Prime
Museveni extends order on Balaalo eviction from north
The Minister of State for Internal Affairs, Gen David Muhoozi, addresses Parliament last year. PHOTO | DAVID LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- In Executive Order number 3 issued on May 19, the President banned all Balaalo from Northern Uganda.
President Museveni has deferred the enforcement of the expulsion of the Balaalo herdsmen from Northern Uganda, pending an ongoing study by Gen Salim Saleh, the Minister of State for Internal Affairs, Gen David Muhoozi, told Parliament yesterday.
In Executive Order number 3 issued on May 19, Mr Museveni banned all Balaalo from Northern Uganda, labelling them as indiscipline and land grabbing.
In the order, the President also sought to criminalise nomadism, prescribing a seven-year prison sentence for anyone convicted. The cattle of those found in the north would be confiscated.
I, therefore, direct all government agencies to ensure that these Balaalo are expelled by the end of June 2023,” he wrote.
Concerns
Yesterday, however, Dokollo Woman MP Cecilia Ogwal, raising a matter of National Importance in Parliament, expressed concern that the Balaolo have not only remained but are now armed. This, she said, is causing anxiety among the locals, calling into question the implementation of the presidential order.
“It has been observed that in Amuru and Gulu, there are armed herdsmen commonly known as Balaalo and they are forcing their animals to graze in people’s land… they are no longer just Balaalo, they are Balaalo who are armed and it is causing insecurity around the north,” she said.
It is in response to this that Gen Muhoozi revealed that the implementation of the order had been deferred.
“…I want to update Parliament, in the last Cabinet sitting, the President extended its enforcement to September because there is another study by General Saleh [Salim] with the leaders in the north and there are proposals that can enrich the execution of that order,” he said.
This is not the first time President Museveni has attempted to expel Balaalo from the North. In November 2022, he issued a two-month ultimatum to the herdsmen to vacate or face eviction, this publication reported. Many did not leave and remained in the area, resulting in the June directive.
Mr Gilbert Olanya, the Kilak South County MP, expressed displeasure at the President’s position, citing the Balaalo presence as one of the terrible concerns they are battling with.
Protests
He wondered if the government is yet again “trying to fool” the people of Acholi as has been with previous government ultimatums.
“The animals of Balaalo are eating people’s crops, destroying people’s gardens and whenever the community complains, most of them have guns, and they intimidate our people using guns,” he said. He says even before the extension, the Balaalo had not started exiting the north more than a month since the order was made.
“They were not bothered at all to leave, because they are looking after big people. They should stop deceiving us” Mr Olanya said.
About balaalo
The number of Balaalo pastoralists and the population of their animals currently spread across northern region has instead tripled. But Lamwo is currently the district with the highest influx of the pastoralists at more than 1,500, with their cattle projected to be at least 35,000. Lamwo is followed by while Amuru and Kitgum districts. Areas occupied by the herdsmen in Amuru District include; Okidi, Atiak, Palukere, in Atiak Sub-county, as well as Bombay, Kololo and Bana, among other areas in Opara Sub-county. Local leaders have in the past accused the herdmen of grazing their animals in people’s gardens.
