Kilak county Member of Parliament, Gilbert Olanya has warned that the gods of Lamogi clan will punish those who try to grab land from the local community.
‘‘The Lamogi gods will punish them [land grabbers],’’ Olanya said at a press conference in Gulu on Monday.
Lamogi is located in Kilak County in Amuru district. In 1911, they put up a fierce resistance against British colonial rule.
Olanya said the gods that helped the forefathers of the Lamogi people with spiritual guidance in their fight against the British will also help them in resisting land grabbers.
The MP claims that there are signs that individuals including politicians who wanted to grab Lamogi land have been struck with misfortune, an act he claims is from the gods.
The wrath of the Lamogi gods, according to Olanya, has already resulted into the death of five people involved in land grabbing in Amuru. He did not name the dead.
The legislator who has in the past been accused by president Museveni for causing ‘‘underdevelopment’’ in the district claimed grabbers who have been lucky not to face the full wrath of Lamogi gods, lost in the recent concluded NRM primaries. The legislator, again, did not name the losers.
The MP also claimed some land grabbers have since lost their jobs. He cited fromer Amuru Resident District Commissioner, Milton Odongo. While still RDC Odongo used to say that Museveni is his ”father”. He was dropped as RDC and is now jobless in his home district of Lira.
Acholi Times does not however vouch for the claim that Odongo’s dropping as RDC was linked to Lamogi gods, neither do we believe that the death of people alleged to have died for being land grabbers in Amuru is linked to supernatural powers.
In 2012, elders in Lakang, in a bid to seek divine protection for their land, threatened to consult the gods who they say sits atop Got Ojigi, one of the hills that make up Kilak Hills.
One of the elders, Piero Paul Ocan said in the early 1970s, President Iddi Amin forcefully chased away people from some parts of Lamogi land and six months later, Amin was out of power.
Dictator Adi Amin was toppled from power in 1979 by Ugandan exiles with the support from Tanzanian army. Amin died in 2003 in Saudi Arabia where he had fled.
Since 2006, residents of Lakang, Bana and Kololo and Apaa village, all in Amuru district have been in dispute with the government over the ownership of thousands of hectares of land. The dispute over ownership has led to clashes between locals and the police. Early this year, women undressed before two ministers who had travelled to the area to for a ‘‘sensitisation meeting.’’ One of the ministers, former Internal Affairs Minister, Aronda Nyakairima died in September from a heart attack aboard a flight to South Korea from Dubai.
By James Owich
2 Comments
Dano macalo MP Olanya myero loko jami ma konyo lwak ento pe me nywenno wi lwak. Jogi ma dano gubedo ka worogi ni en aye gucweyo Acoli? Ka dano gu ngak oweko gudonyo ka woro jogi me ka woro Lacwec pien lupwonye me dini matir nongo peke. Lurok gubino ki bwolagi wa ceng tin.
Guest atamo ni in bene I tye karweny onyo imito nyweno wi dano. First of all before missionaries arrived in Africa did any Acholi know about Lacwec? And were Acholi people evil then? Or were there lupwony dini? Guest kong I tam matut.
Acholi culture is one of the riches culture on earth. Acholi people were most trustworthy, welcoming, hostess, forgiving and they were living by the Ten Commandments before the missionaries. But they can fight for their rights like Jesus fought for his temple’s rights when he was on earth.
Live a good Godly life and defend only for the right things or reasons and you are saved.
Pe I tam ni gin ma muni okelo botwa aye dong yoo polo. Ngo ma nyutu ni Jok “Rubanga” onongo deg wan totwal pe me miyo wan ryeko me ngeno timo gin mabeco onyo kwo ki kit ma en Jok “Rubanga” mito? Pe I caa tekwaro pa Acholi dok bene pe I bwon kiir, buru, ki lam pi cwer cwiny pa Acholi, gin ma kello lacen pe ber. Oweko tim calo tum ki mato oput tye I Acholi