Fresh tension as ‘Balalo’ herdsmen return to Lamwo

Lamwo, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Balalo pastoralists have returned to Lamwo district six months after their eviction. In November 2021, President Museveni ordered the eviction of all pastoralists from Northern Uganda in a letter to Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, arguing they were illegally operating in the sub-region and causing food insecurity in the north as their cattle trample on crops during grazing.

Following the order, at least ten pastoralists with an estimated 3,000 animals were driven out of Lamwo by April. However, leaders in Lamwo say the pastoralists have returned.

Joyce Oyella, the Palabek Gem and Palabek Abera sub-county female LCV councilor, says that she recieved a notice that the pastoralists are in Anaka South and Beyogoya villages in Anaka Parish, Palabek Gem sub-county. She revealed that when the leaders visited the affected areas, they found the pastoralists also cutting trees for commercial charcoal burning. Oyella says there is a need for the community members to work with the leaders so that the pastoralists are driven back to where they came from, because their animals are destroying the crops and rendering the land they are occupying uncultivable.

This is not the first time the pastoralists are being accused of deforestation. During their eviction in April, the herdsmen left behind 3,000 bags of charcoal in the district.

Geoffrey Osborn Oceng, the Lamwo Resident District Commissioner told Uganda Radio Network on Thursday that it is not clear when the pastoralists re-entered the district.

According to Oceng, the pastoralists, whose numbers are not yet known, are in Palabek Abera, Palabek Gem, Palabek Ogili, and Palabek Nyimur sub-counties. Oceng estimates that the cattle keepers who have been entering through Gulu and Amuru districts, have about 5,000 heads of cattle.

Oceng revealed that the district security team will on Monday next week start evicting the pastoralists because ‘‘there is already a standing order from the president.”

President Museveni has twice ordered the eviction of pastoralists from northern Uganda, on the same argument that their activities are impeding agriculture in the sub-region.

However, implementation has been a challenge, as the pastoralists keep moving back and forth. Local leaders have also attributed the futile attempts to evict the Balalo to support from land owners who are paid by the cattle owners to use their land.

*****

URN