15,000 petition over Gulu varsity
Apr 29, 2009
OVER 15,000 landlords have petitioned the President to stop Gulu University from evicting them from their land. The landlords complained that the university officials had defied a permanent court injunction restraining them from trespassing and or acquiri
By Chris Ocowun
OVER 15,000 landlords have petitioned the President to stop Gulu University from evicting them from their land. The landlords complained that the university officials had defied a permanent court injunction restraining them from trespassing and or acquiring the land illegally.
They blamed the district land board for giving their land to the university for development without offering them alternative land for settlement and farming.
The petition was on Thursday presented to the senior presidential adviser on the north, Richard Todwong, to deliver to the President.
The landlords also accused the university officials of having the land surveyed without their authorisation.
They also complained that they had been blocked from surveying and marking their land by the district land board.
“With the increasing land disputes in the return villages, where does Gulu University want us to go?†Betty Abur, a landlord, asked.
Some local leaders accused the university officials of trying to bribe them so as to allow them survey the land, an allegation the vice-chancellor, Prof Nyeko Pen-Mogi, denied.
Joe Olar, a local leader, said: “I was called by the university authorities and offered sh200,000 for each day I work with the surveyor to open the boundary of the 742 hectares of land given to the university by Gulu land board.â€
Wilson Ojara, another leader, also accused the officials of meeting secretly with them and of trying to bribe them to evict the landlords.
Todwong advised the landlords to remain calm, saying he would inform the President about the matter.
“This makes me question the leaders we have in Acholi. Land for public good is not acquired the way Gulu University is doing. Institution’s like Gulu University are meant to train students and conduct research, but not venture into industrialisation.â€
He added that the Government would compensate those whose land had been taken up by the university.
OVER 15,000 landlords have petitioned the President to stop Gulu University from evicting them from their land. The landlords complained that the university officials had defied a permanent court injunction restraining them from trespassing and or acquiring the land illegally.
They blamed the district land board for giving their land to the university for development without offering them alternative land for settlement and farming.
The petition was on Thursday presented to the senior presidential adviser on the north, Richard Todwong, to deliver to the President.
The landlords also accused the university officials of having the land surveyed without their authorisation.
They also complained that they had been blocked from surveying and marking their land by the district land board.
“With the increasing land disputes in the return villages, where does Gulu University want us to go?†Betty Abur, a landlord, asked.
Some local leaders accused the university officials of trying to bribe them so as to allow them survey the land, an allegation the vice-chancellor, Prof Nyeko Pen-Mogi, denied.
Joe Olar, a local leader, said: “I was called by the university authorities and offered sh200,000 for each day I work with the surveyor to open the boundary of the 742 hectares of land given to the university by Gulu land board.â€
Wilson Ojara, another leader, also accused the officials of meeting secretly with them and of trying to bribe them to evict the landlords.
Todwong advised the landlords to remain calm, saying he would inform the President about the matter.
“This makes me question the leaders we have in Acholi. Land for public good is not acquired the way Gulu University is doing. Institution’s like Gulu University are meant to train students and conduct research, but not venture into industrialisation.â€
He added that the Government would compensate those whose land had been taken up by the university.