RECONSTITUTING THE ROLE OF LAW IN DEVELOPMENT-INDUCED DISPLACEMENT AND RESETTLEMENT: LESSONS FROM UGANDA’S BUJAGALI HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT by JALIA KANGAVE A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Law) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) July 2011 © Jalia Kangave, 2011 ABSTRACT Imagine that one morning you wake up and learn that the place you have called home for generations is no longer going to be home. Your house will be demolished and in its place, government or a private developer will construct a dam or put up a residential complex. You have no right to say no because government has eminent domain over your land (or a legal right to compulsorily acquire it in the public interest). Now imagine that the development will also result in the acquisition of the land on which you grow crops for subsistence and trade. It will close off access to the river where you fetch water for daily household use and catch fish for home consumption and for trade. In other words, this is the land where you live and where you obtain your means of living. Lastly, imagine that the project area also contains your social, cultural and spiritual being. It is where over time, you have built social capital consisting of relatives and friends: a community network that you can count on for daily survival. It is where your ancestors are buried, the religious and spiritual institutions you subscribe to are located and your cultural ties entrenched. This is no fiction. And it is not abstract. It is the everyday reality of the millions of people displaced by mega projects such as dams that are built in the name of development. There is a rich body of literature that explores the issue of development-induced displacement and its impact on communities. This thesis builds on that conversation by situating its analysis in law. Throughout the thesis, I trace the silences of law on the one hand and its aggressiveness on the other hand to determine the ways in which formal legal tools have enabled or disabled Project Affected Communities to secure their interests. I also explore how understanding dam projects from an investment perspective can further the understanding of the challenges faced by these communities when striving for inclusive laws and policies. Uganda’s Bujagali Hydroelectric Project is used as the case study for the analysis. ii PREFACE Ethics Approval for this research was obtained from the University of British Columbia’s Behavioural Research Ethics Board. The Approval Certificate Number is: H09-02038. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................... ii PREFACE ............................................................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................... iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................................. vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................... vii DEDICATION ...................................................................................................................... ix INTRODUCTION: Through a Legal Lens: Analyzing the Role of Law in Facilitating the Inclusion (and Exclusion) of Project-Affected Communities in Decisions Relating to Large Dam Projects........................................................................................................... 1 I. Background to the Research Problem .............................................................................. 1 II. Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 10 III. Thesis Contribution ..................................................................................................... 12 IV. Chapter Arrangement .................................................................................................. 14 CHAPTER 1: Laying the Foundation: Constructing Large Dams, Defining Project- Affected Communities and Establishing the Domestic Legal Framework .................... 19 I. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 19 II. Providing Context: A Brief History of Uganda and Background to the Project ........... 22 III. Constructing Meanings and Establishing Boundaries: Who are “Project Affected Communities”? .................................................................................................................. 32 IV. Displacement under Uganda’s Domestic Legal Framework ....................................... 41 V. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 50 CHAPTER 2: Setting the Theoretical Groundwork: A TWAIL Critique of International Law and Development ................................................................................. 52 I. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 52 II. The Foundation: A Synthesis of TWAIL and Critical Development Theory ............... 54 III. A TWAIL Critique of International Law and Development: Thematic Components . 61 IV. The Reconstruction Project ......................................................................................... 78 V. Methods of the Study .................................................................................................... 80 CHAPTER 3: Explaining the Failure of Resettlement Initiatives in Development Projects: A Critical Analysis of the World Bank’s Policy on Involuntary Resettlement ............................................................................................................................................... 92 I. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 92 II. OP 4.12 on Involuntary Resettlement and the Impoverishment, Risks and Reconstruction Model: Landmarks in Resettlement Policy .............................................. 98 III. DIDR: Understanding the Theoretical-Practical Disconnect .................................... 107 IV. Reincorporating Policy Analysis: Rhetoric and Reality in OP 4.12 ......................... 113 iv V. Protecting Indigenous Peoples: Operational Policy 4.10 ............................................ 121 VI. Excluding the “Plenty Vulnerable” through Universalizing the Indigenous Mission ............................................................................................................................ 130 VII. Conclusion: An Inquiry into the Legal Implications of OP 4.12 ............................. 138 CHAPTER 4: The Legal Impact of the Operations of the World Bank Inspection Panel: Establishing Patterns of Inclusion and Exclusion of Project-Affected Communities ...................................................................................................................... 148 I. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 148 II. The World Bank Inspection Panel: Composition, Operation and Procedures ............ 150 III. The Inspection Panel as a Tool of Inclusion .............................................................. 155 IV. The Limited Capability of the Inspection Panel as a Tool of Inclusion: A Legal Perspective ....................................................................................................................... 161 V. Writing Resistance into the Operations of the Inspection Panel ................................ 172 VI. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 183 CHAPTER 5: The Bujagali Project as an Investment Project: Understanding Involuntary Resettlement from an Investment Perspective .......................................... 187 I. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 187 II. Neo-liberalism and the Internationalization of Private Property Rights ..................... 193 III. Privatization: Laying the Foundation for Protection of Investment Interests ............ 204 IV. Institutionalizing the Electricity Sector ..................................................................... 209 V. The Impact of Foreign Investment Contracts: An Analysis of Power Purchase Agreements ...................................................................................................................... 213 VI. In Lieu of a Conclusion: Why Affected Communities Need More Protection under the Law ............................................................................................................................ 228 CHAPTER 6: Recommendations: Increasing Protection of Affected Communities through Legal Reform ....................................................................................................... 242 I. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 242 II. Recommendations Relating to the Reform of Formal