LOCAL LEADERS TAKE SIDES AS BUGWERE AND BUDAKA SHED BLOOD OVER LAND

Oct 08, 2008

CUDDLING her six–month–old daughter, Justine Nabule struggles to fight back tears rolling down her face.

By FREDERICK WOMAKUYU

CUDDLING her six–month–old daughter, Justine Nabule struggles to fight back tears rolling down her face.

Nabule cannot believe she will not see her husband again. On September 9, Erukana Bukooli was killed by suspected Bagisu tribesmen as he tended his rice farm at the boundary of Mbale and Budaka districts in eastern Uganda. He left Nabule at home weeding beans and told her he would return with maize from their garden for the day’s meal.

Bukooli, a Mugwere, was involved in a row in which the Bagisu and Bagwere fought over the boundaries of Bugisu and Bugwere. He was hacked to death, while eight of his friends escaped with serious injuries.

“Shortly after my husband left, I heard screams and later someone told me the Bagisu and Bagwere were fighting. I was advised to stay at home for my safety,” Nabule narrates.

She claims Bukooli was killed by Bagisu youth who claimed Bukooli and his tribesmen had encroached on their 530-acre Namatala wetland.

Both communities grow rice, sugarcane and yams in the wetland. Edinan Piringo, the LC3 chairman of Kamonkoli in Budaka district, says they had co-existed peacefully, shared resources like water and food and grazed their animals until recently when jealousy and competition took centre stage.

“On average, farmers harvest 15 bags of rice from one acre. Each bag costs sh130,00,” he says. The disputed wetland is owned by the Government, so due to land scarcity, the communities agreed to cultivate it.

“The farmers divided the wetland amongst themselves. On average, an individual owns about one-and-a-half acres. But one can cultivate up to any size, depending on the available resources,” Piringo says.

The boundary dispute is political and historical. Bernard Mujasi, the LC5 chairman of Mbale, says the two communities are ignorant about the historical facts.

Mbale was a game reserve and no body except wild game inhabited the area.“By then, Bugisu and Bukedi had their headquarters in there. The Okona Commission, which was set up by the colonial government in 1962 managed to solve the issues,” he says.

Samuel Mulomi, the LC5 chairman of Budaka, says during the investigations, senior people like Yoswa Kirya, the father of former minster in Obote’s government Prof. George Kirya, lost their lives due to boundary disputes.

Mujasi says after the investigations, Bukedi was given 48 hours to re-locate to present day Tororo district. “The boundaries were demarcated and this was included in the 1962 Constitution. The people of Bukedi know this,” Mujasi says.

Mulomi says the wrangles began when the Bagisu crossed over to Budaka to attack its residents.

“They started by stealing food and when the owners of the plantations confronted them, they killed them. In 2007, the Bagisu hacked two people to death over boundary disputes,” Mulomi adds. “Since then, the Bagisu have killed three people and maimed six others,” he says.

However, the Bagisu claim it is the Bagwere who attacked them first. Ahmed Washaki, the LC3 chairman of Bungokho sub-county in Mbale, says: “The chairman of Budaka, together with his community, attacked the people of Bugisu first. They were armed, but people managed to escape, although their crops were destroyed.”

Mulomi says the group attacked fellow Bagwere and a few Bagisu and because some people’s crops had been destroyed, they had to fight back.

Bukooli’s mother, Janet Nakesa, was distraught and speechless when she learnt of son’s death. Three years ago, her two daughters died and for five years, Kepha Nakwaki, her husband, has been bed-ridden.

The eight survivors say 30 men armed with machetes descended on them, accusing them of encroaching on their land.

Abdul Kasaka, one of the survivors, says as they ran for safety, Bukooli stumbled and fell in a deep swamp, where he was hacked to death.

After the attack, the assailants, who had smeared their faces with mud, fled the scene.

Mulomi says the first killings occurred in 2007 and later that year, leaders, security officers and local communities from the two districts held several meetings and agreed that surveyors from the lands ministry settle the dispute.

“The team did its work, but we agreed that they report their findings to the chairpersons of the two districts. However, they did not and when we reviewed their work, they had extended the boundaries by 2.5km into Budaka,” adds Mulomi.

“The wetland was allocated to Mbale and the Bagwere were deprived of their prime land. This was the beginning of the conflict.”

However Washaki says the survey team did their work ably.

“In 2006, Mulomi promised the people of Bugwere that when elected, he would recover Mbale’s land that was grabbed during the partitioning of the districts at independence. He has failed to fulfill this and is now encouraging his people to attack the Bagisu,” he says.

But Mulomi accuses Washaki of fuelling the conflict by failing to arrest the culprits.

Mujasi advises that the two communities be left to co-exist because singling out people will lead to another major conflict.

The counter accusations from politicians are leaving the two communities in disarray. But many people are looking to the Government to intervene.

Recently, the Ministry of Local Government set up a committee to investigate the matter. Surveyors are expected to identify the 1962 boundaries and settle the matter.

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