The mysterious land of Apaa

A conflict that has gone on for so long, drawn so much blood, yet it remains an unsolved puzzle for many years. Now, Members of Parliament (MPs) from the West Nile sub-region are questioning the government’s commitment and willingness to solve the land conflict.

Speaking at a press conference at Parliament in Kampala, the MPs are criticizing the government for failing to resolve the Apaa conflict despite the region voting for the National Resistance Movement (NRM), the ruling political party led by President Yoweri Museveni, for a long time.

The legislators are wondering if the failure by the government to solve the Apaa land conflict is what they are reaping for supporting Museveni.

Jesca Ababiku, the Woman MP for Adjumani District, questioned how the government of Uganda that deployed in Somalia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the same ignoring an internal conflict in Apaa.

Is M7 benefiting from the Apaa conflict?

“Mr President, we are disappointed that you are paying us this way. As people of West Nile, we have been behind this government, but this is what we are reaping. We want responses from you, Mr President, on why you have decided to maintain this conflict for all this time. What are you benefitting from this? Is it worth it for us to reap this for all the support we have given you as people of West Nile?” asked Ababiku.

Ababiku added, “This land isn’t bread you can exchange for any other thing; it isn’t bread you can exchange for any other thing. We have been supporting the NRM government all this time; now you believe the Opposition in Amuru are better than us, and you want to give them our land so that they have a district and they get elected. We are watching; good enough, the elections are just at the door. This time, the case will not be the same. It will not be the same until these issues are sorted. Our people aren’t going to vote until these issues are sorted.”

“We have lost our people, we have lost our properties, and we feel the government does not have the political will. If it does, it must have sought out these issues. The government is in Somalia, the government is in Congo, the government is in South Sudan, and yet within its boundary, there is a problem. For 14 years, we want the government to tell us the special interests and benefits it has if its internal conflict is not resolved. So, Mr President, we are not happy for you,” remarked Ababiku.

Unresponsive UPDF

James Mamawi, the MP for Adjumani East, tasked the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) to explain their special mission in Zokha Forest Reserve if people in Apaa continue to die under the Army’s watch, despite the deployment of over 1000 soldiers in the area.

“Our people are dying, but we have a complete brigade unit in Zokha Forest Reserve, and this brigade is not supposed to have less than 1000 army officers, and if we have over 1000 army officers, why do you allow people to kill each other? We totally blame the UPDF for this act because they are on the ground; they are supposed to look after the security of our people and property, but people are dying. Can the UPDF tell us what they are doing in Zokha? If they have a special mission in Zokha, let them tell us,” remarked Mamawi.

Not a new conflict

George Bokha, the MP for Obongi County, noted that the problem in Apaa isn’t new, as it has existed for long, and it has bore both medical and economic impacts on the victims who have lost property and incurred the cost of treatment while receiving treatment for the wounds inflicted upon them during the attacks.

“The problem we are talking about isn’t a new problem; in the West Nile and Madi Sub-region, this is a problem that has been with us for 14years. It has resulted in medical loss because the people who are supposed to be busy in the farmlands cultivating are waiting for when the next attack is going to happen. It is straining social relationships between the people of Madi and the people of Acholi who have a common heritage,” said Bokha.

Fresh planned attacks

Feta Geoffrey, Chairperson, West Nile Parliamentary Group, revealed some of the individuals he claimed are moblising people to carry out the attacks,  including the NRM mobliser in Acholi and the NRM Administrative Secretary of Amuru district, and wondered if it is time the people from West Nile took charge of protecting themselves.

“The community intelligence indicates that these are the people leading mobilisation to go and attack that leads to these possible killings. So it is important if the government is surely interested in resolving this conflict, it must go and arrest these people, bringing them to book. But also, how can a democratically elected government fail to resolve a conflict of boundary which has known facts for 14 years? Can’t we say there is a state where the government is not interested in providing security to the people of that area? Should the locals take charge of that situation themselves?” Feta asked.

Museveni’s three unimplemented solutions

Recently, President Museveni unveiled a three-point proposal to the people of Amuru and Adjumani districts currently involved in the Apaa land conflict, saying the proposals will provide a win-win situation specifically for people who lived on the land before 1963, when the colonialists drew the boundaries, and 2002, when government surveyors returned to the land to open up park land boundaries.

The three proposals include 1. Relocating the people to somewhere else in Acholiland, fully compensated and supported by the government; 2. Allow the people of Apaa to stay here but not expand anymore; and 3. Get another portion of land near a populated area and resettle there away from the forest. The proposal does not recognize people who knowingly settled on the land even when they new it was gazette animal reserve land.

The Apaa conflict

According to media reports, the conflict in Apaa, located along the contested boundary between Amuru and Adjumani districts, began in 2012 when the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) carried out forceful evictions of residents, citing that the land had been gazetted as part of the East Madi Wildlife Reserve.

According to a report by the Daily Monitor Apaa is an area that has long been contested between he Acholi and Madi communities of Amuru and Adjumani districts respectively. The conflict has resulted into loss of lives, properties and human displacements since it broke out.