Nebbi NRA war claimants yet to be paid 32 years later
Evidence. Mr Geoffery Odongo shows his artificial limb, which he claims to have got after being shot during the liberation war. PHOTO BY PATRICK OKABA
What you need to know:
- Looting. The claimants say NRA soldiers looted their properties and killed several people in the trading centres of Parombo, Nyaravur, Wadelai, Kucwiny and in Rodo hill in Erussi, which was a hideout for the soldiers. Some said they were attacked by soldiers on their way to Kampala.
- “As a result of the war of 1986, which also extended to 1988 in the region of West Nile, there is extreme poverty among the people because their properties were all looted and destroyed by the NRA, which affected their socio-economic status,” Geoffrey Odongo, claimant
NEBBI. More than 93 war claimants are demanding Shs5 billion from government as compensation for damages and atrocities allegedly committed on them by National Resistance Army (NRA) during the 1986 war that ushered in President Museveni to power.
According to the war claimants, they lost their property, relatives and suffered severe injuries during the war.
Mr Geoffrey Odongo, 60, a businessman from Parombo Sub-county in Nebbi District, says he lost 200 head of cattle and merchandise to NRA fighters.
“As a result of the war of 1986, which also extended to 1988 in the region of West Nile, there is extreme poverty among the people because their properties were all looted and destroyed by the NRA, which affected their socio-economic status,” Mr Odongo says.
He adds that soldiers looted their properties and killed several people in the trading centres of Parombo, Nyaravur, Wadelai, Kucwiny and in Rodo hill in Erussi, which was a hideout for the soldiers.
Mr Odongo, who uses an artificial limb, says he lost his leg in 1989 on his way to Kampala between Wobulenzi and Kalule where their lorry was attacked by men in uniform and several people were killed.
Mr Louis Odika, the chairman of the business community in the district, says they have moved from office to office in Nebbi and Kampala seeking compensation but they have not received any response.
“We applied for free legal assistance from Equal Opportunity Commission because we had no money to follow up our case of compensations,” Mr Odika said.
According to Mr Joel Cox Ojuko, the lawyer representing the war claimants, says the complainants deserve compensation like others from other parts of the country who were compensated.
“I don’t see the reason why government should delay compensation for war claimants in Nebbi District because they have all the evidences in the various offices right from RDC office up to the Ministry of Defence,” Ojuko said.
The acting commissioner for legal services and investigation at the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), Ms Elizabeth Ogwal Akullo, says in 2016, they ordered government to pay the claimants.
The Resident District Commissioner, Ms Bessie Ajilong, said: “I am not aware of any documentation about the war claimants. May be my successors handled it but I will still look for the file and get in touch with the leaders.”
He added: “There should be reminders to government leaders about such claims but it seems the claimants used short cuts in getting their claims to State House. But I will cross-check.”
