Tension as Karimojong, Teso locals claim cattle corridor

Reconciliation efforts: Karimojong cattle keepers and Teso communities listen to their leaders during a meeting at Obulin, Apeitolim Sub-county, Napak District, last Thursday. PHOTO SIMON PETER EMWAMU

What you need to know:

  • Harmony. Leaders from both communities called for calm, urging the cattle keepers and farmers in Bokora cattle corridor to respect each other’s interests as government solves the land wrangles.
  • Ban: Land conflicts inTeso and Karamoja sub-regions are common. In 2016, two neighbouring districts of Napak and Abim in Karamoja banned sale of communal land around their borders. The ban was aimed at ending the land conflicts.
    Target: In Karamoja, traditional grazing areas and other communal lands are increasingly targeted for acquisition and investment. Conflicts around borders, both internally and externally (neigbouring regions like Teso and Kenyan counties) are on the rise. Karimojong communities have also, on a number of occasions clashed with state agencies such as National Forestry Authority and Uganda Wildlife Authority (over access to and utilisation of protected areas.
    Challenges: In Teso, the rising interest in the use, control and ownership of land and other natural resources is mounting pressure on the formal and customary land management systems in Teso and Pallisa District. This exposes women, widows, orphans and the economically poor people to abuse. The formal and traditional capacities to address land and natural resource tenure are not sufficient. Increased commercial value of land and weak enforcement mechanisms of land justice in Uganda are responsible for the continued land violence.

Soroti. A delegation of leaders from Karamoja and Teso sub-regions have moved into the Bokora cattle corridor bordering Amuria District to quell disputes among cattle keepers and farming communities.
Cattle keepers from Napak, Kotido, Kaabong and Moroto districts, who have in the past two weeks moved to the corridor for pasture and water, accuse the Teso community of farming on land traditionally gazetted for grazing and hunting during dry spells.

Mr Charles Otim, a local peace actor in Obulin, Apeitolim Sub-county, Napak District, told Daily Monitor on the sidelines of the meeting last Thursday that some animals had over time strayed into cassava plantations on the cattle corridor, which Karimojong pastoralists dispute.

“We are not certain who owns the disputed land, but it is intriguing how some people from Napak District have parcelled out parts of this land to buyers at Shs1 million to Shs2 million an acre,” Mr Otim said.
He added that the presence of the Karimojong cattle keepers in the area has sparked off the tension.
The cattle corridor is alleged to have been sold to individuals without the approval of Napak District.

The Napak Woman MP, Ms Stella Nyomera Namoe, said Karimojong’s right to graze on the disputed corridor is inherent.
Although Ms Nyomera advised those who bought the said land to leave, affected residents have vowed to stay.
“The issue is people who are claiming part of this land are not from Amuria, they are from distant places, We cannot tell how they acquired it [land],” she said.

Ms Mary Alero, 60-year-old resident of Obulin, said some of them were apportioned the land under the peace and resettlement scheme of 2001 by a committee that was approved by leaders of both Teso and Karamoja.
Ms Alero said since then, there has been peaceful co-existence of both communities in Apeitolim, but added that the questions being raised are creating unnecessary tension.

She said a group of Karimojong elders living in Apeitolim claiming ownership of the disputed land sold out vast pieces to the Iteso farming communities.
“I am not ready to leave, we have put in a fortune on these pieces of land, unless government clarifies on this border but even then, we are under the peaceful co-existence treaty which has seen us live here for more than 20 years as Iteso and Karimojongs,” Ms Alero said.

Mr Michael Kuskus, the chairperson of Napak District Land Board, said people who bought the said land outside the initial peace and co-existence resettlement agreement were cheated.
“It is clear that Bokora Cattle Corridor is in Napak. Anyone with interest in acquiring land here must pass through Napak District Local Government, which is the custodian of this land,” he said.

Irregularities
Mr Kuskus said the district has asked government to investigate people from Karamoja who are parcelling out pieces of land in the corridor.

“We appeal to all people who have been conned [of their] money to register as one way of tracking down these criminals, but remain calm and co-exist with each other,” he said.
The Bokora County MP, Mr Terence Achia, urged both communities to live in harmony and respect each other’s rights on the disputed land.

“The issue of land is secondary, it will be sorted out. For now, as Karimojong graze they should respect people’s fields, the farming community should similarly respect the grazing fields,” he said.

The Amuria District LC5 chairperson, Mr Robert Erisat Okitoi, said although the Karimojong have the right to graze, they should do so with caution, saying letting animals stray into people’s gardens may bring back food shortages in families neighbouring Karamoja.
Mr Okitoi said it is not right to claim that the said land falls in Karamoja, adding that it is prudent for government to avail the two regions with clear boundary maps.

Mr Okitoi also appealed to authorities to address the water crisis, which is causing Karimojong to move to neighbouring districts whenever dry spells hit.