Comments on: Uganda: Thousands of Indigenous People evicted from FSC-certified Mount Elgon National Park

By: Thomas Muyunga, ceo, MOST AT RISK POPULATIONS' SOCIETY IN UGANDA

Thomas Muyunga, ceo, MOST AT RISK POPULATIONS' SOCIETY IN UGANDA — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 08:35:26 +0000

INDIGENOUS MEN-WHO-HAVE-SEX-WITH-MEN (MARPs) AMONG BENET AND NDOROBO OF MOUNTAIN ELGON, MBALE, UGANDA
The Human Rights and Human face of things
Keziah and Mukose (not real names) are light skinned, 22 and 24 year old, lean, transgendered male sex-workers and are mobilisers (under build better communities) from the Benet and Ndorobo indigenous tribes of Uganda. They were formerly in school but stopped because they could not afford fees. They trace their woes back to around January- February 2008, when the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Uganda People’s Defense Forces evicted more than 4,000 people from the Benet and Ndorobo communities living in Mount Elgon National Park in East Uganda. People’s houses and crops were destroyed, cattle were confiscated and the people were left homeless. They have struggled to look for shelter, school fees and subsistence. MARPS IN UGANDA has worked with 72 Benets and 125 Ndorobo MSM (aged 18-42 years) since 2010. 27 Benet are 18-22 years; 22 Benet are 23-32 years; 23 Benet are 33+ years. 100 Ndorobo are 18-22 years; 25 are 23-32 years. In working with them the following have been their frequently demanded needs:
1. Enforcement of court ruling that re-instated the Benet as having a legal right to live in Mount Elgon National Park. In October 2005, the Ugandan High Court in Mbale ruled that the Benet were the “historical and indigenous inhabitants” of parts of Mount Elgon National Park. The ruling stated that the Benet should be allowed to “carry out agricultural activities” in the areas to which they have historical claim.
2. Providing scholarship for post secondary education. Because of lack of money, they engage in male sex-work and 23 were treated for STIs between January 2010-June 2011.
3. They shared cases of intimidation, gang-rape, exposure to unprotected receptive anal sexual intercourse.
4. They demanded for condoms and lubricant gels.
5. Need to belong to an empowering organisation to reach out to their communities.
WHAT MARPS IN UGANDA CAN DO ABOUT IT:
1. Seek funding to continue with generating reports about indigenous MSM in Uganda.
2. Provide support in form of a refuge transitory home.
3. Provide lubricants, condoms and an HIV awareness seminar.
4. Link the Benet and Ndorobo to poverty alleviation programmes through engaging them in participatory learning/planning sessions and eventually come up with a winning proposal which can then be used to solicit for funding.
5. Establish MARPS IN UGANDA as a lead organisation on MARPs issues and bring out the broader issues fuelling MARPs issues.
6. Provide a platform to address MARPs issues beyond HIV into HUMAN RIGHTS and DEVELOPMENT.

By: Thomas Muyunga, ceo, MOST AT RISK POPULATIONS' SOCIETY IN UGANDA

Thomas Muyunga, ceo, MOST AT RISK POPULATIONS' SOCIETY IN UGANDA — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 07:49:56 +0000

We are MOST AT RISK POPULATIONS’ SOCIETY IN UGANDA and have provided organisation development trainings to indigenous community leaders to enable them mobilise themselves for self determination in order to be cohesive and have hegemony when advocating for rights and a place in Uganda. We have also worked with them to promote good health seeking behaviour and stem the ravages of HIV. In the process we also came across indigenous Men-who-have-sex-with-men (Indigenous MSM). We want to do more with these communities and we realise we have to start with violence, abuse, discrimination and stigma (VADS) perceptions of leaders and other stakeholders. So, we are drawing plans to engage in anti-VADS campaigns. Support our cause please.

By: Plantations, poverty and power: Section 3 « chrislang.org

Plantations, poverty and power: Section 3 « chrislang.org — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:51:05 +0000

[...] [...]

By: Indigenous peoples researcher

Indigenous peoples researcher — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:38:44 +0000

I think many people in the West fail to realize that many of the conservation efforts we are so proud of actually often end up displacing indigenous peoples. Coupled with legal injustices and actions by political parties, the indigenous peoples that live in and around these conservation areas really struggle. Thank you for providing information on what is going on in Uganda. Hopefully something positive will come out of SGS Qualifor’s upcoming inspection.