There is value in pastoralists
Sep 02, 2011
IN the <i>New Vision</i> of August 24, Lilly Adong, the Woman Member of Parliament for Nwoya District wrote that the “Balaalo farmers are of no benefit to the people of Nwoyaâ€.
Dr Ephraim Kamuhangire
IN the New Vision of August 24, Lilly Adong, the Woman Member of Parliament for Nwoya District wrote that the “Balaalo farmers are of no benefit to the people of Nwoyaâ€.
She was reacting to Bosco Ochira’s concern in the same paper of August 18 in which he said that “Nwoya selfish decision exposes us to povertyâ€.
These exchanges were in respect of the eviction of the pastoralists (derogatorily referred to as Balaalo) from Nwoya district.
While Ochira condemned the act and sees value in living with the pastoralists and suggests tracts of land which should have been given to them to live in, Adong, contrary to public expectation, as a leader, commends the eviction and pours a lot of wrath against the pastoralists.
There is nowhere in Ochira’s article except in the MP’s mind where he says, “chased from everywhere they try to settle, the Balaalo pastoralists have become a national issueâ€. She was referring to the pastoralists’ eviction from the Lake Kyoga basin, West Nile and Buliisa. What Adong does not know is that the pastoralists are still in the Lake Kyoga basin and they have been there as far back as 1931 because in the National Census of that year there were 30 pastoralists there.
Ochira rightly observes that the “Balaalo are also Ugandans†and according to the Constitution, everyone is free to settle anywhere in Uganda.
Ochira had suggested that the Nwoya district authorities should have handled the issue more humanely.
There is no doubt that the pastoralists’ cattle might have strayed and destroyed people’s crops. But it might have been accidental rather than intentional, which Adong wishes the public to believe. In normal circumstances, the local authorities should have settled such cases.
She says the Acholi co-existed with the Alur, Bagisu, Baganda and the Sudanese over decades because they practice common farming but the Balaalo have failed to integrate with the Acholi. She accuses them of defying their landlords, claiming that the Ankole cows are theirs, travelling at night and being armed.
What Adong failed to know is that although the Acholi and the Balaalo follow different economic pursuits, integration is gradual. It takes time and in a conducive atmosphere.
Adong says “pastoralism is a primitive way of farming†but I think she meant nomadism. This is because if she went to Kiruhura district with the other MPs recently, she must have appreciated that pastoralism is not what she knew. She must have seen well developed ranches and many milk vans loaded with cans of milk plying the road from Rushere to Kampala. Pastoralism has become an important economic activity in other districts as well.
I am sure upon her return, she would have advised the Nwoya leadership to treat the pastoralists as a new form of economic advantage to Nwoya district where part of the 80% idle land would be devoted to cattle farming. In this way, they would be of benefit to Nwoya people.
The 5,000 to 7,000 heads of cattle which were chased from Nwoya would have multiplied and the district would eventually become a supplier of cattle products. In this way, the Acholi would be employed and the district would be developed. I need not remind us of the role the pastoralists played in the Lake Kyoga basin in the 1960s and 1970s in the establishment and sustenance of the Soroti meat packers.
We need people like Ochira who are farsighted and nationalistic, who see a lot of value in the pastoralists settling in Nwoya district. The eviction of the Balaalo from Nwoya was not only unconstitutional but also unwise. If there are still a few who are still there, they should be protected and more should be encouraged to return if Nwoya district is to develop and reduce poverty among its people.
The writer is senior presidential adviser on cultural matters
IN the New Vision of August 24, Lilly Adong, the Woman Member of Parliament for Nwoya District wrote that the “Balaalo farmers are of no benefit to the people of Nwoyaâ€.
She was reacting to Bosco Ochira’s concern in the same paper of August 18 in which he said that “Nwoya selfish decision exposes us to povertyâ€.
These exchanges were in respect of the eviction of the pastoralists (derogatorily referred to as Balaalo) from Nwoya district.
While Ochira condemned the act and sees value in living with the pastoralists and suggests tracts of land which should have been given to them to live in, Adong, contrary to public expectation, as a leader, commends the eviction and pours a lot of wrath against the pastoralists.
There is nowhere in Ochira’s article except in the MP’s mind where he says, “chased from everywhere they try to settle, the Balaalo pastoralists have become a national issueâ€. She was referring to the pastoralists’ eviction from the Lake Kyoga basin, West Nile and Buliisa. What Adong does not know is that the pastoralists are still in the Lake Kyoga basin and they have been there as far back as 1931 because in the National Census of that year there were 30 pastoralists there.
Ochira rightly observes that the “Balaalo are also Ugandans†and according to the Constitution, everyone is free to settle anywhere in Uganda.
Ochira had suggested that the Nwoya district authorities should have handled the issue more humanely.
There is no doubt that the pastoralists’ cattle might have strayed and destroyed people’s crops. But it might have been accidental rather than intentional, which Adong wishes the public to believe. In normal circumstances, the local authorities should have settled such cases.
She says the Acholi co-existed with the Alur, Bagisu, Baganda and the Sudanese over decades because they practice common farming but the Balaalo have failed to integrate with the Acholi. She accuses them of defying their landlords, claiming that the Ankole cows are theirs, travelling at night and being armed.
What Adong failed to know is that although the Acholi and the Balaalo follow different economic pursuits, integration is gradual. It takes time and in a conducive atmosphere.
Adong says “pastoralism is a primitive way of farming†but I think she meant nomadism. This is because if she went to Kiruhura district with the other MPs recently, she must have appreciated that pastoralism is not what she knew. She must have seen well developed ranches and many milk vans loaded with cans of milk plying the road from Rushere to Kampala. Pastoralism has become an important economic activity in other districts as well.
I am sure upon her return, she would have advised the Nwoya leadership to treat the pastoralists as a new form of economic advantage to Nwoya district where part of the 80% idle land would be devoted to cattle farming. In this way, they would be of benefit to Nwoya people.
The 5,000 to 7,000 heads of cattle which were chased from Nwoya would have multiplied and the district would eventually become a supplier of cattle products. In this way, the Acholi would be employed and the district would be developed. I need not remind us of the role the pastoralists played in the Lake Kyoga basin in the 1960s and 1970s in the establishment and sustenance of the Soroti meat packers.
We need people like Ochira who are farsighted and nationalistic, who see a lot of value in the pastoralists settling in Nwoya district. The eviction of the Balaalo from Nwoya was not only unconstitutional but also unwise. If there are still a few who are still there, they should be protected and more should be encouraged to return if Nwoya district is to develop and reduce poverty among its people.
The writer is senior presidential adviser on cultural matters