Who owns the 40sqkm land in Amuru?

Residents of Apaa Parish in Amuru District demonstrate against the proposed demarcation of the disputed boundary between Amuru and Adjumani districts recently. PHOTO BY STEPHEN OKELLO

What you need to know:

With the boundary dispute between Amuru and Adjumani districts reaching a climax, Daily Monitor traces the source of conflict and the likely solution.

Amuru/Kampala- As the convoy of vehicles carrying ministers Daudi Migereko (Lands) and Aronda Nyakairima (Internal Affairs) arrived in Apaa Parish, Pabbo Sub-county in Amuru District recently, a woman stripped and threw herself on the ground just in front of the official vehicle of Gen Nyakairima. She was not alone; soon many more stripped and joined the nude protest.

This was a climax of an approximately eight-year boundary dispute between Amuru and Adjumani districts which has claimed a life, left property destroyed and displaced thousands.

After the protest, the exercise which would have ended in the planting of mark stones was halted and soldiers that had been deployed were withdrawn from the area.

To resolve the dispute, government wants to demarcate the boundary between the two districts based on the coordinates drawn by the colonial government. However, the residents see the move as a ploy to grab their land.
The day before the protest, Kilak County MP Gilbert Olanya and Gen Nyakairima had locked horns during a meeting at Amuru District headquarters over the boundary demarcation.
Mr Olanya accused government of having a hidden agenda to evict locals from their homes and give land to an ‘investor’, who, according to the legislator, has already paid money for the land in dispute.

However, Gen Aronda insisted that government wanted to stop the longstanding ‘conflict’ between the Madi and Acholi locals over the land.

The dispute
A 2014 report by the Makerere University-based Refugee Law Project observed that the conflict in Apaa had become inevitable and a fact of life with frequent disagreement between the conflicting parties (the Madi ethnic group of Adjumani and the Lamogi/Pabbo clans of Acholi in Amuru) resulting into violence.
The conflict in Apaa, according to the report, has mainly been sparked off by torture and evictions occasioned by the operations of Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) in securing/reclaiming land in the area for a game reserve.

Some of the members in the community told the project researchers that UWA has since 2010 been responsible for violently and forceful eviction of people from their homes on allegation that they have encroached into East Madi Wildlife reserve.

Mr John Makombo, the UWA director for conservation, however, declined to comment on the issue and referred us to view the map of the area at Lands ministry offices.

What residents say:
Many residents on the disputed land believe the boundary is in the stream of River Zoka, which separates Adjumani and Amuru districts. They also believe that during the colonial era, the British used physical features to demarcate boundaries unlike the government approach of surveying the land and planting mark stones.

Mr Jebe Onenorach, 35, who says he was born on the disputed land and only vacated in 2004 at the height of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels insurgency, claims that even his ancestors lived on the said land, showing the family graveyard as proof.

Mr Onenorach says he had never witnessed any disagreement between the two tribes; the Madi and the Acholi. He said even the leaders of the two people have lived peacefully.

In several meetings, MP Olanya has been telling residents that government was using cat and mouse games to evict them in the name of boundary demarcation.

“Government sold our land to this investor in 2005 while people were in internally displaced camps,” Mr Olanya said during a meeting with Amuru residents before the protest.

He added that when peace was restored and people resettled on the land, the investor got concerned and started demanding his money back because he realised he had been conned.

“Have you ever found anywhere in a district where district boundaries are marked by mark stones?” Mr Olanya said.

However, minister Migereko, while addressing Amuru District land officials and other technocrats a fortnight ago, dismissed Mr Olanya’s claims.
“There is no one on our list of investors we are dealing with who Mr Olanya, is yapping about. As government, we are playing our role in ensuring that the land that has been a source of conflict between the two tribes is re-opened and its boundary marked,” he said.

The Adjumani District chairperson, Mr Nixon Owole, says the demarcation is needed for service provision and law enforcement.

Much as the district chairperson paints a rosy picture, Mr Owole had to plead with residents in his district to put off a planned demonstration against the halting of the demarcation on April 18.

The district leaders had agreed to mobilise the residents to demonstrate against the halting of the demarcation of Adjumani-Amuru border. Mr Patrick Tandrupasi, the Adjumani Town Council chairperson, said they would mobilise the residents to start daily demonstrations until they achieved their goal.

The leader of district chairpersons in Acholi sub-region, Mr Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, says Acholi and Madi have lived together as relatives over the years.

Mr Mapenduzi, who is also Gulu district chairperson, asked government to employ a consultative approach instead of relying on force to impose its will.

Cultural head displeased
While political leaders and activists have praised the nude demonstration by elderly women as “a weapon of last resort”, the Acholi cultural leader was not pleased.

Rwot David Onen Acana II told journalists recently that local leaders in Amuru held secret meetings during which they incited residents of Apaa.

“I have not been informed on the subject matter. They only wait when things are out of hand and they call me to intervene,” he said.

He added that he would soon visit the area and speak to the residents about the issue.

Gulu Archdiocese Archbishop John Baptist Odama said the women’s action was a sign of desperation and called for dialogue.

The chairperson of the Acholi Parliamentary Group, Mr Reagan Okumu, on April 7 wrote to Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, warning that the Apaa land wrangle could turn up into a protracted conflict unless a peaceful intervention is quickly sought.

In the letter, Mr Okumu said the tension could only be defused when government commits to the colonial era boundary between Acholi and Madi. The original map of Uganda showing administrative units, he said, would suffice as evidence, adding that the two tribes have been living in harmony for long time.

While political leaders talk of peace and disharmony, for the past three years, the two districts have been at loggerheads, each claiming the ownership of the land in Apaa area. The conflict has resulted in clashes that have left several persons injured and huts burnt.

Perhaps what is evident is that the fight over land is not a new thing. Politicians, some district officials and residents put up a big fight when government announced that it would give a chunk of land to the Madhvani Group of Companies for sugarcane growing. So one would ask, is it a case of ‘once bitten, twice shy?’.

Reported by Stephen Kafeero, Julius Ocungi, Cissy Makumbi & Martin Okudi