The Prime Minister of the Acholi cultural institution, Ker Kwaro Acholi, Ambrose Ola has urged civil society organisations to go slow on land registration in Acholi.
Ola was who was speaking at a launch of a report on ‘‘Piloting the Protection of Rights to Customary Land Ownership’’ on Monday this week at Bomah Hotel in Gulu. He said land ownership in Acholi is rooted in the clan structure and that any attempt to register it would have to involve the chiefs since they are custodians who hold the land in trust on behalf of their clans for past, current and future generations.
Ola said Ker Kwaro Acholi will not accept interference on the cultural role of the chiefs in land management saying “the chiefs are currently the ones resolving land disputes when court fails people”
The premier noted that “people now see us [cultural institution] as the right people to help them with their land cases and if anyone tries to sideline us then they are failing the Acholi people”.
He revealed that Ker Kwaro currently handles up to about ten land related cases per day.
The Acholi cultural leader commended Trocaire, an NGO and the Joint Acholi Sub-Region Leaders Forum for initiating a projection the protection of the rights to customary land ownership. The project aims at strengthening the security of customary and communal land tenure system in Acholiland through investigating and documenting how Acholi customary and communal land is controlled, managed and administered.
Under the project, a research was conducted by Acordia, a consultancy firm, in 7 out of the 55 Acholi chiefdoms with a sample size of 1,874 people. The research found that 90% of the people in Acholi want their land registered.
According to Gimara Francis, a legal advisor to the project the most appropriate land tenure for Acholi is the customary. He , however, says this tenure system is associated with major problems like it not providing security of tenure for land owners, impeding the advancement of land markets and discriminating against vulnerable members of the community especially women and orphans.
Justine Lungajul, the Pader district Resident District Commissioner urged the people to register their land to legally own it. Lungajul also urged land owners to pick lessons from those who have successfully registered their land.
The Nwoya local government chairman, Patrick Okello Oryem on behalf of the Joint Acholi Sub-Region Leaders Forum urged each district local government to help facilitate the registration on land in its area of jurisdiction while respecting the roles of clans and cultural institution over land management, access and rights.
He however, complained that the issue of land has become so dominant that it has distracted attentions of leaders from attending to other issues which are also vital to the communities.
Today, land related problems continue to persist in Acholiland, manifested by land disputes and outright conflicts, many associated with land grabbing.
In a bid to champion the interest of the Acholi people in protecting their land, the Joint Acholi Sub-Region Leaders Forum (JASLF) was formed and through its technical committee developed a project entitled “Piloting the Protection of Rights to Customary Land Ownership in Acholiland”. The project is being implemented by Trocaire, in partnership with JASLF.
