Is The Issue Of Pastoralists In Teso Being Politicised?

By Okello JabweliAn ethnic standoff between locals and nomadic pastoralists who have settled in Teso is steadily building up.About 450 mainly Sabiny, Banyankole and Banyarwanda pastoralists with their herds of cattle are currently camped in several areas of Teso including Abuket, Kodike (both in Soroti), Agu (Kumi), and Achwale in Kaberamaido. The pastoralists say they migrated to Teso in search of water and pasture for their herds after being displaced in their former places of abode. A Sabiny elder in Abuket told The New Vision that they were displaced from their homes by marauding Karimojong cattle rustlers. The locals are apparently not jittery about the Sabiny who have promised to leave once they are guaranteed of security back home.The Agu group, comprising of Banyarwanda Balalos (pastoralists) say they trekked from Masindi following the privatisation of a government ranch they were occupying. “The new owner ordered us out and fenced off the place. He never gave us time to even pick our property,” a woman at Agu camp told The New Vision. The men trekked with their cattle through Apac and Lira along the shores of Lake Kyoga before settling in Teso. The women and children followed them by road. Apart from the Sabiny, the true identity of the other settlers is apparently not clear to the authorities. Whereas the perception among the locals is that all the others are Banyarwanda, there are some who are Banyankole of the Bahororo sub-tribe. The group in Agu last Thursday told Mary Mugyeni, the state minister for animal husbandry that they are Banyarwanda. “However, what is not clear is whether they are Banyarwanda of Rwandan origin or Banyarwanda of Uganda,” Mugyeni said.The 1995 Constitution lists the Banyarwanda as one of the tribes in Uganda. Mugyeni was part of Kiyonga’s ministerial team that visited Abuket and Agu on a fact finding mission delegation. Others on the delegation were state ministers Capt. Mike Mukula (Health), Grace Akello (Entandikwa) and Christine Aporu Okol (Disaster Preparedness. During the tour Mugyeni mostly interacted with the women. Teso leaders accuse the pastoralists of destroying the environment by cutting down trees and encouraging charcoal burning. They are also being accused of illegally erecting structures in wetlands and polluting water sources. Soroti district chairman, Capt. Emile Otekat accused the pastoralists of settling in the areas without the consent of local people, and of setting a bad example for the locals.“We had managed to educate our people about the need to protect and preserve wetlands now after these people came the locals also want to invade the wetlands,” he said. An unidentified woman at Abuket accused the pastoralists of being arrogant. She said the settlers offer no apologies to locals when the animals destroy their crops.There have also been allegations that the pastoralists are armed and that strange people visit their camps during the nights and vanish during the day. According to Bob Ngobi, the Regional Police Commander, the security agencies have so far not got any evidence that the herdsmen are armed.The grievances have set a stage for a potential bloodbath because the Iteso are now demanding that the ‘foreigners’ leave their land immediately. The Soroti district council last week passed a resolution ordering the expulsion of the settlers and barring any further migration into the district. Capt. Emile Otekat, the district chairman told a consultative meeting which Kiyonga had called at the Soroti Flying School, that his administration would implement the resolution to immediately rid the district of unwanted immigrants. There were indications during the meetings that other councils within the region would follow Soroti’s example and pass anti-immigration resolutions.Already several district leaders and MPs have issued ultimatums ordering the pastoralists to vacate or be dealt with. A June 28 deadline ordered by Kumi LC 5 chairman, Ismail Orot and a similar by the Kaberamaido district leadership all passed without incident following Kiyonga’s intervention. While addressing a cross-section of Teso leaders at Soroti Flying School, Kiyonga said government had received reports that ex-soldiers, youths and vigilantes were being mobilised in different parts of the region to forcefully flush-out the herdsmen. He added that he had also received reports that some leaders are going around Teso warning locals not to sell their land to people from other parts of the country. At Abuket Primary School, Soroti, Kiyonga and Amuria MP Ben Etonu had to calm an irate crowd that was chanting slogans against the settlers.At the Flying School meeting, Kasilo MP, Elijah Okupa, went to the extent of comparing the unfolding situation to the conflicts between Israel-Palestine, India-Pakistan and closer home — the recent Kibaale ethnic saga. “We don’t want to generate the kind of situation between Israel and Palestine here in Teso because this land belongs to the people of Teso. If we try forcing those pastoralists on our people that situation will come to pass,” he said.“We are ready to defend the land of Teso. The era of migrations stopped long ago. This is the 21st century and people are still migrating!” Okupa exclaimed. Ben Etonu said there would have been no problem had the local people been informed of the arrival of the settlers. “Instead what do we see? We are just seeing people arriving here in big numbers saying they were here before. In Teso there are two things you can’t tamper with. That is land and women. Actually people are not happy,” Etonu said. “These people should be relocated to a better place. There is even land between Sebei and Mbale.” Source Opak, a representative of Emorimor, the Teso cultural leader told Kiyonga that Teso is already over-populated. “There is no land for dumping. We are also producing children.” Addressing a rally at Abuket, Kiyonga warned against incitement and resorting to violence: “When we have a problem we should use the laws to solve them. We should not use spears and guns. We should use discussion. We should not make one part of Uganda to hate another,” he said, adding, “Nobody should fight one another. Nobody should abuse one another. The government we have was elected by you yourselves and it has no secret agenda against its people,” Kiyonga stressed.Through tact and patience the Kiyonga team managed to broker a one-week truce to enable government come-up with a comprehensive solution to the problem. As part of the deal, the NPC promised to communicate the government decision on the way forward latest July 4, 2002. The pastoralists and locals are both anxiously awaiting the government communication.In the meantime, the pastoralists are going about their lives normally. The leader of the Agu group told The New Vision that they have no problems with the area leadership and that they pay taxes like all the other citizens. The children are attending the nearby Agu primary school.The predicament of the pastoralists raises serious concerns regarding the future of nomadic pastoralism and the need for responsible leadership. With continued population increase and the development of ranches and other modern farming methods government has to seriously address the question of nomadic pastoralism. There is also a need for local leaders to avoid tribalising and politicising the plight of other people. It appears that the issue of the pastoralists has been unnecessarily blown out of proportion, tribalised and politicised. For instance during the Thursday meeting, several of the Teso political leaders gave the impression that the situation was running out of control and that environmental destruction was proceeding on massive scale. However, when Kiyonga and team visited Agu and Abuket, they discovered that there were hardly 30 people in both camps. Ngobi, the Regional Police boss, told this reporter that only 50 people are officially registered as living in Agu and that most of the settlers are in Kodike.As Kiyonga rightly pointed out, the solution to the problem of settlers cannot be a knee jerk reaction of whipping up public opinion against them. The solution not only has to be carefully thought out, it also has to be grounded in the law.Ends