MUSEVENI orders Balaalo off Acholi Land immediately within three weeks, listens to painful stories скачать в хорошем качестве

MUSEVENI orders Balaalo off Acholi Land immediately within three weeks, listens to painful stories

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has ordered the Balaalo with non-fenced farmland in the Greater North to leave the region within three weeks. The Greater North subregions which are being occupied by the Balaalo include Lango, Acholi and West Nile. “Those who have got cows in non-fenced areas must go immediately because this is recklessness. Anybody who has got cows in a non-fenced area, they must go. All of them,” the President said. President Museveni issued the order today while meeting residents of Okidi, Atiak sub-county in Amuru district. His visit is aimed at addressing the growing crisis of the settlement of Balaalo in the region. The President also ordered that the Balaalo who are occupying government land like in Lakang and Aswa ranch to vacate it. “They must leave. I give them three weeks to hire trucks and take their cows to wherever they take them. I would have confiscated the cows themselves but let them take their cows, sell them and do whatever they want to do,” he said. He disclosed that when he passed an Executive Order banning the Balaalo from Acholi, he started to hear different voices from people and as NRM, they always try to hear everybody to know their side and solve the issue harmoniously. “I therefore started with a group led by the Chief Justice, Owiny-Dollo and we had a long meeting in Entebbe, and I was taking notes. Then some of those they call Balaalo came. They came with landowners who either sold to them or rented land to them; they gave their version. I said no problem, I will come to one of the areas myself and hear directly from the people.” The President also revealed that the disagreement between the Balaalo and the people of Greater North mainly stems from the issue of destruction of crops and ownership of land in the area. “Now that does not deal with the issue of ownership. Whether you bought or rented, we shall handle that later because here, we are not handling the issue of ownership or renting contracts because whether you bought or rented, you have no right to destroy my crops and that is why I have already asked the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General to draft a law criminalising this type of nomadism. They must all go and I give them three weeks to leave and they should not go to invade other areas of Uganda, they should sell the cows, get money and do other things.” The President also promised that he is going to have a final meeting with the two opinions; the one who are for the immediate eviction of the Balaalo and the ones who are saying that go slowly. “I will have another meeting in Entebbe, and we will conclude,” he assured. “Now if there are people who have fenced their land, where they are renting and fenced properly, those ones can wait until we discuss in more detail. We shall discuss how to handle the issue of ownership and renting. That's the second issue because you hear these people saying this land is ours. The cultural leader is saying that it is for the Clan.” The President further requested the people of Acholi to be careful while dealing with the Balaalo issue because it is sensitive and can cause problems. “You should be careful, don't just talk about them anyhow, like Gilbert Olanya has been saying that “Balaalo cannot come to here because Acholi is Acholi land, Balaalo cannot come here”, then you put me in problems because during the war I found my people suffering in an IDP in Anaka, I asked them what they were doing there, they said they have nowhere to go because there's war here. I said Uganda is big, if there's war here, you go to other parts of Uganda, I told them to cross the Nile and go to the other side,” the President stressed. The President also blamed MPs and other leaders for the failure to push forward his program of commercializing agriculture, saying this would have solved the problem of underutilizing land. On the other hand, the President cautioned the people of Acholi and Greater North at large against land fragmentation and also asked cultural leaders to adjust on the laws governing clan land to facilitate development. Earlier on, the people of Acholi had reported to the President how some Balaalo illegally took over their land and how they mistreat them. Kilak North Member of Parliament, Hon. Anthony Akol told the President that the Executive Order No. 3. Which he passed clearly addresses the issues affecting the people of Acholi as far as the Balaalo are concerned. The Amuru District LC5 Chairperson, Mr. Michael Lakony said the matter is no joke and should be dealt with the utmost attention it deserves. He said the area is one of those which were highly affected by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and it's now on course of development. The event was also attended by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Norbert Mao, the Minister of State for Northern Uganda, Hon. Grace Freedom Kwiyucwiny, Members of Parliament, cultural leaders, among others.