The Management of Social Tensions and Community Grievances in the Albertine Region of Uganda

Abstract

The discovery of commercially viable oil deposits in the Albertine Graben in 2006 has negatively impacted local communities and consequently has led to numerous grievances (Holterman, 2014; NAPE, 2016; Ogwang, Vanclay and Van den Assem, 2018). The discovery of oil has also led to widespread tensions and social conflicts. Moreover, land and resource conflicts have morphed in Uganda, as the Government’s and private sector’s drive to exploit the country’s natural resource wealth often conflicts with its human rights obligations, with long-lasting consequences for surrounding communities and the environment (de Kock and Sturman, 2012; Van der Ploeg and Vanclay, 2017). Many communities in the mid-western region of Uganda have been negatively affected by Uganda’s emerging oil industry (Ogwang et al., 2018; Ogwang and Vanclay, 2019; Ogwang, Vanclay and Van den Assem, 2019; Olanya, 2015) and consequently many of them have lodged complaints with the central Government (Holterman, 2014; NAPE, 2016).