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Co-exist with Balaalo, Acholi leaders advised
A security operative tries to disperse a herd of cattle which had blocked the road at Madiopei border, Lamwo District. The cattle belonged to the Balaalo. PHOTO | TOBBIAS JOLLY OWINY
After twice deferring pronouncing himself on the Balaalo herdsmen’s contested operations in Acholi Sub-region, President Museveni this week asked the two parties to smooth out the edges.
Mr Museveni, who met a high-level delegation from the Sub-region on Wednesday, vowed to “move in” if given “factual examples of the crimes being committed”. This comes exactly six months after he issued an executive order in which the Balaalo herdsmen were effectively banned from northern Uganda.
Early this month, a Balaalo verification committee chaired by Prof Jack Nyeko Pen-Mogi, the acting chairman of the Uganda Land Commission, released a report on the matter. One of the key recommendations was that the government evicts the illegal herdsmen in northern and north-eastern Uganda.
The government was also urged to revise all the land lease agreements for land acquisition to ensure locals whose land was hired or bought cheaply is revalued and that the terms and price be renegotiated where agreements are found to be unfair to the landowners.
The report also spotlighted purported underhanded tactics the Balaalo herdsmen used to secure land in the sub-region.
“Some Balaalo acquired land through intimidation, manipulation, and destruction of gardens, leading to poverty and eventually forcing the locals to sell their land cheaply,” it noted, adding that the Balaalo “engage in proxy buying of land, which creates a threat to land ownership rights of the local population.”
The findings were the product of a study conducted between June and August 2023. It made clear that “some community leaders, including LCs, collude with CID police to stifle cases against the Balaalo.” Some Balaalo, it further disclosed “are reported to have guns and military uniforms.”
At least 217 Balaalo herdsmen, who settled in the Acholi Sub-region, face eviction should the government act on recommendations of the report. Many of them are in Amuru (86), Pader (45), Gulu (44) and Nwoya (37) districts per the UPDF 4th Division army command. The latter also estimates the herdsmen to have between themselves 2,700 heads of cattle.
Delegation
Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, Relief, Disaster Preparedness minister Hilary Onek; junior Foreign Affairs minister Henry Okello Oryem; junior Economic Monitoring minister Beatrice Akello Akori, the; Mr Anthony Akol, the head of the Acholi Parliamentary Group; and cultural leaders met President Museveni this week.
