SGR compensation 10-year delay leaves Tororo families in limbo

At 4pm in Nyangole A, Tororo Municipality, Ms Binti Ogema is hurriedly collecting firewood to prepare a meal for her extended family.

The fireplace appears cold, with wet ash suggesting it has been unused for hours or even days, pointing to long gaps in cooking.

Ms Ogema, 55, a widow, was displaced by the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project in Kasoli Village, Tororo Municipality, in 2016.

Ms Ogema, who now cares for 20 people alongside her four children, told this publication she once owned a 12-room house in Kasoli used for accommodation and business before it was demolished for the SGR project, with a promise of compensation.

“I had a 12-room house, some for my family and two rented out for business,” Ms Ogema said.

She is among several project-affected persons displaced in Kasoli, Tororo Town, to pave way for the SGR construction.

She said they have received repeated promises of compensation for their land and houses, but the long wait has yielded nothing.

“We were first evaluated in 2016 by the Chief Government Valuer, who instructed us to open bank accounts, but to date we have not received the money,” Ms Ogema said.

As they continue to cling on hope 10 years after their displacement, some of Ms Ogema’s colleagues have died without receiving compensation, leaving behind several orphans.

Ms Ogema, known for her love for children, took over the care of 20 orphans after some project-affected persons passed away.

“I took over these children about five years ago after their parents died. We were neighbours in Kasoli before the demolition,” Ms Ogema explained.

She lives in two rooms one rented at Shs30,000 per month and another mud-and-wattle structure provided by a landlord to shelter the children she cares for.

She wakes up daily to do odd jobs in people’s farms to earn money for food and to save for rent.

“Each day I go to people’s homes looking for garden work to raise money for food for the children and save some for rent,” Ms Ogema said.

Her household rarely eats two meals a day. A two-year-old stunted child we found holding an empty saucepan, searching for leftover food when this reporter visited her home, illustrates the daily misery of families displaced by the SGR project.

Ms Ogema said the family survives on one meal a day, usually posho and beans, and on worst days only a cup of tea.

She had planned to buy a piece of land, construct a house and start business using the compensation money. All these plans were quashed by the stalled compensation.

Mr Buruhani Matanda, 21, one of the people under her care, says he has lived with her since 2020 after losing his parents.

He said their main challenges are food shortage and congestion as they all share a single room.

“The old woman wakes up every day to work and raise money for food,” he said, adding that he remains grateful despite dropping out of school after Senior Four due to lack of fees.

Ms Ogema is among 59 landlords in Kasoli whose land and homes were displaced to pave way for the SGR project.

The SGR project aims to build a fast railway network to cut transport costs between Mombasa in Kenya and Kampala.

The initial phase covers a 292km line from the Malaba border to Namanve in Kampala.

On March 26, 2026, President Museveni and his Kenyan counterpart William Samoei Ruto commissioned the SGR Kisumu-Malaba line.

Mr Museveni’s government has been touting the project, arguing that it will reduce trade costs within the East African Community once completed.

Transporting goods by truck from Mombasa to Uganda currently costly but is expected to drop to after completion of the SGR, while delivery time is expected to reduce from nearly a week to about one day.

At Kasoli village, where the victims gathered for a scheduled meeting on April 30 with Lands State Minister Sam Mayanja, frustration was written all over their faces over the lack of compensation.

Unfortunately, the minister did not turn up for the scheduled meeting.

Former Uganda's High Commissioner to Kenya Phibby Otala, who is one of the affected persons, told this publication that as they wait for compensation, the 59 project-affected persons learnt that top SGR officials have been telling the President that all affected persons along the SGR corridor from Malaba to Namanve were compensated.

“It appears money was released and some unscrupulous officials in SGR misappropriated our compensation. That is why they are now peddling lies that compensation has been done,” Mr Otala said.

Correspondences from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms Suzan Okalanyi, to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works and Transport dated May 7, 2025, a copy of which was seen by this publication, directs that action be taken to address the concerns of the 59 PAPs.

In response, Waiswa Bageya, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works and Transport, wrote back on August 5, 2025, stating that the authenticated report prepared in January 2022 was based on assumptions and had never been approved by the Chief Government Valuer.

Ms Klen Aswa Onyango, a widow, wonders why they have been given empty promises for so long and doubts whether the 2016 valuation report by the government valuer, which awarded Shs632 million in compensation for this category of PAPs, would still stand, given that land values continue to appreciate each passing day.

“We keep wondering why officials working with a top government entity would continue telling lies and making empty promises for 10 years about compensation,’’ Ms Onyango said.

A petition by the project-affected persons was presented on the floor of Parliament by Tororo Woman MP Sarah Opendi in 2022 and forwarded to the Committee on Physical Infrastructure, but no conclusion has been reached.

A parliamentary committee report directed the Third Deputy Prime Minister, who represented the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Robinah Nabanja, to engage the Ministry of Works and Transport, the SGR project officials, and the Ministry of Finance to resolve the land matter, which is considered critical for the SGR project.

The Speaker of Parliament at the time directed the Chairperson of the Infrastructure Committee, Mr David Karubanga, to follow up the settlement issue to ensure the land meant for the Standard Gauge Railway project is secured.

According to the Chief Government Valuer’s report, the total value of the project was Shs 8,638,674,421, broken down as follows;

Mortgaged land measuring 9.318 acres was valued at Shs 3.27 billion, compensation for 92 houses and a project office at Shs 3.77 billion, 90 structures in the existing Kasoli slum at Shs 817 million, and seven freehold offers from the pool housing committee at Shs 143 million.

Mr Moses Wangofu, one of the affected persons, said they have genuine claims for compensation and wonders why they have not been paid despite being valued by the Chief Government Valuer and instructed to open bank accounts to receive the money.

“We were told to open bank accounts with the promise that our compensation would be paid, but this has never happened,” Mr Wangofu said.

Mr Wangofu said the frustration of empty promises and the pressure of pursuing compensation have led several members to develop health complications, including diabetes and high blood pressure.

“Eight PAPs have developed health complications and passed on in the last four years without receiving their compensation,” Mr Wangofu said.

Mr Wangofu named some of the deceased project-affected persons as Muhamad Abele, Peter Seswa, Siranga, Michael Ogema, Peter Ogema, Wamanyala, Ali Masobo, and Teopister Kakai.

Mr Hassan Waiswa said that whereas they want the construction to take off, they will only allow the project to proceed if they are paid the compensation due to them.

“In 2024, when President Museveni came for the groundbreaking ceremony for the SGR in Kasoli, we wanted to raise our concerns, but we were stopped by the Resident District Commissioner’s office and SGR officials,” Mr Waiswa said.

He said the officials told them not to protest, saying it would embarrass the President, and promised that their money would be paid within two days, a pledge that has never been fulfilled to date.

On November 13, 2024, Project Coordinator SGR, Canon Engineer Perez Wamburu wrote, noting that a committee had been formed and was following up the matter, and promised that the compensation issue for the 59 claimants would be resolved.

Mr John Okeya, the Tororo District LC5 Chairman, said the compensation claims by the 59 house owners were genuine and needed to be settled.

“These categories of claimants had their houses demolished, and we feel they must be paid their compensation,” Mr Okeya said.

Mr Okeya said the delay might have been caused by lack of authenticated lists of this category of project affected persons at the time the SGR was carrying out compensation.

“These categories of claimants had houses which were demolished, and we feel they must be paid their compensation,” Mr Okeya said.

He added that the delay could have been caused by the lack of authenticated lists of project-affected persons at the time the SGR compensation process was undertaken.