ANALYSIS: Land killings in Apaa

The First deputy Prime Minister, Gen. Moses Ali, who is also the MP for Adjumani West, has been accused of having interests in the disputed land. Ali has denied these allegations saying he has no interest in the land. He in turn accuses some MPs in Acholi and the Amuru LC V chairperson for the recent violence.

On June 12, Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, accompanied by Lands Minister Betty Amongi and the minister for Disaster Preparedness, Hillary Onek, visited Acholi sub-region in yet another effort to find a lasting solution to the wrangle.

Interestingly, Rugunda refused to visit the epicenter of the conflict (Apaa) and instead chose to hold meetings in Gulu with the Acholi Paramount Chief, David Onen Acana II, and local leaders in Adjumani. The Acholi leaders were disappointed with the Prime Minister’s decision to cut short his visit to northern Uganda without reaching Apaa.

“You cannot do fact finding in Gulu or Amuru; you find the facts in Apaa where the incidents took place,” Gilbert Olanya, the MP for Kilak County said.

Leaders on both sides, the Madi and Acholi, say the land conflict is not ethnic. Anthony Akol, the MP for Kilak North has said the fighting is not between the Madi and Acholi.

Yet Olanya quickly adds that there seems to be “a tendency among Madi leaders that immediately after the demarcation; the Acholi people should vacate the land on the Adjumani side.

So who is behind these attacks and how come people who have been living around the disputed border for decades peacefully have now turned against one another?

Prof. Morris Ogenga Latigo who is the MP for Agago North and doubles as the chairperson of the Acholi Parliamentary Group told The Independent on June 19 that as happens with land matters in Uganda, the land question in Apaa has been politicized yet people should be looking at the technical facts. The people in Apaa say since the 1970s, they have lived in Apaa and no one questioned their existence.

“All along, they were served by Gulu District; even the Apaa Polling Station was in Gulu, so how come suddenly the people found themselves in Adjumani and a game reserve?” they say. But the Adjumani leaders also believe the disputed land somehow belongs to the Madi.

“If you scrutinise the official maps and zoom in on the Adjumani—Amuru District border very well, you will find that Apaa is not in Amuru District whatsoever,” Mark          Angel Dulu, the MP for Adjumani County East  said on June 18 while appearing on NTVU’s Talk of the Nation news segment.

Even then, Dulu says the call for redrawing the district border lines is for administrative purposes to spell out whose area of jurisdiction stops where.

Meanwhile Olanya told The Independent that the most important thing right now is that local leaders in the two districts must be sensitized to respect the Constitution of Uganda which emphasizes the freedom of Ugandan citizens to live anywhere in Uganda as long as they have acquired the land legally.

Museveni has now called for a formal investigation to find out what exactly happened and who was behind the latest skirmishes.

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