Nobert Mao: Apaa Continues To Bleed

Apaa land located in Amuru, Acholi sub region has been disputed for a very long time between the Acholi people settling on the land and the government which is intending to have the land for investors to develop it. But with the cries of the Acholi people who gets displaced every day and their properties looted everyday, the intended will of the government seems a long way to accomplish as it just seems impossible. Recently, the UPDF has been accused of beating citizens and using force to evict the victims from their land of settlement as they seem to have no where to go.

Nobert Mao, who is an Acholi himself and the President of Democratic Party (DP) accused the government of trying to forcefully evict the Acholi community in Apaa land forcefully and betraying the trust that the Acholi people had place on him.

APAA CONTINUES TO BLEED!

Apaa: Evidence that demands a verdict!

By Norbert Mao

"I have seen the humiliation of my people and heard their cry." (Exodus 3:7)

Pictures of mothers of Acholiland daring Gen. Aronda and Minister Migereko to look at their helpless nakedness turned Apaa into a byword for government's heartless highhandedness. The Apaa strip down added a remarkable chapter to the record of protests in Uganda. Many commentators have attempted to explain what happened when Internal Affairs Minister Gen. Aronda Nyakairima and Lands Minister Daudi Migereko were confronted by thousands of desperate residents of Apaa carrying placards protesting the plan by the government to evict them from their land. Some of the placards bore writings calling upon Joseph Kony and the LRA to return and help them defend their land! Some women also stripped down in front of the two ministers, their entourage and heavily armed security detail. They fell down summersaulting and wailing in protest against what they saw as an imminent land grab disguised as boundary demarcation.

Since then Apaa has witnessed even more episodes of violence. The last episode was even more gruesome. Five people were confirmed dead and over thirty wounded. Many others are still missing. The truth is currently clouded by protagonists trading accusations. No solution oriented debate is taking place. Both sides are generating more heat than light.

In 2002 I was a Member of Parliament when the matter of East Madi Hunting Area was brought before the August house by the then Minister of State for Tourism and Wildlife Otim Omara. Gen. Moses Ali was then the substantive minister. In addition, in 2006, I was still in charge of the districts that now comprise Gulu, Amuru and Nwoya. I was also at the centre of the Juba Peace Talks and the processes that saw displaced people return from the government created concentration camps back to their villages when the guns finally fell silent in Northern Uganda.

Uganda Wildlife Authority(UWA) states that in 1998 it applied to Gulu District Local Government for the land that had been proposed to be a game reserve. Hon. Betty Aol Ocan, Gulu Woman MP who was at that time a District Councillor confirms this fact. As a member of the District Council's General Purposes Committee, Hon. Betty Ocan travelled with other Councillors to Apaa. The District Chairman at that time was Col. Walter Ochora. Gulu District rejected the application. UWA applied to Gulu because they knew that Apaa is in Kilak County, Gulu district. Maps dating back to 1936 attest to this fact. Curiously, after being snubbed by Gulu, UWA then applied to Adjumani District which gave the game reserve a nod. Amuru District local government strongly protested this move and vowed that the idea was unacceptable. 

In 2012 the Uganda Wildlife Authority sent armed Rangers with the backing of police and the army to forcefully evict the residents of Apaa. People were beaten up, their livestock raided, their houses burnt and their crops set on fire. Some young men were shot dead in the operation. Twenty five men were arrested, beaten severely, taken to Adjumani where they were charged with offenses ranging from criminal trespass, being idle and disorderly to threatening violence. I can attest to this because I travelled to Adjumani in the company of Kilak MP Gilbert Olanya in an effort to get bail for the 25 who were detained in Adjumani Government Prison. We had to spend a night in the open compound of Adjumani Chief Magistrates Court in protest at the unnecessary delay by the Magistrate in processing bail. For sure he was under immense political pressure not to grant bail yet bail is a constitutional right. I had to contact Justice James Ogoola to intervene and remind the Magistrate of his judicial oath. Eventually the 25 were released on bail and we took them back to Apaa.

One primary school was closed down, the pupils and teachers sent away and the school desks were being used as firewood by the army and police. In fact the school became the command post of the army complete with a road block on the road leading to the school. I know this for a fact because I visited the area and even spoke to the officers in charge.

The militarist approach in Apaa did not resolve matters. Tensions continued and they continue today. In this situation leaders cannot keep silent. They should not be blackmailed into silence for fear that they will be misunderstood. We expect our leaders to amplify the agony of the ordinary suffering people instead of grandstanding as the voice of reason as opposed to the rest of us who are now being projected as unreasonable, self-seeking extremists blinded by our hatred of President Museveni. In my opinion, the only common denominator in Apaa is a high handed state not the so called self-seeking politicians both in Amuru and Adjumani districts. We refer to the Ugandan state because the state has now been captured by individuals greedy for wealth and power. The whole country is on auction. Public assets serve the private interest of powerful individuals. The greedy and powerful people orchestrating this conflict have succeeded in inciting the people to turn on each other with machetes, spears and arrows instead of standing shoulder to shoulder against a predatory state. Why should Acholi and Madi peasants kill each other yet they both groan under the whip of a common oppressor? Indeed, they are like grasshoppers in a bottle eating up each other instead of focusing on emancipating themselves.

The whole saga is surreal. If both the Madi and the Acholi people face eviction as encroachers on a wildlife reserve, then why would the Madi raid Acholi villagers in Apaa, yet by the action of their local government they are said to have willingly given away the land to Uganda Wildlife Authority? If Apaa is in Adjumani District how come all polling stations there are under Kilak? Indeed I campaigned in Apaa in 2006 while seeking election as District Chairman. The so called new boundary is a fake concoction of people pushing an anti people agenda. It is like putting a square peg in a round hole. Facing imminent eviction, Apaa residents through their leaders ran to court. They got an injunction stopping the government from evicting them and carrying out any border demarcations. The government ignored the court order and ordered a forceful survey and border demarcation. What do you do when the custodian of the law becomes an outlaw? In this situation of state lawlessness, anarchy was unleashed. Kilak County MP Gilbert Olanya led the residents in disrupting the survey process. The survey was preceded by the deployment of heavily armed police and army personnel. The aim of the deployment was to subdue the residents violently in order for the government to demarcate boundaries between the districts of Amuru and Adjumani. They also claim that they wanted to demarcate the boundary of the contentious East Madi Hunting Area.

We can conclude that this forceful eviction is being driven by a profit motive. It has nothing to do with protection of wildlife. There is very little wildlife in the area. We are also aware that the area had been offered to one Bruce Martin, a foreign investor, to be developed as a private game ranch and hunting area.Only open and transparent dialogue with the affected communities can resolve this matter. Force and violence by the army and police will only escalate an already volatile situation. For centuries the people of Madi and Acholi have coexisted and lived peacefully and there has never been any dispute over the administrative boundaries of the two districts. A case in point is Bibia Parish which is located in Attiak Sub-county, Amuru District and has a considerable population of ethnic Madi people. The administrative boundaries of Amuru and Adjumani are well known. That is why we believe that this current dispute is being orchestrated by greedy people who have selfish interests.

So what is to be done? First, the outcome of the illegal and unilateral survey and boundary opening at the instance of Adjumani or the central government should be rescinded. The demarcation was done in contempt of a court injunction.

econd, a meeting of the communities that reside in the affected area should be convened so that they become part of the efforts to seek a solution rather than being victimised by decisions and actions imposed from above. Third, mediators should be sought and asked to get involved in facilitating dialogue by the affected communities. Finally, government should act impartially and without any undue delay in order that an amicable solution to this problem be found." Nobert Mao