Gen Busizoori: Balaalo eviction exercise is non-negotiable

Moroto, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Commander of the Fourth Infantry Division, Maj Gen Felix Busizoori, has issued a warning to migrant cattle keepers commonly known as Balaalo occupying land in Northern Uganda to vacate voluntarily before a 14-day ultimatum issued for their eviction expires.

Speaking to Uganda Radio Network in an interview on Monday, Maj Gen Busizoori made it clear that the eviction exercise is non-negotiable and that the directives came directly from the Commander in Chief, President Yoweri Museveni. Gen Busizoori noted that this time, no exception will be made, regardless of landownership claims or prior compliance with previous presidential directives.

“…Because of violating the guidelines, everyone has to go. They violated the guidelines because those guidelines were given a long time ago in 2023,” said Gen Busizoori. His remarks come as some of the herdsmen are putting up a standoff over the directives and vowing not to go away since they have fulfilled all conditions previously set by the President, including acquiring land lawfully, having water sources, and fencing off their land.

Gen Busizoori, however, noted that the current directive supersedes the previous directive and warned that there will be consequences for those who defy it. “How can they say that they cannot leave when we have a forceful eviction? You think they cannot leave? Who’s above the law? There’s nobody above the law,” Gen Busizoori told Uganda Radio Network.

The 14-day ultimatum issued by the State Minister for Northern Uganda, Dr Kenneth Omona, will elapse on June 5. UPDF and other security agencies are expected to enforce operations to evict the migrant herdsmen out of Northern Uganda. Already in some areas in Nwoya, Amuru, and Gulu districts, some of the balaalo herdsmen started leaving their areas voluntarily with their cattle, while others were purportedly in hiding. some local leaders have welcomed the move.

Samuel Akera, the Atiak Sub-County Chairperson in Amuru district, told URN Monday that several balaalo cattle keepers had in the past days started leaving the heavily inhabited area of Okidi Parish. Akera says at least four trucks loaded with cattle have been leaving Okidi Parish daily since the issuance of the eviction threats and lauded the government for the bold initiative, which he says will boost food security.

In Okidi parish alone, there are over 200 kraals with approximately 20,000 cattle according to Akera. “There are a lot of hunger issues in Okidi Parish because cattle have been destroying crops in farmlands. We are happy that they are leaving,” said Akera. In Nyamokino Parish, Lungulu Sub-county in Nwoya District, the herdsmen are instead rushing to replace broken fences or erect new ones in compliance with the previous presidential directive, according to the Sub-County Chairperson, Denis Atube.

“Our team haven’t seen Balaalo leaving this area. What they are doing is, they want to comply with the previous directives of fencing, and that’s what the majority of them are doing now, so that when the operation starts, they find them complying,” Atube told URN on Tuesday. Nyamokino parish is believed to have one of the highest concentrations of migrant cattle keepers, with an estimated over 300 kraals. However, it’s hard to estimate their exact numbers and the cattle they own, owing to their clandestine nature of entry and direct dealings with Local Council Chairpersons and land owners.

The resumption of the balaalo eviction follows a May 19th meeting of security leaders from Northern Uganda with President Museveni. Previous directive on eviction, which had been issued by the President on May 15, 2023 in an Executive Order No. 3, was temporarily halted in December 2023 due to an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).

However, while addressing journalists recently, Kenneth Omona, the State Minister for Northern Uganda Rehabilitation, stated that cattle vaccination against FMD had been undertaken across the country and quarantine lifted, prompting the resumption of eviction operations. Security has designated that all cattle being evicted from areas of West Nile, Acholi, and Lango will pass through the Karuma bridge for proper documentation. The eviction is expected to be conducted in three phases.

The army says there are at least 757 herdsmen in their database owning an estimated 92,000 herds of cattle who are to be evicted from the three sub-regions. Attempts to evict Balaalo herdsmen out of Northern Uganda by security forces started in 2018 on the orders of President Museveni. It remains unclear whether this latest directive will stand the test of time in resolving the long-standing standoff between the local communities, political leaders, and the herdsmen primarily from Western Uganda who have been accused of illegal land occupation, undermining Acholi cultural values, and agriculture.

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