Lamwo | Local communities in the northern part of Pager River [disputed Aswa ranch] in Lamwo district have requested that the government cancel the land title acquired by Uganda Livestock Industries Limited [ULI] on the Aswa ranch in northern Uganda.
Quinto Olanya, an elder from Palabek in Lamwo district, stated that ULI illegally acquired the title to over 40,000 acres of land in Lamwo without regard for the previous arrangement.
According to Olanya, Aswa Ranch has never crossed into Lamwo district, with all of its activities concentrated in Pader district [the southern part of the Pager River]. He stated that this renders the acquisition of the land title on the northern side of the Pager River null and void.
“We have been living here, farming and doing other activities on our land peacefully until around 2015, when the said ULI came here and started saying we are in the ranch,” Olanya said.
He added that “this is not legal, we want the title on this land to be cancelled and if there is a need to sit and talk with the government, first they have to heed to our demand and chase this ULI away from our land.”
Robby Wodomal, on the other hand, criticised the fact that the government, through Uganda Livestock Industries Limited, gave a portion of the ranch to some politicians who failed in previous elections.
However, Wodomal stated that the community wants to speak with Uganda Development Corporation [UDC], not Uganda Livestock Industries Limited, a subsidiary of UDC, about the land and only discuss it with them.
“We hear that some failed politicians from other parts of the country are being given part of the ranch to use; we do not want you to come here to bully us, if you want to give the land, you give it to the local ranchers,” Wodomal said.
“If a subsidiary is coming here with much power like this, we do not want to talk to a subsidiary, we want to talk to UDC not ULI,” Wodomal told tndNews.
Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, MP Bardege-Layibi division and former chairperson for Acholi district chairpersons, told this digital publication that the original plan for acquiring Aswa ranch land in the early 1960s was 105,400 acres.
Mapenduzi explained that part of the land was supposed to be in Pader, which was in the southern part of the river Pager, and the other part was supposed to be in the northern part of the river Pager, which is now in Lamwo district.
“So, 105,400 acres of land got earmarked for that purpose but you see part of the process was to have the land compensated because there were farmers who were operating in that land and the compensation only covered the southern part which is in Pader district,” Mapenduzi said.
“The northern part which is in Lamwo now, was never compensated and also the ranching activity was never started in the proposed land, so the people did not know that their land is part of the ranch and they continued with their farming activities,” Ojara added.
He did, however, point out that there is a significant difference between earmarking, which was done by the Uganda Development Corporation in 1967 in the northern part of the river Pager [Lamwo district], and formal acquisition of land with compensation, which was done in the southern part of the river Pager [Pader district].
“There has been a struggle between the landowners in the northern part of river Pager [Lamwo district] and Uganda Livestock Industries Limited because the animals that are in the ranch under NAGRC & DB are destroying their crops,” Mapenduzi said.
So, the people’s demand is simple: cancel the title of the land covering the northern part of the river Pager [Lamwo district], in other words, revoke the land title illegally obtained by ULI on the land, the MP added.
However, Anthony Akol, Chairperson of the Acholi Parliamentary Group, stated that the same methods used to conduct fully evidenced research on the Aswa ranch land conflict will be used to address other land conflicts in the region.
According to Akol, it has not been easy to handle issues in Acholi sub region because most leaders want to hurry to handle problems without proper documentation but with Aswa ranch, they have got all the evidence and documentation.
“We did our research last year about Aswa ranch and even the government is in agreement that the part of Aswa ranch in the northern part of river Pager in Lamwo district was not acquired formally and communities were never compensated and it has been unutilized since 1967,” Akol said.
To Akol, it means that the land belongs to the people and that it is simply a matter of negotiation, with the voice of the people demanding that the land title granted in the Lamwo district be cancelled.
“We are taking two approaches, one is the legal approach and the other is political negotiation and right now we will succeed and that is our position as leaders from Acholi,” Akol revealed.
He also stated that “this particular research we have done will be extended to other parts of the Acholi subregion with land conflicts, whether they are Apaa or any other land issue, because it is much easier to convince someone with facts than hearsay.”
Harriet Acan, Coordinator Uganda Livestock Industries Limited, confirmed to tndNews in an interview that ULI has had custody of the ranches, including the Aswa ranch, since 1967 and holds a leasehold title.
According to Acan, the land has been measured since 1967 at 105,400 acres of freehold as of 2015, and it borders Lamwo to the north and Pader to the south of the river Pager.
“We had concerns from the community that part of the land did not cross through part of river Pager in the north in Lamwo but in documentation that we have as ULI since 1967, it has crossed through to the northern part of river Pager in Lamwo,” Acan said.
“The community feels that the land did not cross to Lamwo but as ULI, we still have our stand and it is the same measurement we got since 1969 and it is the same measurement which we have as of today, 105,400 acres,” she added.
Acan stated that the same government provided them with the leasehold title, and that if the community concern is addressed by the same government, ULI is fine with the decision to cancel the title or not, as long as it does not have legal ramifications for both parties.
In 2023, the Acholi Cultural Institution and Members of Parliament filed a lawsuit against the government over the illegal Aswa ranch boundary extension.
The plaintiffs accuse Uganda Livestock Industries Ltd of fraudulently creating a new freehold title over the Aswa ranch for 15,930.46 hectares of land in Lamwo and another 25,516.6 hectares of land in Pader without following the district land boards’ due processes.
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