Evicted residents of the oil fields in Buliisa are in tears after a renowned city advocate Robert Mukasa Lugalambi failed to pay their compensation from government for the second time, despite their fulfillment of the requirements he demanded.
In December 2010, Masindi High Court ordered government to compensate the 168 families from Bulisa that had been illegally evicted from their land.
Government complied with the court order and paid 2 million shillings to each of these people using the account of Lugalambi’s law firm; but the lawyers has never sent this money to the families.
After receiving this information, the affected people through their chairperson Grace Bamurangye Bororoza followed the matter and later on made an agreement with Counsel Lugalambi who agreed to pay them yesterday March 6th.
Bamurangye told Chimpreports that the lawyer had asked for an assortment of documents including national identity cards which some of the people did not possess.
He says these petitioned the Law Council which intervened and ordered Lugalambi to pay all the 168 people, which he promised to do.
“The lawyer also promised to pay us 8 million shillings as refund for our transport and time wasted. He paid us 5.8 million shillings and he said it was not part of the compensation paid to us by the government,” said Bamurangye.
Yesterday, 167 people marched to the High court premises in Kampala where they were supposed to receive their compensation.
But Lugalambi’s cashiers only paid 1 million shillings to 20 out of 167 people who had come with all the requirements; which sparked a scuffle.
The group leader Grace Bamurangye Bororoza shows her National ID
The cashiers denied payment to those who came with scanned copies of their national IDs as they had left the originals back home.
“All along Lugalambi has been using this trick to deny us our money; if traffic police can allow scanned driving permits what of scanned National Identity cards with all details. It seems they came with little money,” angry beneficiaries remarked.
In reply to this before their disappearance the people in charge of payments revealed that they had orders to to pay people with original National Ids for proper accountability purposes.
Flora Kobusingye, one of the beneficiaries, who was in tears said she has been borrowing money form a SACCO to meet transport costs.
“I lost my husband; I have children with whom I stay with at my Mother’s home. I am unemployed and my mother is disabled. I don’t know what to do next” Kobusingye revealed
These people later on camped at Central Police Station Kampala where they reported their concerns.
Efforts to reach out to Counsel Lugalambi for a comment were futile as he quickly fled the scene and switched off his numbers.