Museveni again orders Balaalo out of north 

President Museveni has given two months to the Balaalo herdsmen to vacate northern Uganda or face forceful eviction and prosecution.

 In a letter dated November 2 to the Prime Minister, Ms Robinah Nabbanja,  Mr Museveni described the herdsmen as illegal migrants whose animals remain a persistent problem to the farming communities in the north, specifically in the Acholi sub-region. 

“Those Balaalo should be given two months to leave the whole north unless they prove that they fulfill these minimum conditions; lease or buy land but also have it fenced very securely before the introduction of cattle thereon and also with water within the land.”

 “Furthermore, the necessary laws should be amended to provide for imprisonment (possibly 5 years) and the confiscation and auctioning of the cattle involved in this endemic indiscipline.” Mr Museveni wrote.
 To enforce his directive, Mr Museveni named a three-man committee of Gen David Muhoozi (State minister of Internal Affairs),  Bwogo Engola and Col Bright Rwamirama (State Minister for Agriculture in-charge of Animal Husbandry). 
He said the directive will also be overseen by RDCs, sub-county chiefs, parish chiefs and veterinary staff in all the affected areas.

 Mr Museveni said the herdsmen did not follow the procedures involved in moving their animals to the north, and that their illegal activities were tainting the image of the NRM. 

 “These people have neither moral right nor justification to do what they are doing. These are cattle owners from Ankole, Rwanda, Congo, etc who refuse to abandon nomadism allowing their cattle to trample on peoples crops and also generate political misunderstandings,” he said.
 “Some of the Balaalo being Banyankole or Banyarwanda, the traditional inhabitants of Ankole, the victim communities on account of their indiscipline, erroneously think that the government I lead, is the one encouraging them to commit aggression against other communities,” he said.

 He said because the NRM government resettled all the nomadic pastoralists in western Uganda when it captured power in 1986, the Balaalo should have no excuse of disturbing the peace and prosperity in other communities with their animals.
 “Therefore, these Balaalo are either non-Ugandans from neighbouring countries or indisciplined Ugandans that sold the land we gave them and are now disturbing others. They should, therefore, not be tolerated,” the President said.

Mr Museveni’s letter follows concerns recently raised by religious, cultural and political leaders of Acholi that the presence of the herdsmen was compromising their security, social and economic progress.  This is the second directive Mr Museveni is issuing following the first directive four years ago. 
On October 24, 2017, President Museveni directed the army and the Agriculture ministry to evict the Balaalo pastoralists from northern Uganda. 

Between September 2015 and August 2016, the local leaders from Gulu, Amuru, and Nwoya districts ordered the pastoralists to evacuate since some had guns and were threatening the lives of local farmers. 
The number of the herdsmen now spread across Acholi Sub-region has reportedly increased since 2017 amid growing concerns over land rights and conflict.

Earlier concerns
Early this month, the cultural and political leaders in Acholi issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Balalo herdsmen to leave or face forceful eviction. The leaders said the influx of the herdsmen was compromising security in the region and also spreading cattle diseases and causing widespread land wrangles.
 Mr Anthony Akol, the Acholi Parliamentary Group chairperson,  said: “Areas with disease outbreaks are full of these herdsmen, with their cattle destroying our crops because where they are operating is not fenced and there are rising cases of killings, theft of livestock, assault, and defilement of young girls,” he said.

 “We agreed and are ordering that the Balaalo cattle keepers who are illegally in Acholi land must vacate within two weeks or face forceful eviction,” Mr Akol warned. 
On October 18, the Acholi Paramount Chief David Onen Acana II told Local Government minister Raphael Magyezi that the cultural institution was moving towards formulating by-laws and ordinances to curb unnecessary sale of land to pastoralists in the region.
 He said the rampant sales and lease of land to the pastoralists had resulted in widespread wrangles over land ownership, with some deaths recorded.

The institution argues that land in Acholi is clustered into farmland, communal grazing land and communal hunting grounds which are not owned by individuals and cannot be sold out by any individual. It also said the fresh influx of the Balaalo is distorting the Acholi systems of food production and security with widespread land wrangles it is struggling to mediate. 
In an interview, Mr William Komakech, the Kitgum RDC, said they were ready as a district to enforce the directive.

 But Gulu RDC Odong Latek said the herdsmen have shunned orders last week by the district security committee to register themselves and their animals. Mr Odong said there were reports of gun violence, and defilement perpetrated by the herdsmen in the district.

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