Locals confiscate Balaalo cows, ask them to relocate
One of the Balalo herdsmen inspects the animals at Katakwi District headquarters on January 11, 2023. PHOTO/SIMON Peter EMWAMU
What you need to know:
- Residents accuse the herdsmen of abandoning their animals to destroy crops.
Hundreds of residents of Ongongoja and Guyaguya sub-counties in Katakwi District in eastern Uganda yesterday mobilised their colleagues and impounded cattle belonging to the Balaalo.
They later drove the herd to the district headquarters.
The locals were protesting what they called the Balaalo’s continuous provocations, claiming the cattle keepers leave their animals to stray into their farmlands and destroy crops.
The residents have demanded that Balaalo, whose population has swollen, quit the district with immediate effect. They claim some have guns and are threatening the lives of local farmers.
Mr Silver Icumar, one of the locals from Guyaguya, told Monitor in an interview yesterday that the Balaalo are untouchable and whenever they appeal for police intervention, they are compromised since they [Balaalo] are wealthy and well-connected.
He said they reached a decision to chase them away because of their ill behaviour and failure to co-exist with the community.
“When we complain, some of them have guns and threaten to shoot at us. Today, we mobilised the willing boys, men and women, and we drove their cows to the district headquarters. Let them find where to place the Balaalo, for us we are tired,” he said.
Another aggrieved local, Mr Samuel Omeke, a resident of Okulonyo Village, in Ongongoja, said he lost all his three acres of cassava, because the Balaalo herders drove the cows into his plantation.
“I lodged my complaint to the sub-county production department, but nothing has been done, these pastoralists seem connected, they have the money to silence those in authority,” Mr Omeke said.
“We have accommodated them for five years, but they have become negligent with their herding,’’ he said.
Mr William Omeke, the chairperson of Ongongoja, said more than 150 gardens of cassava have been destroyed by the cows. “At first it was our neighbours’ cows from Karamoja. We managed to chase them away late last year hoping that the remaining Balaalo pastoralists will change, but they have not,” he said.
Mr Omeke said as a leader, who has been receiving the people’s complaints, he joined the locals to drive the cows to the district headquarters.
“Police attempted to block the people by firing bullets, but they stayed put and managed to drive the cows from Ongongoja to the district, which is 30 kilometres away,” Mr Omeke said.
Mr Samuel Elvis Ojula, the chairperson of Katakwi, said if the actions of the Balalo are not checked, they risk causing hunger among the people.
“They use arrogance and drive their herds into people’s plantations, this is unfair,” he said.
Mr Ojula said during the meeting with the security operatives, it was agreed that the cows be taken to the government holding ground in Getom Sub-county until the pastoralists find a place where they can take their animals. Mr Ojula added that there has been a district resolution to send the Balalo away.
Mr Vincent Okwii, the deputy RDC of Katakwi, said the matter was too sensitive for him to comment on.
“We are still in frantic meetings, we shall brief you later,’’ he said.
Equally, the DPC of Katakwi said he could not comment on the matter by press time.
Mr Samuel Kananura, one of the Balaalo herders, told this paper that he lost close to 30 animals during the scuffle with locals. He said he has been in Katakwi for five years, and he has equally acquired five acres of land in areas of Okulonyo Sub-County, adding that the locals were being so harsh on them.
“Let’s dialogue as brothers and sisters, we can reach an amicable point,” Mr Kananura said. He said if some of the pastoralists have been misbehaving, then they should face the law.
Background
This is not the first time the Balaalo are being asked to quit. Between September 2015 and August 2016, the local leaders from Gulu, Amuru, and Nwoya districts issued an ultimatum ordering the pastoralists to evacuate since some had guns and were threatening the lives of local farmers. In 2018, President Museveni directed all resident district commissioners (RDCs) in West Nile to oversee the eviction of all herdsmen from the sub-region so that they return to their districts of origin. Several district councils had also resolved to evict the cattle keepers, but the RDCs and police stoped the eviction.
