Global Politics
UGANDA: TENSION AND FRICTION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE IS WHAT DEFINE LAND POLITICS AND LAND MACROECONOMIC DISAGREED WITH LAND GRABBER
Acholi new generation are lazy people, they won't take up Opportunities
Every regime that comes into power, all are tinkering about land issues, Sir Henry Johnson and Kabaka Mutesa set in their room and shared what was not there, they signed the 1900 Uganda agreement, and later in 1908 legalize land distributed between Colonial, Buganda King Kabaka Mutesa of Uganda, the Chiefs and Land absentees.
“Even those who want to grab the land, they do it in the name of development, but those people who oppose them, they call them they do not what development, those tinkering about land grabbing” Norbert Mao warns.
GULU CITY-UGANDA: Norbert Mao opens the can of warns by castigating old former leaders, the likes of Uganda dictator President Idi Amin, the Uganda People’s Congress Party UPC former President Apollo Milton Obote 1st government of 1962, founding father of Uganda Independent and Now another dictator President Museveni regime of tinkering of land grabbing in the name of investors.
Norbert Mao, the newly appointed Minister of Constitutional Affairs speaks about the crisis he talks to us gorups media in northern Uganda says a country the kind of things I find myself while some people are terrifying, chaos, confused and feared in our country, is the kind of moment to talk. Norbert Mao spoke when he was addressing the media early this year at Northern Uganda Media Club in Gulu City.
He says, I believed that time is a moment for people like me to speak out about the kind of crisis we find ourselves in, this kind of things I have prepared myself for. I can announce confidently that my time has come, the things most people feared to talk about in publicly.
Now, let me talk about poverty, economics and politics.
Talking about poverty, today I will explain to you the kind of poverty in Uganda beginning with the history, geography and economics. I want to begin with land. I don’t come here to make sensational headlines, let those who talks about political land grabbing for me I am not.
On land we start from when the British Colonials singed Uganda Agreement in 1900 and later in 1908 it was signed what we called the Buganda Agreement.
In that agreement the land was signed between four entities the British Colonial, the infant Kabaka of Buganda, the Chiefs and the Notable absentees, what we called Abukuku.
The land was signed in measure of kilometer of 640 acres of land what we now called Mailo land, and later the British colonial protectorate government signed yet another agreement with Angkole kingdom, the Toro kingdom, Busoga kingdom and the Bugisu district, and the lost counties.
In Bugishu, land was given to Sime Kakungulu 10,000 square kilometers, but the rest of land remained in colonial protectorate government, while in Buganda king land was 9 square kilometers. Kabaka Mutesa remain with 15 percent land, Queen land was 85 percent, in Toro, Busoga, and Angkole 75 percent of the land was under Queen of England.
In 1908 Uganda Agreement was amended between Sir Henry Johnson and the infant Kabaka Mutesa what was called Buganda agreement, in that agreement all the land was shared by the colonial, the chiefs, the king and nationalists.
Norbert Mao, says after independence, the UPC transferred the power to manage the land in the hand of the district land board, the power of land board was given to the 16 districts land boards, who were able to management the land within their boundaries.
{Tension in all land politics and land economics after giving the land in the districts, in 1969 Dr. Apollo Milton Obote de-colonized land in the name of land grabbing, anybody who wanted to grab the land used development, those who are against land grabbing are level anti-development or investors} I want to warn people to tinkering with land grabbing, Moa alluded.
He argues that after 1969, Dr. Obote abolished district land boards and created Land Commissioner who was given power to own all the land in Uganda, except Mailo land which is in Buganda areas.
In the same vein, it came progressive famers who also grabbed land in Agago, Pader Kitgum and Nwoya west Acholi, in Lango also Maruze farms thousands and thousands of land was created for the progressive farmer all over the country.
The British colonial created what is called absentees land lord even now when you move to Nwoya district people will tell you this is so and so farms, but it remain bushes, that is what led to 1964 crisis after two years of the independent of 1962.
In 1973 Uganda dictator President Amin came up with land decreed number 3 to abolished what was called Land Commission, what President Amin did was to grabbed land under land conversion.
And in 1995 the language of the Justice Odoke’s land commission some loud moth wants to tinkering of land grabbing, Justice Odoke’s land document was only the right pro people of Ugandans that gives chances to owned land.
Because before the Justice Odoke’s led Uganda National Delegate Assembly, Justice Odoke had moved and collected people’s views on how they wanted land to be managed in the new constitutional review.
{The government no longer manages or controls land}
Mao warns that here in Gulu City, he hears people who wanted to buy land, Gulu City Council Authority they want those people to pay premium, the city does not carried land on the back of lorries to bring it here.
The strong point campaign for land right is based on constitution, anybody who want to amplify the problems between the land owner and land grabber we are going to deal with them., Mao insinuated
The former Member of Parliament for Gulu Municipality in the 6th and 7th August House, later became Gulu District Chairman in 2006 and 2011 categorically says the Juba Peace Agreement of 2006 is the only authentic land document that Acholi community should rely on not even his Democratic Party manifesto.
Mao says number one problems come to Acholi land in the last decade when all of Acholi community had abandoned their land to become vest land with no settlement during LRA insurgency.
When we started the campaign for peace, we named the threat for land during Juba agreement, we named problems, some people think now our problems tarmac road and cattle compensation. Those cattle compensations cannot be compared to land threats we are.
The government of Uganda in 1992 signed agreement 46 heater of land with Libya government, because the government thinks that the Libya gave them weapon during 1981 to 1986 what cord named Luwero Triangle war, the offer them Bakaleba Bees keeping 4 hectors of land.
The third land problem we are facing Maruzi ranches 16,640 heaters of land. The Acholi threat for land secondly, in 1999 company named Development Salim Saleh Divinity Union calming that Uganda is a food basket, targeting Acholi land for massive food production, and yet they do not owned land here in northern Uganda.
Number three, in 1999 Uganda Wildlife Authority UWA, deal with Kitgum District Chairman and district councilors sidelining we the Acholi Parliamentary Groups APGs giving UWA Lipon areas in North-east of Kitgum as hunting game reserve, we resisted UWA attempt,
Fourthly, the security Production Programs SPP was registered, who were their implementing agent, minister of Defense, Minister Local Government, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Finance, they had development the programs to turned Internal Displaced People’s Camps into permanent settlement village, when it came AGPs discussion group we rejected, only three people supported the motion.
Fifth, Gen. Salim Saleh announced food Security Project was about 92 million shillings, the project was to allocate two acers of land to his families within IDP camps, the project was supported by those sons and daughters of Acholis in big UPDF position who owned the land, we rejected it.
The sixth one, also as AGPs, we got report that an identified people have surveyed 10,000 hectors of land at got Apowyo in Nwoya district, we went there indeed we saw marked land stone, the name of those big people are in UPDF.
Mao insisted that what is relating is a tip of the ice barge i go yip towl don’t beat to shadow of snake
Also Mao adds those people whose land was made useless during the IPD camps, government should compensate them, because they are responsible, on investors they must deal with land owners, for outright sale of land, is it not possible that all people have negotiating skills.
Mao alluded that land population in Acholi sub region as now stands at 64 percent, he also appeals to those people in big government to used their position to protect the land.
What I know in this country everybody is not the same, today you are big tomorrow you will not be.
I know in this country those people who are working in government have grabbed big sunk of land for themselves, but failed to reallocated the government land before 7th of July 1995 before the new Uganda constitution coming into effort.
President Museveni on Friday 2August 6,2022 when addressing the function of National Youth Independent day at Kaunda Ground in Gulu disagreed with Mao and other who says poverty are the problems of Uganda.
“Although many people say poverty is the problems of our youths, I don’t agree in that, poverty nongo tic peke, when we don’t need to work, then we can have poverty.” President Museveni dismissed critic of poverty.
Adds that solution to poverty, let us developed commercial agriculture, for those who have at least four acres of land they can portion them. Let grow Cassava, Maize Beans and Millet. For me I don’t eat rice, is for Indian, I don’t eat wheat is for Russian.”
Secondly if we want to kick off poverty in our society, let our people developed services delivery, ‘I hear in Gulu here there are numbers of Hotel that has been built, in the past we have government hotels, which is now solved off. In 1973 we slept in one of the hotel when our vehicle being driven by Eriya Katigaya got punches, we pushed our vehicle behind Palenga Primary School and we returned back to Gulu, little do we know that Amin’s informer was looking for us.” The slept in Acholi lodge.
Thirdly President Museveni say, another way to get rid of poverty is by becoming professional job earner like Engineering, doctors, lawyers and many other.
President Museveni has forgotten his history, when he says the two people were short by firing squads at Kaunda ground, but Labeja from Awere and Obwana from Atiak were killed at Bomha ground opposite Acholi Inn
