MP Birahwa fanning tribal hatred
Jul 11, 2007
NOMADIC herdsmen (Balaalo) have been accused of grabbing land in Bulisa. <b>Carol Natukunda </b>asked the leader of the Balaalo, Grace Bororoza, to give their side of the story. <br><br><b>QUESTION: Who are the Balaalo?<br>ANSWER:</b> They are Ugandans from the Banyankole and Banyarwanda ethnic g
NOMADIC herdsmen (Balaalo) have been accused of grabbing land in Bulisa. Carol Natukunda asked the leader of the Balaalo, Grace Bororoza, to give their side of the story.
QUESTION: Who are the Balaalo?
ANSWER: They are Ugandans from the Banyankole and Banyarwanda ethnic groups who have been in this country since time immemorial.
It is not a tribal group as people have been made to believe. They have been named Balaalo because of their occupation as cattle keepers. Balaalo means herdsmen.
Did you buy the land on which you are staying?
We have been here for a very long time. Bulisa is a new district. Originally it was in Masindi district. In 2001 the Government told us to leave the 60sq km of land which was given to the Mukwano Group.
We were compensated and everybody was happy. Before we moved we were given confirmation letters and permits. By 2004 we had shifted to Bulisa. We first rented land but later started buying land from the natives. Each individual made their own boundaries, built homes and lived happily.
Why the conflict now?
It is only a few Bagungu who want to get rid of the non-Bagungu. The first clash was in 2005. Some natives used to ask us how we came and whether we moved with permits. Then one day a pastoralist was killed by the Bagungu in unclear circumstances.
On May 31, 2007 hell broke loose. The area MP, Stephen Birahwa, arranged a meeting which he said was to show us our boundaries. When we went there we found Bagungu armed with axes, hoes, spears and pangas. They started clearing our gardens as if they were trying to beat a deadline.
A man hit me on the back and left me injured. One pastoralist intervened to rescue me, but the Bagungu still attacked us.
Is Birahwa involved in violence?
It beats my understanding how people change. Birahwa knows who the herdsmen are. He went to ask them for votes and they voted for him. Now he claims he doesn’t know them. We are at pain.
There are claims that the herdsmen did not buy the land and that the land is communal
The land is customary land; not communal. If it was communal, all the communities would have benefited from it. All the area land committees recommended us to obtain leases and we have the documents. All the agreements were verified by the LC officials. These LCs include Francis Opio, David Byenkya and Okumu. You cannot claim we forged the land agreements when all these officials gave us a go-ahead. We have all the documents.
Where do you get the guns from?
We have no guns. We have never known any guns. Never. In fact the people had reported us to the Government, Col. Leopold Kyanda came here but found no gun. Kyanda asked the local councils how we were getting on with the locals and they told him we were good people.
What do you think is the way
forward?
What is happening in Bulisa may happen anywhere in the country. We all need to know that. The faster we settle the ethnic differences, the better. What if everybody in Uganda was to say, ‘let’s kill every mulaalo,’ what would happen here?
Through our lawyers we are going to apply for Birahwa’s arrest. There was a court order which barred him from saying what he was saying but he has gone ahead with his utterances.
Then the issue of the Government recommending that we go to Kiboga may not work. When Gen. Tinyefuza came here, he recommended that we go to Kiboga, but when we went there, we found the place was already full. So we have no where to start from. How do you plan to move a community born in Masindi (Bunyoro) to Buganda?
QUESTION: Who are the Balaalo?
ANSWER: They are Ugandans from the Banyankole and Banyarwanda ethnic groups who have been in this country since time immemorial.
It is not a tribal group as people have been made to believe. They have been named Balaalo because of their occupation as cattle keepers. Balaalo means herdsmen.
Did you buy the land on which you are staying?
We have been here for a very long time. Bulisa is a new district. Originally it was in Masindi district. In 2001 the Government told us to leave the 60sq km of land which was given to the Mukwano Group.
We were compensated and everybody was happy. Before we moved we were given confirmation letters and permits. By 2004 we had shifted to Bulisa. We first rented land but later started buying land from the natives. Each individual made their own boundaries, built homes and lived happily.
Why the conflict now?
It is only a few Bagungu who want to get rid of the non-Bagungu. The first clash was in 2005. Some natives used to ask us how we came and whether we moved with permits. Then one day a pastoralist was killed by the Bagungu in unclear circumstances.
On May 31, 2007 hell broke loose. The area MP, Stephen Birahwa, arranged a meeting which he said was to show us our boundaries. When we went there we found Bagungu armed with axes, hoes, spears and pangas. They started clearing our gardens as if they were trying to beat a deadline.
A man hit me on the back and left me injured. One pastoralist intervened to rescue me, but the Bagungu still attacked us.
Is Birahwa involved in violence?
It beats my understanding how people change. Birahwa knows who the herdsmen are. He went to ask them for votes and they voted for him. Now he claims he doesn’t know them. We are at pain.
There are claims that the herdsmen did not buy the land and that the land is communal
The land is customary land; not communal. If it was communal, all the communities would have benefited from it. All the area land committees recommended us to obtain leases and we have the documents. All the agreements were verified by the LC officials. These LCs include Francis Opio, David Byenkya and Okumu. You cannot claim we forged the land agreements when all these officials gave us a go-ahead. We have all the documents.
Where do you get the guns from?
We have no guns. We have never known any guns. Never. In fact the people had reported us to the Government, Col. Leopold Kyanda came here but found no gun. Kyanda asked the local councils how we were getting on with the locals and they told him we were good people.
What do you think is the way
forward?
What is happening in Bulisa may happen anywhere in the country. We all need to know that. The faster we settle the ethnic differences, the better. What if everybody in Uganda was to say, ‘let’s kill every mulaalo,’ what would happen here?
Through our lawyers we are going to apply for Birahwa’s arrest. There was a court order which barred him from saying what he was saying but he has gone ahead with his utterances.
Then the issue of the Government recommending that we go to Kiboga may not work. When Gen. Tinyefuza came here, he recommended that we go to Kiboga, but when we went there, we found the place was already full. So we have no where to start from. How do you plan to move a community born in Masindi (Bunyoro) to Buganda?