By KT Reporter
A section of Legislators from the Acholi Sub-region is expressing frustration over the prolonged delays in the commencement of the investigation into the Apaa land conflict by the Judicial Commission of Inquiry. Despite being established by President Yoweri Museveni on April 3, 2023, the commission, chaired by retired Chief Justice Bart Katureebe is yet to commence investigations into the disputed area claimed by both Amuru and Adjumani districts.
President Museveni inaugurated the five-member commission in August 2023, entrusting it with the task of probing and resolving the continued violent disputes in Apaa. Legislators in the sub-region, however, say more than a year into the inauguration, there isn’t any visible progress.
Betty Aol Ocan, the Gulu City Woman Member of Parliament, told Journalist Sunday in Gulu City that the delayed commencement of the commission’s work could be deliberate to frustrate efforts of resolving the conflict. Aol wondered how a commission inaugurated by the President fails to kick off their work despite the positive assurance the locals in the disputed area have been given.
She says since the commission and other committees have failed to give their reports on the conflict, its high time the Greater North Parliamentary Forum to step in demanding answers from the government on the conflict.
Gilbert Olanya, the Kilak South Member of Parliament in Amuru district however alleges that President Museveni despite constituting the Judicial Commission of Inquiry, he has no interest in resolving the conflict in Apaa. He described the pronouncement of the commission as a political statement to appease the people in the disputed area.
Efforts to get comments from the Secretary to the Judicial Commission of Inquiry were futile by press time. However, a source familiar with the matter but declined to be named since he is not authorized to speak on behalf of the commission told Uganda Radio Network that they couldn’t commence their work without finances.
“The reason why the commission couldn’t start is that the government wasn’t able to release the money. Hopefully, when they do release the money, the work may commence,” he said.
John Amos Okot, the Agago North County Legislator in Agago district, on the other hand, said the overdue probe by the commission into the root causes of the conflict is intentional to distract leaders from understanding the truth behind the conflict. Okot also accused a six-member select parliamentary committee that investigated the Apaa land conflict in 2019 of presenting a biased report, leaving out the truth of the land conflict.
In February 2020, a six-member select committee of Parliament, chaired by Agnes Ameede, in its report to the Parliament, indicated that the disputed Apaa Trading Center was inside Adjumani District Local government territory by eight kilometers. The committee had spent a year investigating the conflict and boundary tension after being formed on March 6, 2019. Okot, however, says with the unending trend of the conflict, the President should intervene in resolving the conflict, which has left scores killed and hundreds displaced over the years since 2012.
In August 2018, President Museveni who had visited the disputed Apaa area unveiled a three-point proposal to the people and leadership of Amuru and Adjumani districts aimed at providing an everlasting solution to the land standing boundary disputes.
The President’s proposal included the relocation and compensation of people outside the contested land but within Acholi land, allowing the locals to stay without further encroaching on government land and resettling of locals away from Zoka forest land to a populated land.
However, a committee instituted by the President and chaired by former Prime Minister Dr. Ruahakana Rugunda, comprising 18 members (nine from Acholi and nine from Madi) failed to agree on the three options.
Maj Gen Felix Busizoori, the Fourth Infantry Division Commander, last week told journalists that the challenges in Apaa are immense and need a strategic decision from the government. He says, nonetheless the UPDF is committed to ensuring peace prevails as it waits for decisions arising from the Judicial commission of inquiry investigation.
At least two people have been killed and two others injured in the disputed territory since the resurgence of violence on March 27. While Uganda Radio Network cant independently verify the data, local leaders in Amuru put the total number of those killed in Apaa conflict to 104 with over 50 missing since 2012.
Background
Apaa land conflict has been ongoing since 2012 when Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) assisted by the Uganda Police Force (UPF) forcefully begun evicting locals claiming they had encroached on parts of the 827 sq km of gazette East Madi Wildlife Reserve.
The tension further escalated on October 23 2017 when the government declared Apaa to be in Mungula Parish, Itirikwa Sub-county in Adjumani district and not under Labala Parish, Pabbo Sub-county in Amuru district. This ws after a contested 2015 demarcation of the border opening and demarcation exercise conducted in September 2015 that placed Apaa inside Adjumani, with Apaa being declared part of East Madi Wildlife Reserve-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
