A human rights based approach to oil resources management : reflecting on the right to property in Buliisa District

Abstract

Oil resources management in this context, refers to all interventions undertaken by the state to ensure that all stakeholders at the different stages of oil production are catered for. The dissertation examines the right to property specifically land and how the realisation of this right has been handled in the management of oil resources in Buliisa district. Using both the doctrinal and quantitative methods of legal study, Buliisa district in Uganda, is used as a case study to interrogate the concepts of oil resources management, the right to property and the human rights-based approach to oil resources management. The study finds that whereas land has been earmarked and set aside for the development of the oil and gas infrastructure, some of the owners of the land have not been compensated for their land. The study also found that some of the residents did not have information on their right to property and the fact that they should have been compensated for their land that was earmarked for the development of the oil and gas infrastructure. The few that have so far been compensated were not involved in the process of valuation of their property and therefore did not know how the compensation rates that they received were arrived at. At the outset, the study sought to investigate the land acquisition process for the oil and gas activities in Buliisa District. The study sought to answer three major issues, that is; the extent to which the land acquisition process in Buliisa District complied with the constitutional imperatives on the right to property under Article 26 of the constitution, the relevance of the Human Rights Based Approach in the management of the Oil resources in Buliisa District and the extent to which the current laws on oil exploration and production are consistent with Article 26 of the Constitution. The study was centred on the argument that the right to property should be protected and recognized in compensating land owners and those with interests in land that has been acquired for oil exploration and production activities in Buliisa. The author argued that the limitation clause in the constitution, Article 43, is not sufficient to depart from the obligation to provide fair and adequate compensation to the land owners in Buliisa. This obligation arising from Article 26(2) of the Constitution, which provides for the right to property, ought to be respected and protected. In the final analysis, it was recommended that the human rights-based approach to oil resources management should be pursued as a solution to dealing with land conflict in places such as Buliisa. Specifically that: i. The MEMD should come up with a policy framework for the management of natural resources which should specifically adopt the HRBA. ii. The MLHUD should establish a compensation framework taking into account the diverse interests in land in Uganda. The framework should adopt a HRBA. iii. Parliament should amend the PEDP Act to recognise the right to property. iv. Government should set up a land compensation fund to which companies undertaking oil activities in Uganda should make payment to guarantee compensation for interests in land that may be acquired for oil activities. v. MEMD should ensure that all oil exploration activities being undertaken on land whose owners were not appropriately compensated should be stayed. vi. Government should carry out public education campaigns to ensure that residents are trained on their right to property and the process through which compensation rates are arrived at.