Oulanyah, Rugunda to camp in Apaa

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The new committee appointed to look into the Apaa land dispute plans to camp in the area.

President Museveni recently appointed Deputy Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah and Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda to lead yet another investigation into the contentious Apaa boundary dispute between the Madi and the Acholi in Adjumani and Amuru.

Other members of the committee are General Moses Ali, Minister of Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Hillary Onek, Lands Minister Betty Amongi and Ephriam Kamuntu the Minister for Wildlife, Tourism and Antiquities and Sam Cheptoris the Minister for Water and Environment.

Oulanyah says that they intend to camp for days in Zoka C which was not looked at in the initial committee, and Apaa village areas in Adjumani and Amuru districts so as to get a conclusive understanding of the problem.

According to Oulanyah, the entire team is expected to camp in Apaa, guided by experts in regards to the Apaa conflict.

Oulanyah says currently they have a draft term of reference to scrutinize the Apaa dispute and will soon be meeting the Attorney General to finalise on the terms of reference.

Among other things, the committee hopes to look at the issues of the concessions given to one investor Bruce Martin,  Zoka C, issues for compensation of people killed, and items lost among others.

He says they are only waiting for Rugunda to return from his trip abroad before they can embark on their journey to Apaa.

According to Oulanyah, they will also be travelling to London to extract the original colonial maps that should place the exact location of Apaa and East Madi game reserve. He says as a committee, they will not mind engaging the services of an independent map reader from overseas who has no interest in the matter.

“We know that East Madi actually has to be in Madi, but what we want to find out is where the boundaries of Amuru and Adjumani are,” Oulanyah says.

He says the committee will release independent findings, and employ professional people to help in the scrutiny of the work before a report is written and submitted to the President.

The new committee was set up at the backdrop of a Government directive to evict over 300 residents of Apaa who are allegedly occupying the East Madi Game reserve.

The Apaa boundary dispute started in 2012 when Adjumani district council gazetted the area as East Madi Game Reserve, a move which was opposed by authorities in Amuru district, who equally claimed rights over the same land.

In 2015, the government forcefully planted mark stones in Apaa Village to demarcate boundaries amidst protests from Amuru residents which led to the injuring of more than 21 people as police used live bullets to disperse them.

In 2017, Minister Tom Butime declared that indeed Apaa was part of Adjumani.

A committee chaired by Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda and a 8-member team from Acholi and Madi side were formed to investigate the matter in vain.

The Acholi team chaired by Dr Daniel Komakech, a renowned academician from Gulu University settled for degazettement of the disputed area for human settlement while the Madi team, on the other hand, settled for the relocation of the residents.

Conflicts between the two communities have been continuously characterized by attacks of the occupants with machetes and arrows, torching of grass thatched houses, something that has led to the displacement of hundreds of residents of the area.

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