Chaos as PM orders evictions in Apaa

At exactly 16:10, the giant multipurpose council hall of Amuru District local government went dead silent when Ms Robinah Nabbanja, the Prime Minister, rose up to deliver her speech.

A sizeable crowd numbering approximately 170 people said to be local leaders from Apaa had turned up for the meeting.

Once welcomed by her junior, Ms Rukia Nakadama, the Third Deputy Prime Minister, and the Local Government Minister, Mr Raphael Magyezi, Ms Nabbanja read to the crowd a Cabinet decision on Apaa land. The speech went uninterrupted until the 14th minute.

Ms Nabbanja compared the evictions the government intends to conduct in Apaa to those they similarly did in Kyenjojo and Queen Elizabeth National Game Park.

She said locals occupying the contested Apaa area must exit the area within three months and that Apaa Central market is closed within one month.

“In one month, the Ministry of Local Government is directed to stop the operations of Apaa Central Market. We shall implement the compensation and the relocation of the communities for three months and that will end on  May 15, there will be forceful eviction,” Ms Nabbanja said.

According to her, once the boundaries survey of the wildlife reserve was done, the beneficiaries were identified in 2014 and the registration of the victims was done in 2019, explaining why the Cabinet approved a resentment of Shs10m, 20 iron sheets, and 20 bags of cement for each household.

But before she could wind up her speech, Mr Anthony Akol, the Kilak North MP (also Acholi Parliamentary Group chairman), interrupted and ordered her to get out of the hall since her statements were radicalising the locals in the hall.

“If it’s new, we welcome it, but if it is the old decision of 2019, we detest it because that decision of the government was based on wrong information,’’ he said.

READ: Are politicians fuelling the Apaa land conflict?

“If the government wants to evict the people forcefully and force them out of there without adequately compensating them, we will detest it and we will mobilise those people to resist until they are killed there,” he said.

“Why should you wait for three months, in fact, start the eviction tomorrow, it makes no difference. This is senseless, this is not what we agree for. You cannot compare the delicate Apaa matter to Elgon, Queen Elizabeth or Kyenjojo, come and kill our people here,” Mr Akol said.

Before MP Akol’s drama could end, his Kilak South County (MP) counterpart Gilbert Olanya joined him to charge towards a seemingly helpless Nabbanja, who quietly sat down and stared at Mr Akol who told locals inside the hall to march out in protest of Nabanja’s orders and directives.

In a two-minute quick mix, the UPDF 4th Division Commander, Brig Bonny Bamwiseki, and the Atik Battalion commander, Maj Caesar Olweny, rushed to protect Ms Nabbanja.

Other government officials present were Third Deputy Prime Minister Rukia Nakadama, Security minister Jim Muwhezi, Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Nobert Mao, and Northern Uganda minister Grace Freedom Kwiyocwiny.

Mr Michael Lakony, the chairman of Amuru District, said they were not ready to welcome the decision of the government since it did not declare the details of reports of the previous committees formed by President Museveni.

 “The President had already made an appointment of a judicial commission last year and he also directed the Acholi and Madi cultural institutions to jointly work on finding a solution to Apaa. All these reports we know were sent to the President. We need to see them to be sure that the decision of the Cabinet is binding before we can welcome it,” he said.

Mr Olanya demanded that until individuals arrested earlier on by security and imprisoned without charges are released, the decision becomes null and void.

“We have gone to Arua prison to check our own people who were arrested and 13 of them rotting in prison. At Upenjiji Prison in Adjumani, we have 25 of our people in there, we want all these people to be released before we can sit down, negotiate and welcome your decision,” Mr Olanya said.

ALSO READ: Security blocks Acholi MPs from accessing disputed Apaa land

Before Nabanja’s arrival, the Amuru leaders told her deputy, Ms Nakadama, that the government must adequately compensate the people of Apaa.

But Ms Nakadama said the government was going to see how best the affected people would be compensated.

Maj Gen Muwhezi said: “I have heard about the roadblocks in [Apaa] and you agree that they have stopped you from Amuru from going to Apaa, we are going to investigate this.’’ 

“We have heard the allegations that some people are being imprisoned or arrested over trumped-up charges, we are going to investigate this,” he added.

Background

In February 2022, the Ministry of Internal Affairs pointed to politicians to be catalysing the recurring tribal clashes and killings over the contested Apaa land between the Madi and the Acholi communities living in the area.

  According to the report which Daily Monitor saw a copy of, the investigators found out that several politicians, especially on the Madi side had made deliberate promises to reclaim the area for the Madi people.

 It also stated that the same politicians on either side had politically manipulated the volatile situation in the area to the disadvantage of the cultural and social structures that are used to settle such conflicts.

 The conflict in Apaa has been hijacked by politicians on either side to the disadvantage of the local cultural institutions through which land conflicts have always been resolved, it said.

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

 In their recommendations, the Joint Security Agencies said government should urgently consider engaging and restraining politicians named behind the clashes as well as resettling the inhabitants of Apaa.

 Despite the growing contention, the government has maintained its stand on evicting locals, alleging that they are illegally occupying the protected East Madi Game Reserve and Zoka Forest land all inside Itirikwa Sub-county in Adjumani District.

But the several attempts have ended with bloodshed, destruction of houses and household properties, arrest, and illegal detention of people perceived to be defiant.

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Apaa Village with an estimated population of 35,000 people was formerly under Lubla Parish, Pabo Sub-county, Amuru.

Compiled By Tobbias Jolly Owiny, Michael Ojok & Marko Taibot.

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