Local leaders in Awere Sub County in Pader district have asked pastoralists commonly known as ‘‘Balalo’’ to leave the sub county.
Charles Odongtoo the Awere LC3 chairperson says there are hundreds of Balalo scattered across the sub county. The presence of the Balalo, Odongtoo said, is contributing to conflicts over land in the area. Odongtoo says the conflicts are among family members who give land to the Balalo to graze their animals and among among community members as regards the boundaries of the land given to the Balalo to graze their animals.
The LC3 Chairman says a number of people in the sub county offer land which does not belong to them to the Balalo due to what he termed ‘‘lust for money.’’
An acre of land for cattle grazing, according to local leaders in Awere, goes for at least 300.000 shillings per year.
Cecilia Acan the Awere sub county councilor representing women named that Opokrom, Bolo Opette and Rackokoko as the parishes with the highest number of Balalo in Awere.
Mrs. Ocan said the presence of the pastoralists is also causing domestic violence in homes in Awere since the men do not equally share with their wives the money offered by the Balalo.
The presence of the Balalo in Acholi has for years now been a source of controversy with reports that some of the pastoralists are armed. The pastoralists are also viewed with suspicion as people with intent to grab land in Acholi. Some, however, are just cattle traders who bring their cows to Acholi to fatten their animals because of plenty of pasture in the region before taking away their animals for sale at higher prices in places like Kampala.
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My people listen to this YOUTUBE: “Oruc ft Bosmic & Noman-Joni Lopyem”. How soon we forget that the people who put you in IDP camps are among these cattle keepers.
Rule [1] If you have no land NO Cattle – simple. If I have no cows, will they allow me to milk their cows?
[2] Keep your cattle where you are originally from – foot and mouth disease spread
[3] Acholi should harvest their grass – in America it is called Hay – then SELL & ship to Balaloo land. Do not mess with land. People are allowed to move around NOT cattle.
[4] Recruit DINKA and NUER to Rustle the Balalo cows to teach them a lesson. This never happened for the years Uganda lived together.
REMEMBER the NEW LAND BILL – soon you find that BALALOO are given ACHOLI land. Why should they get land in Acholi? When we had war we were in IDP camps – no Banyakole took us in their lands. Why should we sympathies because of their cattle – ours were slaughtered and not compensated for to date.
We are into “MAKAA” / CHARCOAL business right now.We burn the trees in Acholiland and sell the CHARCOAL in Kampala. SAME WAY, we should cut our grass, transport it to BALALOO LAND and sell it to them. In US people buy “HAY” if they are “LANDLESS” but have animals.