Lamwo district postpones eviction of Balaalo over Oulanyah’s death

Lamwo district has postponed the planned eviction of the Balaalo pastoralists following the death of Jacob Oulanyah, the Speaker of Parliament.

On Sunday, the security committee of Lamwo, together with clan leaders held a meeting at Palabek Town Council and resolved to start the eviction on Monday from Anaka Parish in Palabek Gem Sub-County.

However, the RDC of Lamwo District, James Kidega, says following the death of Oulanyah, the Prime Minister of Palabek Cultural Institution, called him and said his team is mourning the death of Oulanyah and will only resume the planned eviction after he has been laid to rest.

Kidega says initially there were 19 kraals and more than 3,700 animals belonging to the Balaalo in the district, who were scattered in the sub-counties of Palabek Gem, Abera, Ogili, and Padwat.

He however reveals that about 530 animals and their owners were driven out by the members of the community when President Museveni ordered their eviction, while others sold their animals and left the district.

On November 2nd, 2021, President Museveni, through a letter to Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, ordered for the eviction of all pastoralists in Northern Uganda, saying they are illegal migrants whose animals remain a persistent problem to the farming communities in the north, especially in Acholi sub-region.

In January, the State Minister for Internal Affairs Gen. David Muhoozi launched a phased operation to evict illegal and non-compliant pastoralists from Acholi, Lango, and West Nile Sub-regions.

Codenamed “Safisha Kilimo Na Mifugo”, the operation was expected to last for three months, to ensure a safe and lawful eviction of all defiant Balaalo from the region. Each phase was scheduled to last two weeks under normal circumstances, and a maximum of a month, if the two weeks did not suffice. The whole exercise was therefore to end in two months.

However, Kidega says the President gave the dateline without considering the hinderances.

Last month, Akaka and other clan leaders in the district rejected any planned verification of pastoralists in the district, saying all the land they are using is communally owned and was leased fraudulently, hence they must all leave the district.
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