Gulu today and 100 years ago

The district might have been a hot spot at the height of the two decade Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency, but slowly, the mood is getting back to normal. But, as Harriet Anena writes, it requires more than the efforts of local residents for Gulu to start walking again. Read on:-

100 years ago, Gulu District was born. Life was sweet and its people innocent. Granaries, land, animals and domestic birds, were an abundant and cherished wealth in most homesteads. The new-born district offered an almost trouble-free place to its people.

In the evenings, a circle of women, men, children and elders, sat around the fire place and recounted their battle victories, successful hunts and prospective marriages. Women and men walked about without clothes on, except for a small piece of cloth (lacomi) to cover their groin area.

Traditional dances such as otole, dingi-dingi, larakaraka, bwola and apiti, were a unifying factor for the people as well as an avenue to find future spouses. However, most regalia used for dances for instance, spears, animal skins, shields and hides, are now hard to find.

The most common means of goods exchange was through barter trade. But today, money which was an alien thing several decades ago, almost rules and directs the life of people in Gulu and beyond.

As James Ongaba, 64, of Onyama Village recalls, “There was no need for money in the past because everything was available in the garden.” “But today, you cannot live without money. The cost of education, healthcare and shelter, has made money a must- have for the people.”

Land which used to be in abundance has now become a source of quarrels among relatives and neighbours. Even with the return of peace in the region after two decades of insurgency, orphaned children, widows, and single child mothers, are all locked in the maze of land rows.

With climate change affecting the continent, Gulu has not been an exception. Mr Ongaba explains that in the past, rainy and dry seasons were so distinct and all farmers knew the rain pattern.

“Rain would fall from April to June and again from August to September,” Mr Ongaba says. “But today, you can’t be sure of when the rain will fall or when it will stop.”

Farmers in the area have been lamenting over the recent downpour which has destroyed peas, simsim and millet from the garden. But even with these challenges, Mr Ongaba believes that people should embark on farming and regain their self reliance like it was before the insurgency.
“Two years ago, we left the camps and life at home has been good. But we still need to work hard and dig more,” he says.

For Renelda Aceng, 78, her memories of Gulu about seven decades ago, lie in the pride that children and women brought to the family.
“Children respected adults and vice versa. Women were the flag bearers of morality and child upbringing,” she explains.

But today, Ms Aceng bemoans how many young girls have resorted to promiscuous life and how the youth have become constant companions of marijuana and alcohol. Divorce has become a common visitor to most marriages today – a thing which was very rare several decades ago.

children today are neglected by their parents and guardians and yet in the past, children’s welfare was a communal responsibility. “Even women have started drinking. Both mothers and their children get drunk and fall on the road. There is no shame anymore,” Ms Aceng says.

Even with the moral fabric loosening, the sweet memories of the train still abound in Gulu. In 1962, the train brought another lease to life in Gulu. Being an agriculture-based district, farmers found it easy to transport their produce from the district to Soroti, Tororo, Kampala and Pakwach.

Mr James Olum, 60, of Railway Quarters Village, explains how the train made transport cheap. “From 1963, I used to board the train for Shs4 to Busoga College Mwiri where I was studying,” he says. Business around Railway Quarters in the 1960s to the early 1990’s flourished because of merchandise brought in and taken out of the district by the train. The railway station was a meeting place for traders from Pakwach and those from Gulu, Kampala and Soroti.

The sound of the train was a reminder to both children and adults. Children would run near the railway line to have a look at it without tiring, while adults rushed to the railway station to sell and buy goods brought locally or from Pakwach and Soroti.

We miss the train
The train was a source of excitement, business and unity. But today, overgrown grass and rusty train coaches is what is left of the once busy area. The buildings that once stood strong and erect in the railway quarters, are now a collection of leaking roofs and fallen walls.
The quarters are no longer a beehive of activities except for the evening hours when men and women gather around pots of malwa (local brew) to pass time and tell tales of the happy past.

“I miss the train. If the government revives the train like it is saying, then it will do us a lot of good,” says Mr Olum. For the business community in the area, the return of the train would reduce the heavy cost of road transport and ease transportation of their goods to South Sudan.

Ms Evelyn Piddo, a produce dealer in Gulu town, says the current rain has made roads impassable, impeding their efforts to transport goods from villages to town.

“I get my produce from Amuru District. But sometimes we sleep on the way because the roads are so bad. The vehicles get stuck and the bridges are even broken down,” she says.

But despite the bad roads, business is generally booming in the district. Ms Piddo says their regular customers are businessmen from Kampala.
The existence of Saccos has also enabled business people to save and invest more money.

Ms Piddo is a member of Gulu Farmer Produce Buyers Association and for the last five years, members have been able to borrow and save money, thus expanding their business prospects.

The banking and hotel business is also booming in the district. There are now over 10 banks and over 30 big hotels in Gulu. Mr Albert Ochieng Ong’ongo’o, the general manager of Palema Crown Hotel, explains how business is improving with the return of peace and trade with South Sudan. “The business people from Sudan who come to buy goods from here, sleep in our hotels and also eat from here,” says Mr Ochieng.

He says incentives from the government have also lessened their costs and encouraged investment in hotel business in the district and the region as a whole.

“The government is encouraging investment in rural areas. If you establish a hotel in a rural area, you don’t pay VAT on accommodation,” Mr Ochieng explains, adding that hoteliers, who are members of Uganda Hotel Owners Association, enjoy duty-free importation of hotel furniture and equipment. Most hotels in Gulu for instance, buy goods for their restaurants from Kampala.

“Prices of commodities are more expensive in Gulu than in Kampala. We for instance buy meat and fish fillet from Kampala. But if the train is revived, we will reduce transport costs and have more traders come to enjoy our services,” Mr Ochieng adds.

Mr Mark Moro of Gulu Chamber of Commerce, says the removal of illegal levies on Ugandan goods by South Sudan authorities, have made it easier for traders in Gulu to do business there. And with the plan of reviving and extending the railway system to South Sudan, Mr Moro says Gulu will become a busier business hub and an attractive conduit for goods to-and-from the two countries. “The conditions of roads are bad. The revival of the railway services will definitely improve business and move more products across the region in bulk,” he says.

Amid the business excitement, Mr Moro says most business people are still naïve on how to attract, retain customers and reinvest their business profits. The HIV/Aids pandemic is also still a big challenge in the district and the business community is the most susceptible, explains Moro.
“Gulu being a transit route to most businesses in the country puts traders at risk of contracting HIV. And yet if you are not healthy, you cannot do business well,” Mr Moro says.

But the growth of Gulu Regional Referral Hospital in terms of infrastructure, staff and equipment, and plans by the government to elevate the hospital into a national referral, will generally bring down cases of disease outbreak, residents believe.

The Medical Superintendant, Dr Agel Akii, says the hospital is now embarking on community outreach programmes, which involves taking medical services to the residents, including the business community.

“We send our doctors to the community to treat eye problems, mental cases, reproductive and HIV/Aids cases,” he says. But about 2.5 million people who come for treatment at Gulu Referral Hospital, means more needs to be done so that the services match the growing number of people. “The hospital serves all the seven districts in northern Uganda and sometimes even beyond,” Dr Agii adds.

The hospital, which was built in 1934, now has 64 per cent staff but Dr Agii says the ideal should be 80 per cent. With the return of peace in the region, more medical personnel are expected to take up the vacant posts at the hospital. More development in Gulu can be seen in the surge of new permanent buildings, although a few old ones are still around the town.

As Gulu braces for more growth, the police are also getting ready to fight crime that crops up in any developing society. The District Police Commander, Mr Peter Ematu, says alcohol abuse, theft, taking of marijuana and defilement are the most common crimes in the area now.

“After every two days, we arrest marijuana smokers. Most of them are unemployed youth who have refused to return to their villages after camps were closed,” Mr Ematu says.

Even when several people still refer to Gulu as “a war ravaged district,” the leaders and its people believe that there are more good things in Gulu than the effects of the war.

Additional reporting by Cissy Makumbi

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When was Gulu born?

Before Gulu became a district, the Langi (known as the Pakwaca) frequented the area but never settled there. Later on, the Acholi settled in the area and were later joined by Arabs and Nubians. Prof. Paul Okot Bwangamoi, 76, the director Institute of Research, Graduate Studies and Staff Development at Gulu University, explains the activities prior and after the formation of Gulu District;-

In the early 1850’s, several clans were formed in Gulu; these included, the Patiko, Paicho, Koro, Koch, Lamogi clans headed by chiefs.
In the early 1860’s several Arabs came from Zanzibar to Gulu. However, the Arabs raided animals, crops and raped women.

“The Acholi only knew the sound of thunder, but with the arrival of Arabs, gunshots became a common sound to the ears of residents,” Prof. Okot explains.

In 1864, Sir Samuel Baker arrived in Gulu. He witnessed the mistreatment of the indigenous people by the Arabs and on March 6, 1872, he joined forces with Rwot Ywajimoro, the chief of Patiko Pogwinyi, fought and captured 73 Arabs.

But even when the Arabs left, a new group arrived. The Nubians! According to Prof. Okot, this group, who came from Khartoum, was more violent than the Arabs.

The Nubians raided livestock and food stuff and took it to Gondokoro in Nimule- Southern Sudan for sale. Later, the local residents were to re-organise and retaliate.

Formal education
In 1903, Rev. Albert Lloyd sent Banyoro teachers to Gulu to prepare the ground for formal education. In January 1911, Assistant District Commissioner locally referred to as Abusingit started Gulu Station (district). But a year earlier, Mr Hannington (nicknamed Bwona Busi) started clearing forests in preparation for the birth of the district but no settlements were made. This explains why some people believe Gulu was started in 1910.

Christianity was introduced in Gulu about 1903 and the first baptized Acholi priest was Ali Musa and the first bishop to be ordained was Rev. Adipayo Latigo in 1939. In 1913, the first school, which is now Gulu High School, was opened by Padre Qudesia. The first Acholi man to study at Makerere University (then Makerere College of the University of London), was Erisa Lakor between 1925 and 1942.

As people got more educated, money began to play a major part in development of the district. Cotton became a major source of income for many people in the late 1940s.

Transport was a big burden, especially for those travelling from Gulu to Kampala. But in 1963, when Kafu and Karuma bridges were built, transport became easier and people could travel for only a day to reach Kampala.

Residents’ take on the centenary

Okot (Shop attendant), 30. “The celebrations will be a form of welcoming peace officially after two decades of war that kept thousands of people in IDP camps. It is time to rethink how best conflicts can be addressed through dialogue instead of bloodshed as seen in the past years.”

David Ochen (Cobler), 24. “As much as Gulu is celebrating 100 years and lobbying for a city status, development is accompanied by business, yet in Acholi business skills are still a myth. Many of our business people have no customer care thus paving way for Indians and people from other regions to do business.”

Nicholas Opok (Chief) 70 years. “As Gulu celebrates 100 years, we should bear in mind that the peace attained should be protected forever. The 20 years conflict of should not be repeated. As chiefs in Acholi, our task is to educate the youth about norms and traditions. There is no respect for the elderly persons as it was before. Elders are in most cases insulted especially in land- related issues that are common.”

Compiled by Harriet Anena & Cissy Makumbi