Four Acholi clans clash over land
Four Acholi clans in Gulu and Amuru districts clashed with spears, arrows, pangas and axes over land last week, leaving two people seriously injured.
By Chris Ocowun
Four Acholi clans in Gulu and Amuru districts clashed with spears, arrows, pangas and axes over land last week, leaving two people seriously injured.
The injured were identified as Obina Akwanya, 65, and Lugaza.
The fight started after people from one of the clans, Patiko – Panyangira from Aswa county in Gulu district, settled on a piece of land in Ogali village in Palyech parish, Amuru district.
The other clans - Palema, Pujwani and Koch-Padaca from Kilak county in Amuru district attacked them and torched their huts and crops, accusing them of settling on their land. “We fled after several men surrounded us,†Ejinio Opiro, the team leader of the victims, told journalists at Omee camp where they sought refuge.
He said this was the third time they are being attacked over land. Opiro claimed the land belonged to their great grandparents who migrated from the area because of a tsetse-fly infestation several years back.
But the leaders of the Palema clan also claim ownership of the same piece of land. “In December 2006, we erected sign posts on this land to indicate that we had booked it. But in January, we found when these people (Patiko–Panyangira) had destroyed all the posts and settled on the land. So we chased them away.
“This month, we came back and found they had returned. They refused to leave saying they were waiting for their traditional chief. We had no alternative but to fight them,†Alfred Okwonga narrated.
The warring clans had settled in Olwal, Amuru, Wi-anono, Keyo, Lacor and Pabbo, Awer, Parabongo and Patiko IDP camps because of the LRA insurgency in the north. Amuru district chairman Anthony Atube Omach advised the warring clans to return to the areas where they originally lived before they were displaced by the LRA war.
“It will be a shame for other tribes to hear that Acholi people are now fighting among themselves over land,†he said. Omach blamed some Gulu leaders for ferrying people from other areas to Amuru.
Four Acholi clans in Gulu and Amuru districts clashed with spears, arrows, pangas and axes over land last week, leaving two people seriously injured.
The injured were identified as Obina Akwanya, 65, and Lugaza.
The fight started after people from one of the clans, Patiko – Panyangira from Aswa county in Gulu district, settled on a piece of land in Ogali village in Palyech parish, Amuru district.
The other clans - Palema, Pujwani and Koch-Padaca from Kilak county in Amuru district attacked them and torched their huts and crops, accusing them of settling on their land. “We fled after several men surrounded us,†Ejinio Opiro, the team leader of the victims, told journalists at Omee camp where they sought refuge.
He said this was the third time they are being attacked over land. Opiro claimed the land belonged to their great grandparents who migrated from the area because of a tsetse-fly infestation several years back.
But the leaders of the Palema clan also claim ownership of the same piece of land. “In December 2006, we erected sign posts on this land to indicate that we had booked it. But in January, we found when these people (Patiko–Panyangira) had destroyed all the posts and settled on the land. So we chased them away.
“This month, we came back and found they had returned. They refused to leave saying they were waiting for their traditional chief. We had no alternative but to fight them,†Alfred Okwonga narrated.
The warring clans had settled in Olwal, Amuru, Wi-anono, Keyo, Lacor and Pabbo, Awer, Parabongo and Patiko IDP camps because of the LRA insurgency in the north. Amuru district chairman Anthony Atube Omach advised the warring clans to return to the areas where they originally lived before they were displaced by the LRA war.
“It will be a shame for other tribes to hear that Acholi people are now fighting among themselves over land,†he said. Omach blamed some Gulu leaders for ferrying people from other areas to Amuru.