David Okema
A resident of Apaa parish who was left disabled in skirmishes between the residents and the security forces, has accused the government of refusing to compensate him.
Twenty six year old Jacob Okumu whose hand was amputated after he was injured on September 7th 2015 when police and the army attempted to quell a riot by the resident, also claims his three wives has deserted him.
Mr Okumu says the women could not bear with his inability to cultivate land.
“My wives all left me because I cannot dig in the garden to support the family, I used to support my family by farming and now I can’t do anything and parents are the one helping me” says Okumu.
Speaking to the media in Gulu town, Okumu who says he cannot bath on his own, also raised concern over the upkeep of his four children.
His father, Genario Odoki lamented the challenges he is facing helping his son to take care of the children and also support their education.
He was injured when residents protested planned demarcation of the land bordering Adjumani and Amuru districts which they claimed is their ancestral land and is in Pabbo Sub County, Amuru district.
Twenty seven year old Felix Opiyo Otuba, who was also injured in the fracas, said he is stigmatised whenever he is in public.
His mother, Catherine Ayet, who struggled to hide her emotions during the news conference, said Opiyo was the family’s benefactor after the death of her husband at the hands of the Lord’s Resistance Army. “Opiyo was acting like my husband because he was paying school fees of his followers through farming and he was also paying himself at Gulu University but now he cannot do anything. I’m a helpless widow now,” she explained.
Ms Ayet said she hopes he gets a wife to lessen the burden.
Kilak North Member of Parliament, Anthony Akol has decried government’s inability to resolve the Apaa dispute despite raising the issue about the brutality of security forces against the residents in parliament.
Similarly, a complaint lodged by the amputees to the Uganda Human Rights Commission has not made any headway.
Mr. Akol donated 5 Million Shillings to each of them to buy oxen and ox plough as well as take care of their domestic needs.
