Are politicians fuelling the Apaa land conflict?

President Museveni on Saturday took a swipe at leaders in the Acholi Sub-region, accusing them of catalysing tribal clashes between the Acholi and the Madi people living within the contested Apaa area in Adjumani District.

Mr Museveni made the remarks while meeting political and civil leaders from Lango and Acholi sub-regions at Barlegi State Lodge in Okwang Sub-county, Otuke District.

He accused politicians of spreading malicious and misleading information that has escalated the conflict.

“Who is causing all these? It is not good for leaders to be misleaders. Everything they hear [information shared with them], they go and turn it upside down. We don’t only have to stop the nonsense going on, but also find responsibility for all this chaos,” he said.

The President was reacting to concerns raised by Kilak South MP Gilbert Olanya and Anthony Akol of Kilak North who accused the government of deliberately failing to settle the conflict as earlier pledged.

In September 2021, Mr Museveni told West Nile leaders that the conflict surrounding Apaa land would only be solved based on facts rather than sentiments and tribalism.

He also told a section of leaders from the sub-region who had met him at State House, Entebbe, to present their position in regards to the disputed land and pledged to solve the mess before December 2021.

Later in August 2021, Mr Museveni met top political leadership from Acholi Sub-region and okayed the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate the matter to enable him make a final declaration.

But several incidents of attacks between the two tribes have since occurred even after the President met the learners.

At the weekend, the President took the blame for failing to ensure the committee is instituted to champion peace.

“I must admit that it is my mistake now because we agreed on forming a judicial commission of inquiry. I even came up with some names, but we got busy with so many things and we didn’t conclude it,” he said.

Politicians view

The Members of Parliament from Acholi Sub-region under the Acholi Parliamentary say they cannot sit back and watch as their land is being taken away.

“We condemn the attacks in Apaa and we shall not sit and fold our hands and see our mothers sleep in the cold and die,” said Mr Olanya.

He also accused security apparatus deployed in Apaa of siding with the Madi people to harm and displace the Acholi community .

“They have already taken sides and have escorted the Madi people to come and chase the Acholi community.”

In February, the State minister for Internal Affairs, Gen David Muhoozi, tabled before Parliament a 3-page report on Apaa land, indicating that politicians were deliberately promoting the recurring tribal clashes and killings between the Madi and the Acholi communities.

Gen Muhoozi’s report was a success in an investigation by the joint security agencies sanctioned by President Museveni in mid-August 2021.

“The conflict in Apaa has been hijacked by politicians to the disadvantage of the local cultural institutions through which land conflicts have always been resolved, some leaders have been indicated to be fuelling the clashes at all levels from social to political strata,’’ the report  said.

Although they found that Apaa is secured by the UPDF and the company of police deployed in five detachments of Apaa and Zoka, clashes have continued between the two tribes.

Fresh tribal clashes reportedly erupted between the Madi and the Acholi people residing in the contested Apaa area on June 4.  Reports of the attacks started circulating on social media after pictures of injured men whose hands had been cut went viral.

On Thursday last week,  four days after the attacks, security personnel comprising the police and army officers blocked seven MPs from Acholi sub-region at Amuru-Adjumani border from accessing the disputed Apaa land.

Mr Benon Byamukama, the Adjumani District Police Commander,  said intelligence reports had indicated that the MPs led by Mr Akol and Mr Olanya had intentions to incite the masses to retaliate against the June 4 attack. The Monitor could not verify the claims.

 This newspaper, however, established that the legislators had not informed security personnel on the ground of their visits .

Other MPs blocked during the visit were Christopher Komakech (Aruu County), Santa Okot (Aruu North), Okin Ojara (Chua West), Amos Okot (Ago North), and Godfrey Okello (Nwoya East).

Earlier on, the Amuru Resident District Commissioner, Mr Stephen Odong Latek, warned the MPs not to step foot in the area without informing security apparatus in Adjumani due to safety reasons.

On the same day, the seven MPs had appeared for a media briefing earlier in Gulu City during which they called for the Acholi community in Amuru District to block all roads linking Adjumani District with the Acholi sub-region in protest over the attacks.

They also claimed that the June 4 attack occurred in areas outside the forest reserve where the Acholi community settled and that at least 27 members of the Acholi community had been injured.

During the press briefing, Mr Olanya also said at least 210 houses had been destroyed during the attack. He could not confirm with evidence whether there were any victims displaced by the incident or provide names of those injured.

Investigation

Last week, this reporter visited Apaa Centre and Zoka C Trading Centre to validate the claims by politicians.

Mr Bonny Ocaka, the Zoka C village vice-chairman, said the attacks happened inside a forest, 42kms away from his village.

“There are few people inside those places although it is a mixture of both Acholi and other tribes who get in there to burn charcoal and do farming. So far, we have not received cases of those displaced,” Mr Ocaka said.

Although Mr Akol said the attacks lasted three days between June 2 and June 4, Mr Ocaka said they happened only on  June 4.

At Apaa market, the Acholi and Madi-speaking traders appeared to be conducting business normally, save for a few sights of armed soldiers and police officers at Zoka C Centre.

While security says 86 makeshift structures were burnt during the attack and that no one had been arrested over the incident, Mr Latek told the media in Gulu that five people had been arrested and detained in Adjumani.

Between June 10 and June 11, Mr Taban Data, the Adjumani RDC, confirmed that a heavy deployment of police and soldiers was made in Apaa to counter protestors who plotted to stage demonstrations and block roads in retaliation.

“We found out that the youth had been ferried from as far as Kitgum and Pader to participate in the protests and we managed the situation by deploying in those areas as well as patrolling the major routes against any possible attacks,” he said.

Mr Taban also said several non-governmental organisations that participated in the Saturday nature walk that ended in chaos had been summoned and interrogated as security investigates to find out the culprits in the attack.

Among the organisations are United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), Lutheran World Federation, World Vision, Refugee Law Project, GIZ, and National Forestry Authority.

Others include Adjumani leaders and Friends of Zoka, a pressure group coordinated by Mr William Amanzuru to advocate for the protection of Zoka Central Forest and the wildlife reserve around it.

“I was summoned by police and have been charged with criminal trespass into the forest, arson and malicious damage to properties. Although we participated in the walk, the National Forestry Authority mobilised and was in charge of the walk,” Mr Amanzuru said.

Way forward

The MPs from Acholi sub-region want the government to allow the region recruit its sons and daughters to form a militia group in Apaa to protect themselves against attacks by their Madi counterparts of Adjumani.

Mr Akol, the chairman of the group says, just like government allowed Teso  and Lango sub-regions to mobilise and form Arrow Boys and the Amuka respectively to defend against the LRA, it should allow the Acholi to form one.

“We have communicated that we want our people to voluntarily come out and protect themselves and we want the government to train them. The government has failed to protect the people in Apaa,”  Mr Akol said.

“I wrote a letter to the Office of the President, copied it to the office of the RDC and even the ministers of Security and Defence on possible interventions. We cannot allow our people to continue to die,” he added.

But Mr Latek told the media at the weekend that security has been beefed up in the area.

“I have directed the commander of 71 Battalion and he has positioned himself in Apaa to guard against any attacks,”  he said.

The Pageya clan chief, Yusuf Okwonga Adek, said forming a militia will not solve the conflict in Apaa.

“If two tribes are conflicting, the President must reign in. If the land is in Adjumani, everyone is entitled to live there including the Acholi and Nyankole, but in this case, each side wants to chase away the other, which is the problem,” Mr Okwongaa said.

He said politicians, including the President were not willing to tell the truth about the area and also engage each other to end the conflict.

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