🔊 UPDF evicts South Sudanese 'balaalo' from Atiak Sugar factory land
Reports reaching New Vision Online indicate that the pastoralists owning over 5,300 head of cattle have, since 2022, been illegally grazing the livestock inside the Atika Sugar land in Atiak sub-county, Amuru district.
The herders were escorted out of the plantation land and taken to the Uganda-South Sudan border by UPDF soldiers from the 63rd Battalion under the 4th Infantry Division. (New Vision/Files)
By Christopher Nyeko
Journalists @New Vision
AMURU - A group of Dinka nomadic pastoralists (balaalo) from South Sudan have been evicted from the land by the Uganda army (UPDF).
Reports reaching New Vision Online indicate that the pastoralists owning over 5,300 head of cattle have, since 2022, been illegally grazing the livestock inside the Atika Sugar land in Atiak sub-county, Amuru district.
The eviction, which was conducted between July 7 and 8, 2025, by a joint security team in Amuru and led by deputy Resident District Commissioner Prosocovia Acham, is taking place under the Presidential Executive Order Number 2 of 2025, which mandates the removal of all cattle illegally grazing in northern Uganda.
A plantation official told New Vision Online on July 7 that 2,580 cattle were moved on the first day and another 2,815 on the following day.
The herders were escorted out of the plantation land and taken to the Uganda-South Sudan border by UPDF soldiers from the 63rd Battalion under the 4th Infantry Division.
According to security officials, these balaalo crossed into Uganda with their herds in 2022 due to escalating insecurity in South Sudan and had since then settled on Atiak Sugar factory land.
Atiak Sugar Project spokesperson Leonard Komkech said the presence of cattle keepers on factory land has hindered operations for the past three years.
He noted that during the dry season, when grass is scarce, the herders would graze their cattle on the young sugarcane, which is irrigated.
The factory's management has estimated that between 8,000 and 10,000 herds of cattle were being illegally grazed within the Atiak Sugar plantation by both Dinka and other herdsmen.
Atiak Sugar Factory has a total of 25,000 acres of titled land acquired by the Government, of which 5,000 acres have been planted with sugarcane.
The factory hopes that with the current eviction of unauthorised cattle keepers from the plantation, the damaged cane will recover, and they anticipate resuming sugar production by late 2026 or early 2027.