The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Nabilatuk, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Association of the Karimojong elders has asked the government to allow them to handle cases of land dispute.
The elders made this on Tuesday and their discussion on land-related conflicts held at Lorengedwat Sub County in Nabilatuk district.
Charles Topoth the secretary in the Karamoja Elders Council says that the elders are concerned that many families are now left landless while others have died due to lack of proper mediation at the grass root.
“There are cases that the elders cannot handle cases like forced marriage, defilement, murder but land can be handled,” he said.
Martin Odongo one of the elders in the council said the matters related to land should be adjudicated within the clans and that the clan leaders must learn to express the truth because if they continue peddling lies, then they are bound to destroy the trust and system in place.
He assured the government that there will be no death over land if the government could only agree and empower the elders’ council.
“When I was still a young man, I used not to hear cases of land fight and death because the matter was being handled at the grass-root level by the elders and the aggrieved people are brought together to stay in harmony which is not the case as of now,” he said.
Odongo said solving land dispute does not need the court or any arrest because it triggers revenge from the community arguing that it’s only through dialogue that can solve the matter.
Mark Teko another elder said Karimojong have customary land system tenure whereby elders are the key holders of the land adding that giving them powers will address the land conflicts in the region.
He attributed the increasing land wrangles in Karamoja to the discovery of minerals where about 99% of the land has been leased to about 174 investors without consulting the landowners.
“Let government empowers us the elders to handle land issue there will be no death or displacement that will occur in Karamoja and the country at large,” he said.
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