President Yoweri Museveni has said the land dispute in Apaa, Amuru district will not stop development from taking place.
The president was on Tuesday speaking at Kaunda Ground after Launching the Gulu main market and new Class room blocks at Gulu Senior secondary school, all Multibillion shilling projects funded by Government of Uganda and World Bank.
The Apaa land dispute recently saw elderly women show their anger by stripping naked before Ministers, Gen Aronda Nyakairima (Internal Affairs) and Daudi Migereko (Lands).
The presidents was forced to respond to the issue after the Deputy Speaker of Parliament who is also the member of Parliament (MP) Omoro County, Oulanya Jacob said that between 1999 to 2000 Adjumani district gave a piece of land to Uganda Wild Life Authority and in 2002, the same land was gazetted .
Oulanya told the president that the challenge in the case is that the area given by Adjumani is not established and that it is only through border opening that it can be verified and established if they trespassed into Amuru or not.
He noted that the people in Amuru are however against opening of the borders fearing that it is a ploy by government to take their land away.
“The undressing of the people of Apaa is an alarming issue and Acholi leaders including religious people should join to help, your Excellency, it should be a political decision whether the land should be given to animals or people,” Oulanya said.
The president in response said that he wants to boost countrywide development and wealth creation within households and that border disputes in smaller areas like Apaa cannot interfere with his agenda.
President Museveni added that he is well versed with the problem of Apaa saying it is just created because of leaders who are lairs and forget that development is paramount but instead focus on wrongly inciting the people.
“Northern Uganda suffered for a long time because of leaders who are lairs like the ones deceiving Apaa people now,” He said.
The president said he only believes in the Surveyors who are the technical people and not even elders.
“Government will address the Apaa issue but for now development will continue where there is no border conflict,” Mr Museveni said.
