Gulu City | Members of Parliament–elect from the Acholi sub-region have warned that they will take legal action against the government if it fails to compensate business people whose properties were looted during National Unity Platform (NUP) leader Bobi Wine’s campaign trial in Gulu City.
The MPs-elect say the violence and subsequent disruption of economic activity disproportionately targeted non-Acholi businessmen and small-scale traders particularly those dealing in clothes and fashion and other edible items.
Speaking to the press on Monday, Kilak South MP-elect Gilbert Olanya questioned the rationale behind the suspension of mobile services during the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections, describing it as unjustified and harmful to ordinary citizens.
“We are wondering what was the logic in blocking the mobile money services, because you cannot block the services of other people. There are people who have kept their money in mobile services and this decision affected them directly,” Olanya said.
Olanya further emphasized that compensation should not only cover looted shops and kiosks but also losses suffered by mobile money operators and communities affected by stalled cattle-restocking programs.
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Patrick Okello Onguti, MP-elect for Aswa County, echoed similar concerns noting that the shutdown of mobile money services hit rural communities hardest.
“A responsible government should learn and take into consideration the lives of the citizens and many people in my community; mobile money services are majorly rural-based, and this event affected the people I represent, especially in Gulu district because we do not have a single bank here and always depend on mobile money services,” Onguti noted.
Onguti added that the impact of the violence went beyond Gulu City affecting families with financial ties to Kampala and other parts of the country.
“What happened here also affected people in my constituency and some of them have families in Kampala. We want a comprehensive report from the government about the looting because some of us also have families there and it also affected those of us who went to campaign for the president,” he further disclosed.
Despite their strong stance, the MPs-elect stressed that they are willing to engage constructively with the government. Onguti noted that Acholi leaders remain open to dialogue and expect the president to honor pledges made during campaign trails in the region.
“We are more comfortable with the President, and as DP, for now we are safe. We are ready to work with the government and ask the president directly on issues affecting Acholi and his pledges during the campaign trails,” he said.
The MPs-elect warned, however, that failure by the government to address compensation demands could force them to seek legal redress on behalf of affected owners and communities across the Acholi sub-region.
Since January 13, mobile money services, especially withdrawals at different agent points across the country have remained off.
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