated into Mount Elgon National Park through the Uganda Wildlife Authority, while MPs are seeking legal clarity on ownership, demolition of houses and the rights of affected families. The government has been resettling Mount Elgon communities for years, but land shortages have pushed it toward a cash-based approach in the current exercise.