Dutch polish tax image, to 'update' treaties with 23 poor countries

DutchNews.nl, Saturday 31 August 2013

(ANP)

The Netherlands is to update its tax treaties with 23 poor countries to include provisions to stop the system being abused, foreign trade minister Lilian Ploumen and junior tax minister Frans Weekers announced on Friday.

The move follows several reports showing that developing countries are missing out of millions of euros in tax income because of tax avoidance treaties with the Netherlands.

For example, a report in June by multinational research institute Sono said ‘28 [poor] countries together lose €771m on dividend and interest tax income alone every year,’ because of Dutch tax treaties.

The Netherlands has tax treaties with 90 countries. 'By making use of loopholes in tax treaties... companies can avoid paying tax,' the ministerial briefing said. 'This means poor countries miss out on tax revenue, funds they clearly need to pay for instrastructure and education.'

Worldwide

Weekers said the Netherlands alone cannot stop this happening and the issue needs to be tackled at a global level, following consultations with the OECD, G20 and EU.

In particular, the Netherlands plans to renegotiate a treaty with Zambia, which dates from 1977 and is 'outdated', the briefing said.

The most significant measure planned by the cabinet is to ensure letter box companies are more substantive and transparent, the Financieele Dagblad said.

They will need to have their own assets, a bank account, an accountant and the majority of the management board should live in the Netherlands. The company must also carry out actual economic activity.

The cabinet hopes these measures will head off criticism about shell companies locating in the Netherlands purely to take advantage of tax treaties.

Press release (English)

Earlier stories

• The Netherlands is not a tax haven, says minister
• Dutch tax treaties cost developing lands €700m, but earn us €3bn
• Tax office raises Portuguese energy firm's Dutch tax bill after protests
• OECD adds fuel to debate over NL as a tax haven
• MPs call for action on tax havens, plan should be ready by the summer
• Shell and state bank ABN Amro are masters at tax avoidance
• Research into letterbox companies is biased, say critics
• Multinationals and French state companies use Dutch tax deals
• Tax deals for letter box firms under fire, MPs demand change
• Starbucks under fire in Britain over Dutch tax deal
• EU wants an end to letterbox companies
• Letterbox companies largely exempt from tougher rules
• The Netherlands is a popular tax haven for FTSE 100 firms
• Holland no longer a US tax haven
• More tax levied over tax haven income

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Swiss and French police raid offices linked to billionaire Steinmetz

The Guardian understands the raids were requested by the US department of justice, which has been investigating Steinmetz's Simandou mining deal

The Guardian, Ian Cobain, Thursday 29 August 2013

BSGR's acquisition of mining concessions in Guinea, where millions live
 in poverty, caused widespread anger. Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/
 Getty Images

Police in Switzerland and France carried out a number of co-ordinated raids on properties linked to one of the world's richest men as part of a global investigation into allegations of corruption surrounding a multibillion dollar mining deal.

Officers in Geneva raided the offices of a firm that provides management services for BSGR, a company controlled by Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz, while in France police raided the home of a director of the management services firm. Up to 20 police raided the offices of Onyx Financial Advisors, according to a security guard quoted by Reuters, and took away a number of documents. The Guardian understands that the raids were mounted at the request of the US department of justice, which has spent more than six months investigating BSGR's acquisition of lucrative mining concessions in the former French colony of Guinea.

Steinmetz, 57, secured the rights to extract half the ore at Simandou after investing $165m in exploration, and then sold half his stake to a Brazilian mining corporation for $2.5bn.

In a country where millions of people live in desperate poverty, without running water, electricity or a functioning infrastructure – while sitting on some of the richest mineral deposits in the world, it was a deal that caused widespread anger and resentment.

Shortly after FBI agents began investigating the circumstances surrounding the Simandou deal to establish whether there had been any breach of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and anti money-laundering laws, an associate of Steinmetz was arrested in Florida.

The FBI had covertly recorded a series of meetings during which the man had allegedly attempted to secure the destruction of documents detailing the way in which the iron ore concession was acquired. He has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and is due to stand trial later in the year. He denies any wrongdoing.

Following the raids in Switzerland and France a spokesman for Onyx said: "Onyx has absolutely nothing to hide. We are co-operating fully with the authorities but are unable to comment further at this time."

The company's chief executive, Dag Cramer, added that the firm had "provided the Swiss authorities with information".

Steinmetz and BSGR deny any wrongdoing over the Simandou deal and say they are the victims of a smear campaign that is being led by the current president of Guinea, Alpha Condé, in an attempt to divert attention from his domestic political problems. Condé, who denies this, is conducting a parallel investigation to that being conducted by the FBI, examining a number of mining deals struck by past governments.

Last month the Guardian reported that Steinmetz was under investigation by the FBI as part of its corruption probe. While researching that article questions put to Steinmetz's spokesman Ian Middleton at the London PR firm Powerscourt twice resulted in threats of libel action from his lawyers at Mishcon de Reya.

Earlier this month Powerscourt also attempted to play down connections between Steinmetz's firm BSGR and Onyx, saying they were "separate and fully independent" of each other. Onyx was originally incorporated as BSG Management Services; the two firms share a number of directors as well as offices in London's Mayfair; and BSGR's website offers Onyx as a point of contact for anyone wishing to invest in BSGR.

Asked whether BSGR and Steinmetz had any comment on the raids in Switzerland and France, Middleton replied: "No they don't."

UN team takes samples from Syria 'chemical victims'

Google – AFP, 28 August 2013

UN chemical arms investigators wait to leave a hotel in Damascus

on August 28, 2013 (AFP)

DAMASCUS — UN experts visited the site Wednesday of a second alleged chemical attack near Syria's capital, and took blood, urine and hair samples from reported victims, an AFP photographer said.

Rebels who control the area said they had travelled in a six-vehicle convoy to the outlying Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, one of the areas hit in the suspected August 21 attacks.

They visited the site, northeast of the capital, under the protection of rebel fighters, said the Syrian Revolution General Commission activist group.

"We took blood, urine and hair samples" from people in a field hospital in Eastern Ghouta, one of the inspectors said.

Asked if they had done the same with those who died in the incident, the inspector said that was not necessary.

"The test (for the presence of chemical agents) can show positive even after weeks," he said.

The inspectors resumed their mission on Wednesday, a day after postponing it for security reasons.

On Monday, they had braved sniper fire when they initially tried to enter Eastern Ghouta, with bullets hitting the tyres and front window of the lead vehicle, the United Nations said.

Later that day, they managed to enter Moadamiyet al-Sham, southwest of Damascus, to collect evidence of the other main area allegedly hit by chemical weapons on August 21.

The 13 UN inspectors, seven interpreters and backup staff arrived in Syria on August 18 to start an investigation into whether chemical weapons have been used in the 29-month old conflict that has left more than 100,000 dead.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday they needed four days to conclude their probe.

The team's findings would then be analysed and the result sent to the UN Security Council for "any action they would deem to take."

UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said Ban was referring to a total of four working days, suggesting the inspectors needed at least until Friday to complete their mission.

Ban's comments came as the United States and its allies were building their case for military action against the Syrian regime over the alleged chemical weapons attacks.

Opponents of President Bashar al-Assad's regime say more than 1,300 people, including children, died when his forces unleashed toxic gases on Eastern Ghouta and Moadamiyet al-Sham.

The regime strongly denies the claim and has blamed rebels.

One senior official even said they were put up to it by Britain, France and the United States to justify Western military intervention in the 29-month civil war.

Complex interplay of religious movements within the context of

the crisis in Syria

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UN turns up the heat in the Congo

Deutsche Welle, 28 August 2013

In a bid to improve its image in eastern Congo, the UN is for the first time fighting alongside the Congolese army against M23 rebels. However, MONUSCO's new strategy has reportedly cost the lives of two civilians.

"I was shocked by what I saw. Body parts including arms and legs were scattered everywhere." That's how Isaac Warwanamiza described what had happened near Goma, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Warwanamiza is a doctor working in the region. He says at least 82 people were killed during last weekend's (24/25.08.2013) fierce clashes involving the M23 rebel movement and the Congolese army.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
visited Goma in May

For the first time, the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUSCO) fought on a massive scale alongside the Congolese soldiers. Around 720 government soldiers are said to lie injured in Goma hospitals.

The battle was not only the most violent in months, but it was also a turning point for the UN peace mission which has been in the DRC for years. Previously, the UN never actively intervened in the conflict. This inaction led to discontent among the population. "We had completely lost faith in the UN mission," says Mustafa Mwiti, coordinator of NGOs in eastern Congo.

New force with a new mandate

But now there is a special UN combat brigade in Goma with a mandate to use military action against the rebels. That, says Mwiti, has raised hopes in many people that the unrest could soon end.

The recent escalation was initially a great disappointment for most Goma residents. Fighting began with attacks by the M23 rebels on army checkpoints outside of Goma. Civilians were later injured when hand grenades were thrown at them.

M23 rebels have previously threatened to take over Kinshasa

According to eye witnesses, amongst the victims were two children aged three and six.

It was not the first time that the rebels had attacked unarmed residents as well as the Congolese army and UN soldiers. In 2012, in full view of UN peacekeepers, the M23 rebel movement briefly seized control of Goma city with its one million inhabitants. This time, however, the blue helmets refused to be seen as useless spectator and responded by firing M23 positions with helicopter gunships.

Winning Goma's trust

MONUSCO's chief Martin Kobler told his soldiers at the weekend "to take necessary measures" to protect the population.

Congo's conflict has displaced at least
2.2 million people according to the UN

Kobler, a German diplomat who took over the leadership of MONUSCO just a few weeks ago, told DW in an interview that the UN would respond with all its might and force against further attacks by the rebels.

The attempt by MONUSCO to win the trust of the population by using military action did not go as planned.

As in the past, demonstrators again took to the streets to protest against the UN mission. They criticized the UN soldiers, saying the rebel attacks on the population could have prevented. As an angry mob tried to storm the UN camp in Goma, peacekeepers from Uruguay allegedly opened fire with live ammunition. Two demonstrators died. Kobler says his organization, together with the Congolese police, has launched an independent investigation into the deaths.

Accusations and counter-accusations

Many local and foreign observers suspect neighboring Rwanda is the mastermind behind the rebellion in eastern Congo. The North Kivu region is rich in mineral resources and anyone who controls the capital of Goma is assured of huge financial returns.

The M23 rebel outfit, which started a rebellion last year, is regarded as an ally of Rwanda.

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame
 has been criticized by human rights
organizations

Local residents report that the first grenade attacks on civilians, in last week's clashes, came directly from Rwanda. "We saw and heard the direction from which they came," an eyewitness said. The 1 kilometer (0.62 mile) border between the states runs right at the edge of Goma city.

Rwanda, however, has always denied interfering in the conflict in eastern Congo or providing any support to the M23 rebels. Instead, they accuse DRC of provocation. Rwandan army spokesman Joseph Nzabamwita recently accused the Congolese army of deliberately firing a rocket across the border.

Dogs ease Namibia's cheetah-farmer conflicts

Google – AFP, Justine Gerardy (AFP) 27 August 2013

An Anatolian Shepherd dog guards a herd of goats at the Cheetah

Conservation Fund center in Otjiwarongo, Namibia (AFP, Jennifer Bruce)

GOBABIS, Namibia / Omaheke Region — Winding through the parched Namibian farmland, Bonzo, an Anatolian shepherd dog, has a singular focus: protecting his herd of goats from lurking predators.

He pads along, sniffing the air and marking the scrubby landscape, just like a bodyguard ready to ward off any threat to his charges, which he considers family.

"They're not pets. They're not allowed to be pets," said Bonzo's owner farmer Retha Joubert.

The breed descends from ancient livestock dogs used thousands of years ago in what is now central Turkey. And they not only save sheep and goats, but have handed a lifeline to Namibia's decimated cheetah numbers by reducing conflicts between farmers and predators.

A cheetah lies at The Cheetah Conservation

 Fund center in Otjiwarongo, Namibia,

on August 13, 2013 (AFP, Jennifer Bruce)

"The dogs are protecting the flock in such a way that the farmers don't have to kill predators," said Laurie Marker of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) which breeds the dogs near northern city Otjiwarongo.

"It's a non-lethal predator control method so it is green, it's happy, it's win-win."

The concept is simple.

The dogs are placed with a flock when a few weeks old to bond with the livestock. They live permanently with the animals, loyally heading out with them every day to deter hunters, and bedding down with them at night.

Marker's centre started breeding the livestock dogs to promote cheetah-friendly farming after some 10,000 big cats -- the current total worldwide population -- were killed or moved off farms in the 1980s.

Up to 1,000 cheetahs were being killed a year, mostly by farmers who saw them as livestock killers.

But the use of dogs has slashed losses for sheep and goat farmers and led to less retaliation against the vulnerable cheetah.

"We see about 80 to 100 percent decrease of livestock loss from any predator when the farmers have the dogs," said Marker.

In the last 19 years, around 450 dogs have been placed with farmers and more than 3,000 farmers trained.

There is now a two-year waiting list for the dogs -- either stately Anatolian shepherds or Kangals -- and the programme has expanded to other countries with predators.

For Joubert, staying up late at night worrying about her sheep and goats coming home is a thing of the past.

Her farm near Gobabis, east of the capital Windhoek, lost 60 animals in 2008.

An Anatolian Shepherd dog and two goats

sit at The Cheetah Conservation Fund in 

Otjiwarongo, Namibia, August 13, 2013

(AFP, Jennifer Bruce)

But the arrival of Bonzo, her first Anatolian, as a puppy five years ago has slashed losses to just one animal last year.

Joubert is now training four-month-old Kangal !Nussie -- whose name starts with the exclamation point typical of Namibia's Nama people -- to follow in Bonzo's footsteps.

The fluffy-coated pup is learning the ropes by going out with a flock every day on a leash with a human herder and beds down in the animal enclosure at night. She gets half an hour in the evening to play in the yard.

"She must associate herself with the goats, she must be a goat, she's part of a group, that's the main thing I think to make them to protect the animals," said Joubert, who is deeply proud of her dogs.

The dogs' presence and intimidating bark is usually enough to deter predators, who would rather opt for prey that does not have a guardian.

But they will attack if a hunter does not back off.

Bonzo for example, has killed jackals, who attack in packs and a young, weak cheetah.

"If indeed they do come in, the dog could and would fight to the finish," said Marker.

Altercations between the dogs and cheetahs, though, are rare and those who target livestock are usually desperate, such as being wounded.

But working in Namibia's tough landscape takes its toll.

Bonzo has been bitten by snakes, stung by a scorpion, attacked by baboons and now has tongue cancer from exposure to the relentless sun.

Ironically, despite cheetahs being seen as livestock killers, analysis of their droppings has shown only five percent had preyed on farm animals.

Anatolian Shepherd dog Bonzo leads 

goats on a farm near near Gobabis, east 

of the capital Windhoek, on August 15,

2013 (AFP, Jennifer Bruce)

"They do occasionally take livestock," said Gail Potgieter, a human-wildlife conflict specialist at the Namibia Nature Foundation.

"But the perception that any cheetah is going to start killing livestock as its main diet is very wrong."

Cheetah numbers hit a low of 2,500 in 1986. But the population has now potentially reached nearly 4,000 -- the biggest wild cheetah population in the world.

Cheetahs still face threats on game ranches, where they eat valuable animals, and on cattle farms where the dogs are not suited.

But for small stock farmers, they have proven their worth.

"For the type of livestock farming that's going on in Namibia, it's definitely one of the most promising solutions that they have," said Potgieter, who used to manage the CCF's dog programme.

In Gobabis, Joubert, needs no convincing.

"I will always have dogs here," she said.

Liberia students all fail university admission exam

BBC News, 26 August 2013

Liberia education system is said to be in a "mess"

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Liberia's education minister says she finds it hard to believe that not a single candidate passed this year's university admission exam.

Nearly 25,000 school-leavers failed the test for admission to the University of Liberia, one of two state-run universities.

The students lacked enthusiasm and did not have a basic grasp of English, a university official told the BBC.

Liberia is recovering from a brutal civil war that ended a decade ago.

'Dreams shattered'

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel peace laureate, recently acknowledged that the education system was still "in a mess", and much needed to be done to improve it.

Many schools lack basic education material and teachers are poorly qualified, reports the BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh from the capital, Monrovia.

However, this is the first time that every single student who wrote the exam for a fee of $25 (£16) has failed, our reporter says.

It means that the overcrowded university will not have any new first-year students when it reopens next month for the academic year.

Students told him the result was unbelievable and their dreams had been shattered, our reporter adds.

Education Minister Etmonia David-Tarpeh told the BBC Focus on Africa programme that she intended to meet university officials to discuss the failure rate.

"I know there are a lot of weaknesses in the schools but for a whole group of people to take exams and every single one of them to fail, I have my doubts about that," Ms David-Tarpeh said. "It's like mass murder."

Ms David-Tarpeh said she knew some of the students and the schools they attended.

"These are not just schools that will give people grades. I'd really like to see the results of the students," she added.

University spokesman Momodu Getaweh told Focus on Africa that the university stood by its decision, and it would not be swayed by "emotion".

"In English, the mechanics of the language, they didn't know anything about it. So the government has to do something," he said.

"The war has ended 10 years ago now. We have to put that behind us and become realistic."

Zimbabwe plans 'Disneyland in Africa'

Tourism minister outlines scheme to build $300m entertainment complex, with banks and casinos, near Victoria Falls

The Guardian, David Smith, Africa correspondent, Monday 26 August 2013

Victoria Falls: tourism in Zimbabwe was devastated by a decade of conflict
and hyperinflation but has recovered in recent years. Photograph:
Patrick Ward/Corbis

The formula has worked in California, Florida and Paris. Now officials in Zimbabwe, eager to rebrand a country notorious for economic collapse and political violence, want to build a "Disneyland in Africa".

Walter Mzembi, the tourism and hospitality minister, told New Ziana, the official news agency, that the government was planning a $300m (£193m) theme park near Victoria Falls, the country's top tourist attraction.

Mzembi was quoted as saying the resort would be a "Disneyland in Africa", although he did not appear to suggest that the statue of explorer David Livingstone, which overlooks the falls, would be supplanted by a jobbing actor in a Mickey Mouse costume.

Instead, he outlined plans for shopping malls, banks and exhibition and entertainment facilities such as casinos. "We have reserved 1,200 hectares of land closer to Victoria Falls international airport to do hotels and convention centres," Mzembi told New Ziana on the sidelines of the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly , which Victoria Falls is co-hosting with the town of Livingstone in neighbouring Zambia.

Mzembi said the project would cost about $300m.

"We want to create a free zone with a banking centre where even people who do not necessarily live in Zimbabwe can open bank accounts," he said.

The government has plans to invest $150m in expanding the town's airport to accommodate bigger aircraft, according to the report from Ziana. Mzembi said the government had found funding partners including multilateral financial institutions.

Visitors travel from across the world to see Victoria Falls where water plummets more than 100 metres into the Zambezi gorge, generating mists of spray so high they can be seen up to 30 miles away. A bridge linking Zimbabwe and Zambia offers bungee jumping but made headlines for the wrong reasons last year when an Australian tourist narrowly survived her cord snapping.

The nearby town offers few reasons to linger or spend money, however, despite the launch last month of an open-top bus tour in an attempt to drum up interest. Mzembi hopes to appeal to a younger market.

Zimbabwe's considerable tourism potential was devastated by a decade of conflict and hyperinflation but has recovered in recent years. The government says it recorded a 17% increase in tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2013, up 346,299 to 404,282. It has predicted the tourism sector will contribute 15% to GDP by 2015 if the country remains stable.

Following a mostly peaceful, though bitterly disputed, election last month, Zimbabwe's co-hosting of the UNWTO conference this week is seen as another milestone towards that stability. But the decision to award the conference to Zimbabwe as a co-host was condemned by the independent UN Watch human rights group as a "disgraceful show of support – and a terribly timed award of false legitimacy – for a brutal, corrupt and authoritarian regime.

Hillel Neuer, head of the Geneva-based group, added: "Amid reports of election rigging and continuing human rights abuses, Zimbabwe is the last country that should be legitimised by a UN summit of any kind. The notion that the UN should spin this country as a lovely tourist destination is, frankly, sickening."

President Robert Mugabe's associated status as UN "leader for tourism" has also been questioned by critics of his 33-year rule.

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Archangel Michael: Prepare for the Celebration – August 21, 2013 (An Hour with an Angel, with Archangel Michael)

“… SB:  All right, Lord. Thank you for that. Let’s turn to the area of government, world governance. We just saw Robert Mugabe get elected to Zimbabwe again. And I know that readers have written me and said how disappointed they were. Can you talk to us about the progress that’s being made in the area of cleaning up world government, please?

AAM:  I will tell you this. There is phenomenal — and I use that word in the true sense of the word — phenomenal progress being made on the forefront of changing — what you call cleaning up — world government, government in general.

This is happening, a great deal is happening, on the unseen level. And what do I mean by that? It is exactly the same as what I’ve been speaking to each of you, my beloved friends, about in terms of finding your heart, your balance, your worth and eradicating doubt.

Do you not think that every leader — and we use the term not simply to represent the official leader of a government, of a nation, but the leadership in terms of the collective — they are being worked on, some in containment, some not?

Some are already very clearly having what you would think of as a change of heart, an awakening. The face of leadership is changing, period. And what you think of as leadership is going to shift back to the collective, to the people.

And that is true not only in what you think of as, oh, very violent, controlling, subversive, suppressive, dictatorial, whether it is declared as such or not, situations. It is also going to shift in what you’ve thought of as perhaps more liberal or open societies. Because even in what you think of as the open, clear, democratic nations, the cadre of the inner circle and the back-door politics have to shift.

So is the angelic realm and the masters, particularly Sanat Kumara, working overtime? Yes. But it is changing one heart at a time.

And you say, “How are we going to do this?” Each of you, at different times in your life, has experienced a change of heart. And there have been the changes of heart that have taken a long time, in your view, perhaps years or even a decade, but each of you has also experienced a change of heart because your perspective, the lens of your consciousness perceives differently, has informed your heart and allowed your heart to see the truth. And your change of heart happened in a moment, in a millisecond, in a heartbeat.

So don’t think in terms of shift of leadership that we’re talking decades. Don’t forget, Gaia is anchored in the fifth. Do you really think — aside from anything we would do — do you think that Gaia or your star brothers and sisters, all of whom are existing in a higher dimensional reality, can or will tolerate government that is not based on love, on fairness, on serving the people, not taking from the people? They will not.

So you’re talking rapid change. You’re asking timelines. Next year when we speak on this very program — so let us mark the day — your world and government will look very different. …”

Claims of illegal eviction in Uganda haunt German firm

Deutsche Welle, 26 August 2013

In 2001, more than 4,000 people were evicted from land in Uganda after it had been acquired by a German coffee firm on a 99 year lease. The company insists the deal was above board, but an NGO is now raising doubts.

Many of the residents from Kyengeza village in Mubende district have always insisted that they were forcefully driven off from their land, which lies approximately 170 kilometers (106 miles) from Uganda's capital Kampala.

Margaret Nakiyingi, 29, is one of the evictees. She now lives in a small wooden house located close to Kaweri coffee plantation. Kaweri is a subsidiary of Neumann Gruppe based in Germany.

After the eviction came despair

Margaret's estranged husband works at the Kaweri coffee farm where he earns $1.5 (1.12 euros) a day. Margaret, who has four children, does not have a regular income but still has to find $15 a month for rent for the tiny house, an enormous amount of money by her standards.

“We don't have a life to enjoy. We move like human beings but deep down in our hearts we are not living a good life", she told DW correspondent Leylah Ndinda.

This is because she has serious financial problems. “We are now suffering because we are in rented houses and have no land to cultivate. Some of our colleagues acquired land away from the coffee farm,” Margaret said.

"Water is challenge. The coffee farm managers constructed a water tap for us but we do not get water all the time, “ Margaret said.

Neumann says it provides fresh drinking water free of charge to two villages

“Another problem is firewood. They kicked us out from our land, but when we go to the coffee farm to collect firewood they beat us up,” she complained, saying they don't have an alternative source of firewood.

The majority of the people living in Kyengeza village were evicted from their farms with a promise from the government that they would be compensated. Twelve years later John Bosco Senginiya, a casual laborer on one of the privately owned farms, said they were subjected to physical abuse during the eviction.

"I didn't even get 100 Uganda shillings, but they paid us with a beating,” he added.

When asked by DW if they knew how much compensation they were entitled to, many residents were unsure with one admitting that "did not know the compensation rate".

Compensation

Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, (NKG in Uganda), the German coffee company behind the controversy, insists that it leased the land in good faith from the Ugandan government.

The firm claims the Ugandan government compensated 166 families.

Residents say they now find it hard to
put a meal on the table

According to Neumann, which operates in 28 countries worldwide, only 25 families in Mubende district refused to move and they were then driven off the land by the Ugandan government.

In a document posted on their website, Neumann Company has denied any allegations of land grabbing or carrying out illegal evictions.

After 12 years, this dispute over land in Uganda has resurfaced in Germany.

FIAN international, an NGO that campaigns for people's right to food, started a campaign to protest against what it calls "brutal evictions". It is also demanding adequate restitution for those who lost their land.

The protests led Germany's Development Minister Dirk Niebel to write a letter to FIAN asking them to cease their activities. The minister warned that such accusations could have far reaching consequences for Uganda's coffee industry. "It is a known fact that since last year some coffee traders in Germany have started to boycott Ugandan coffee," Niebel told the German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.

Related Article:

UN Agency Adopts Global Guidelines Against 'Land Grabbing’