OVER 3,000 CATTLE EXIT ACHOLI, WEST NILE SUB-REGIONS AS EVICTION ORDER BITES

A herdsman drives his livestock on a community land during a confrontation with local leaders and residents in Palaro Subcounty, Gulu District on November 23 2023.
 
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More than 3,000 heads of cattle belonging to migrant cattle keepers commonly known as Balaalo have been moved out of the Acholi and West Nile Sub-regions as security forces start enforcing President Yoweri Museveni’s Executive Order No. 2.

The voluntary eviction, which started on June 25, is being implemented by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), assisted by the Uganda Police Force. It comes during the second phase of a grace period provided by the army ahead of full enforcement of the presidential directive, which bans migratory herders from grazing their cattle in North and North-Eastern Uganda.

The Presidential directive, first issued in May 2023 and reaffirmed on June 1 this year, aims to address persistent land conflicts, farm destruction, and community tensions caused by the large-scale livestock herding by the migrant cattle keepers.
 
Maj Gen Felix Busizoori, the Commander of the fourth infantry division, told Uganda Radio Network in an interview Sunday that so far 3,119 heads of cattle have exited the sub-regions of Acholi and West Nile by June 28.

Gen Busizoori, who is heading the eviction operation in West Acholi and West Nile, noted that despite resistance claims from a section of people, some cattle keepers have heeded the President’s directive and started voluntarily exiting Northern Uganda.
 
“So far, there are 3,119 as per yesterday (June 28). These are from my area in West Acholi and West Nile,” said Gen Busizoori.
 
He noted that the exercise was going on well without major challenges, adding that cattle keepers who had not secured transport were already in the process of selling some of their cattle to get money for hiring trucks.

According to Gen Busizoori, the majority of the cattle within the two sub-regions had already been removed from the kraal and assembled in holding grounds within respective sub-counties, waiting for transportation.
 
The army had given two weeks for the cattle keepers to voluntarily transport their cattle from the two sub-regions before a forceful enforcement of the directives commences.  

The whole eviction exercise, codenamed Operation Harmony, had been scheduled to last for 65 days and would be conducted in phases.
 
However, last week, more than 300 cattle keepers ran to the Civil Division of the High Court in Kampala challenging the government's eviction exercise. 

They argue that the exercise is being conducted without due verification to determine their land ownership status in Northern Uganda, a move they say violated their constitutional rights. 
 
Gen Busizoori noted that the exercise will go on despite the petition, arguing that no other directive had been issued by the president regarding the operation. 
 
The President’s Executive Order no 2, issued on June 1 this year, complements an earlier executive order no 3, issued in May 2023, in which the president echoes displeasure with migratory cattle keeping.

In the latest executive order, the President issued an order banning what he describes as the danger of primitive agricultural practices transported from one rural area to another.
 
“Therefore, this primitive spreading of land misuse that moreover, disturbs the indigenous communities by free-ranging livestock eating their crops is hereby banned completely. I direct that the Attorney General draft a law that criminalizes these practices,” the executive order reads in parts.

The President, however, noted that while some enlightened farmers might have fenced off their land and have a permanent water source, the question remains on the type of land they bought, whether they were legitimately bought, and haven’t blocked community water access points.
 
Museveni suggested that to address the concerns, there is a need to remove all cattle brought by Balaalo to achieve a long-term solution of banning completely any movement of free-ranging livestock.

He also set up a committee that will only audit claims of the cattle keepers who say they bought land legitimately and have met all the directives after all cattle have been evicted from the region.
 
Last week, leaders from the Acholi Sub-region jointly in a resolution welcoming the Presidential executive orders no 3 and no 2 and tasked the President to ensure their implementation succeeds. The leaders comprised elders, religious leaders, opinion leaders, and cultural leaders.

Robert Mugabe, who read the joint resolution, noted that leaders from the sub-region must be involved in all the technical processes of the verification exercises involving the eviction of the migrant cattle keepers. 

“As Acholi, we commit to the full and successful realization of all aspects of executive orders. The meeting implores that Acholi should be properly represented in all technical processes that include verification regarding the eviction of Balaalo,” he said.
 
An estimated 200,000 cattle belong to migrant cattle keepers in Northern Uganda with the bulk being kept in the Acholi Sub-region.