Some few weeks ago, the Commander of the Field Artillery Division in Masindi, Colonel Fred Mugisha, sent me a message on the military radio saying that there were cattle-keepers in Buliisa who were misbehaving and disturbing the indigenous Bagungu of Buliisa. He said they were misbehaving by allowing their cattle to trample on the Bagungu’s crops (kwonesa) and, sometimes, beating the Bagungu. That same night I spoke to Colonel Mugisha on phone in order to get details. I asked him why the civilian authorities in Masindi were not taking action. As you know, since 1997, the authority in Uganda was decentralized: Veterinary, Agriculture, Education, Land matters, etc., are all handled at the district levels. Somebody cannot, for instance, acquire land for agriculture or ranching unless he gets it from the District Land Board. Somebody cannot move cattle even from one parish to another in the same sub-county without getting a cattle movement permit issued by the Chiefs. To move cattle between sub-counties in the same district, you must get a cattle movement permit from the District Veterinary Officer. To move cattle from one district to another one, you must get Veterinary permits from the receiving district as well as from the district where the cattle are moving from. The Commissioner of Veterinary services in Kampala is only involved if cattle are moving out of Uganda or coming into Uganda from outside, e.g. Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, etc.
As for one group of people beating another group, this was a Police matter for the area concerned. Therefore, my question to Colonel Mugisha was: “why were the Masindi Veterinary, Administration, Land and Police authorities allowing all these wrongs to go on unpunished and unresolved?” His answer was that these cattle-keepers have more money and, therefore, bribe those civilian officials!!
The military in Masindi could not intervene because it is not their immediate lubimbi (their assignment). However, as a senior Commander in the area he had thought that the situation was intolerable and had decided to inform me directly.
The following day, I directed Gen. Tinyefuuza, being a senior Army officer, fluent in the dialects of that area and also having operated there in 1985, to go to the area and resolve the issue at once. I also, since land matters were involved, ordered the Hon. Kasirivu Atwooki to head the delegation. Besides, he is a trained veterinary officer and somebody from the Bunyoro region. They, immediately, proceeded to the region.
In my brief to Tinyefuuza, I told him that the question of resettling the “Balaalo” was out of the question because it cannot be the responsibility of Government to settle people who sell their land and start roaming around as is the case with these people.
There are very few cases that deserve Government intervention in terms of resettlement. One such case are the Basongora of Kasese. These people became landless through a combination of factors, one of them being that the Republic of Uganda took a very large part of their homeland, Busongora bwa Kagore, in order to turn it into a National asset, the Queen Elizabeth National Park . We cannot de-gazette the National Park for strategic national reasons. However, we owe the Basongora a debt, as Uganda , to solve their problem. Some other tribes in Uganda have had parts of their areas converted to national use. To give some examples: Ankole-Mpororo area – a large part of the Queen Elizabeth National Park is in this area (Katunguru, Ishasha, etc); Acholi-Alur area – a large part of Murchison Falls National Park is in this area; Karamoja area – Kidepo National Park is in this area. The difference between the above areas and Busongora is that they are much bigger areas and bigger tribes. A part of their area was converted to national use but a bigger part was retained for community use. In the case of Busongora, almost the entire community was made homeless (kubura obutuuro). In some parts of Uganda , people have multiplied and this, combined with poor land use (fragmentation at inheritance), land units have become too small. This is the case in Kigezi, Ankole, Kasese, Busoga, Bugisu, Arua, etc. This is, however, a different problem from the one of the Basongora.
To be over-populated (kufunda) coupled with land fragmentation (kuchwanyagura) is different from almost an entire community being homeless (kubura obutuuro). Part of the Basongora land was put, by the colonial borders, into Congo . The Congo authorities also turned that area into a National Park – Virunga National Park . I know that story well because in about 1850, the Omugabe Mutambuuka of Ankole dispatched his son Prince Bachwa to attack the much victimized Basongora and loot cattle from them. It is known as The battle of Makara. Makara is now in Congo. In that battle, Bachwa captured a young Musongora Princess, Kibooga. Back in Ankole, this beautiful Princess was married by Omugabe Mutambuuka and produced a son, Ntare, who, later, became Ntare V, Rugingiiza, after whom Ntare school is named. She also produced a girl, Magwende, grandmother of the late Rwanchwende of Mbirizi, Masaka.
It is such victimized people to whom the Republic of Uganda , in my opinion, has an obligation because we contributed to their homelessness. We have no similar obligation to Nomads who, normally, sell their land to go and buy cheaper land elsewhere. The only obligation we have to such groups is sensitization so that they abandon their backward practices. It is the similar obligation we have to those communities who destroy beautiful parts of Uganda through land fragmentation, on account of archaic inheritance practices.
In fact the Bagungu, a sub-group of the Banyoro, have been similarly marginalized by the Republic of Uganda because much of their area was put in the Kabarega National Park . They, therefore, do not need an extra burden of migrants from other parts of Uganda that do not follow the law.
Therefore, Hon. Kasirivu and Tinyefuuza went to establish how those “Balaalo” had got land. Had it been allocated to them by the District Land Board of Masindi before Buliisa district was created? Had they bought the land from the original Bagungu allocatees? Both Tinyefuza and Hon. Birahwa, the MP for the area, told me that there had been no such allocations. Mzee Kajura has confirmed this. The leaders in Bunyoro say this land was for communal cultivation. However, the “Balaalo” spokesmen say that some of the land was for communal use, but not all of it.
I, therefore, told Tinyefuuza to tell those “Balaalo” to leave that area in four days. However, we also wanted to know who they are and how they had come. We needed a holding ground where the cattle and the people could gather, away from the disputed area, so that we know who they are.
That is how the idea of Kyankwazi Army land came up. The “Balaalo” were not going to be resettled in Kyankwanzi. It is Army land. The Army needs it for its training.
It cannot be land for settling indisciplined herdsmen or crop-growers. The other purpose for temporarily accommodating them in Kyankwanzi is to get a chance to talk to them and counsel them about changing from the traditional extensive, free-ranging farming to more intensive dairy farming. We could even assist them to sell their cattle and buy land in any part of Uganda through their own private arrangements.
Before Tinyefuuza could implement my directive, some people advised the “Balaalo” to go to court where those judicial authorities issued an injunction stopping their evictions.
It is now a court battle. The Attorney-General, together with the lawyers of the Bagungu Community, are now working to request the court to lift this injunction. Alternatively, the court should hear the case expeditiously and conclude it.
In the meantime, the Government will not tolerate mob action. Neither the “Balaalo” nor the Bagungu will be allowed to take the law in their hands. The Police will arrest anybody who does so.
Coming to the various opportunists who try to whip up sentiments, peddle lies about “Balaalo” as if they are being deployed by the NRM Government, I would like to warn those in that habit to know that we are nationalists and Pan-Africanists.
We never agree with those who try to look at Uganda through tribal lenses. All Ugandans and all parts of Uganda are precious. We value all Ugandans and the whole of Uganda . We are even working for a politically integrated East Africa . Therefore, those in the habit of peddling misinformation should check themselves.
Who are the Balaalo? “Balaalo” is a Luganda word. I have not researched its deeper meaning. However, it is used to describe the cattle-keeping tribes of Uganda. These are Bahima of Ankole and Buganda (Sembabule, Kabula, Buwekula, Ngoma, etc.), Batutsi either from Kisoro District or Rwanda , Banyambo of Karagwe in Tanzania , Basongora that have moved out of Kasese District such as Maj. Gen. Kazini, other Batoro-Banyoro Bahuma families, etc. These are all collectively called Balaalo. It does not include the Bahima of Lango (Oyima clan – Obote’s clan now headed by Adoko Nekyon) or the Batuku of Ntoroko because, though cattle-keepers, they never move with cattle out of their area.
The issue is not that they are “Balaalo”. The issue is that partly out of ignorance and, partly, more recently, on account of being manipulated by land speculating crooks, they do not practice sedentary cattle-keeping. They are people who stick to their heritage – keeping the long-horned cattle that are a treasure for Uganda because of their genetic make-up; this sticking to their heritage is good. However, it needs to be guided.
We also need to punish harshly the corrupt local officials that lure them with bogus offers of land sales. They should convert their cattle into money to buy land, build premises in the trading centres, etc. They can also help in preserving the high performers of the indigenous cattle.
I have heard of accusations that some armed people, in uniform, escort these people. Gen. Tinyefuuza should give me proof of this so that strong action is taken against those indisciplined soldiers or policemen who conduct their own programmes unknown to their respective service command.
All the same, I need to point out to the opportunists that using tribal lenses while looking at normal law-breakers must be discontinued. Over the years people move from their tribal areas to other areas of Uganda or beyond for different reasons. They become very useful citizens or residents in their new areas. Two hundred years ago, some Baganda ran to Ankole after their faction lost in the Semakokiro-Jjunju fight for the Kabakaship. There are now two whole counties in Western Uganda occupied by this group: Kitagwenda in Kamwengye and Bunyaruguru in Bushenyi. Banyaruguru, for instance, brought new skills and interests to do with fishing. Banyankore of all types never ate fish or chicken in the past.
The same Baganda, from the same diaspora, went to Eastern Uganda and became Bakenyi; others went to Kenya and Tanzania and became Basuba (Abasubwa). Somebody told me that the late Tom Mboya was one of these from Rusinga Island . The other day, while driving through Kenya , I saw a sign post: Suba – Kuria District. About one third of the population of Mbarara town, are Baganda, mainly Moslems, that ran there because of the religious wars in Buganda . Indeed, the King of Ankole, Ntare, gave another group of Buganda refugees from the religious wars, the Christians, led by Apollo Kaggwa, the area of Kabula to stay there as they prepared for their re-conquest of power in Buganda . This was in the year 1889. Later on, the British colonialists put Kabula in Buganda . Banyankore and Baganda live there together up to today.
During the Kony terrorism, I found some Acholis gathered at Anaka Trading Centre, having ran from their villages. I advised them to cross the Karuma bridge and take shelter on the Southern side of the river. They moved to Bweyale. There used to be about 4 or 5 mud and wattle buildings there. Now there is a big town of about 400 brick and cement buildings, with electricity, built by the Acholis. So in a case like this, who has lost? Our people from Acholi were able to survive. They also created wealth there. Therefore, the campaign on the sectarian radios against the oneness of Ugandans is bankrupt and should be rejected.
Africa was colonized because of being governed as tribes. The tribal political units were discredited by their failure to guarantee the independence of Africa except for Ethiopia (precisely because it was not tribal). Therefore, it is treasonable to persist in this ideology of tribalism. My neighbour at Rwakitura is a Muganda who bought land there. What is wrong with that? Moreover, some of the sectarians give a false historical version, for example in Buganda . Especially the 1900 Colonial Agreement made Buganda a multi-tribal Kingdom by including non-Baganda into Buganda yet when the sectarians are talking about Buganda issues, they never talk about this reality of Buganda. They need to correct themselves. Apart from sectarianism, they are totally oblivious to the interest of the tenants (Basenze). They are always pushing the interests of the Landlords at the expense of the tenants. They need to check themselves on this matter also. So, should those who buy Mailo land occupied by tenants. It is only on the “willing seller willing buyer” basis that the tenant can agree to be adequately compensated. The NRM made sure that the land law was fair to both the tenant and landlord.
Therefore, the only negative aspects of internal or even external migration are, in my opinion, only two: illegal movement and illegal acquisition of property including land; and, in a minority of cases, when the immigrants (Abafuruki) try to become the rulers without integration (Abakubuuzi- sub-colonizers).
The latter was the problem in Kibaale with Ruremera whom I tried to advise to no avail until much later. In my opinion, it is these two that we must ensure against. In the case of Kamwengye, there was no problem because the area was amahamba (wilderness) with some few “Balaalo” (Bahima) in Rwamwanja and Batooro. Otherwise, some movement is normal and healthy for all the stakeholders including the recipient communities.
One final point on land; our aspiration is to modernize Uganda. Are we going to be the first modern country in the World? Certainly not! What is the structure of other modern countries: USA, UK, Japan, Germany, etc. The majority of the people in those countries live in towns while the minorities live in the countryside.
The figures are:
- USA 57% (est. of 2003)
- UK 80.7% (est. 2005)
- Japan 75.7% (est. 2005)
A country like UK , same size in land area as Uganda , has a population of about 60 million people. They are all more prosperous than the Ugandans. Why? It was on account of industrialization. That is what Uganda needs.
By 2050, Uganda ’s population will be 130 million. How will they fit in Uganda if we remain only agricultural? “They left undone things they ought to do and did things they ought not to do and there is no truth in them,” Says the Bible.
Yoweri K. Museveni
P R E S I D E N T
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