The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Leaders from the Acholi sub-region are disturbed by the continued existence of ghost names on the list of war-debt claimants.
They are questioning names that keep featuring on the lists that were verified earlier by the government through the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs as genuine claimants for the compensation that is meant for people who lost livestock and property between 1986 and 2003 in the areas of Acholi, Lango, and Teso sub-regions.
Norbert Adyera, the chairperson of the Acholi War Debt Claimants Association said in 2021, the Association generated and submitted to the Attorney General a list of 23,000 claimants for verification before actual compensation could commence. However, the government slashed it to 16,924 claimants from the districts of Gulu, Amuru, Nwoya, Omoro, Kitgum, Pader, Lamwo, and Agago.
Statistics from the ministry indicated that Gulu and Omoro districts combined had the majority of the claimants with 4,927 claims followed by Agago with 3,393, another 1,995 from Nwoya, 1,983 from Kitgum, 1,470 from Amuru and 1,408 in Lamwo. However, Adyera says that 500 of the people on the list from Agago district are non-existent.
Earlier records showed that although the number of claimants verified in the Attorney General’s register for Kitgum district was 1,547, the list on display had 1,983 claimants, an excess of 436 people. Another 50 ghost names were reported in Lamwo district.
Adyera however says that even the 16,924 claimants from across the region have been underpaid without any explanation or justification from the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, even though the government had already released 150 billion Shillings to compensate war claimants across the regions. Each region is entitled to 50 billion Shillings.
Paulino Nyeko, 81, of Agung village in Anaka sub-county and one of the first 17 claimants who dragged the government to court to seek redress says that he received only 12 million Shillings from the government in April as compensation, far below the expectation in comparison to the loss he incurred during the National Resistance Army-NRA war.
Nyeko said that he lost 85 heads of cattle, 48 goats, and 77 sheep and he hoped that the government would stick to its promise to pay one million Shillings for each head of cattle.
Kilak South MP Gilbert Olanya expressed disappointment that several claimants have died without receiving the promised money ever since the enlistment began three decades ago. Olanya blamed the Attorney General for hijacking the verification exercise and paying the claimants without duly involving the leadership of the Association, yet the real claimants are limited by old age-related ailments.
Last month, MPs from Acholi challenged the Attorney General’s office to table a list of the verified claimants before the House.
Compensation for the looted livestock and damages to people’s property during the NRA war in the Acholi subregion dates back to 2003. Since then, the government has never cleared the demands of the affected families due to corruption.
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URN
Minister of Justice
With due respect, I am touched by the story
My mouth is full of bile, because on the 18th of August 2022; the woman member of Parliament of Luwero raised a querry about property lost during the war of 1982 to 1986
That war started off as clandestine activity and was countered by presence of the government forces. So there are different groups of people that were affected: the ” abalabira wo omusana” , the fighters and collaborators. All these are known and have either been compensated or will be compensated.
One needs to be callous to assume that the entire population was involved in the above activities. There was loss of life, property and disruption of society among the population who just happened to be present. Occasionally serving as human shields or being kept in camps
Those who got to hospital were so sick that their footmarks appeared as water on the floor of the hospital
Returning to these villages, a striking feature was the destruction of permanent houses, dilapidated schools etc
The stories of “how , when and where So and so died from”
From 1986, if those who are known are still claimants to date, where is the list of the rest who suffered the loss?
Does the name of a prominent civil servant ( ministry of works) with a permanent building around 55km on Kampala Gulu Road – or a factory near Busunju appear on the list? This is sampling
We are mere mortals ( primates), but the scars are permanent
So from the constitution we wish to understand:
Why it is possible to treat different regions in a varied manner?
While some do not deserve compesation and rehabilitation, others have some evidence of the will to give token payment for property lost and others have planned payment for property and life
At one gathering some official said ” Luwero is a special case” to who?, the government is responsible for identifying certain occurrences that deserve redress
Some of us attended a gathering where non Ugandans were asked to leave the country,( 50 years ago) but we have lived long enough to hear the opposite complemented by apologies, by a sitting government.
It is therefore not too much to ask the government of the day to attend to a problem that occured 40 years ago.
A number of families living in slums were displaced by civil strife in this country
Some officials have the audacity of saying “the people who used to occupy this area went away”
One would be interested in the detail of current destination and preoccupation of the unfortunate citizens
Ironically occupants of lands that were left under duress became bona-fide occupants!
Now do not blame the author, we have to get this unfairness off our “chest” So as to create room for adniring the achievements of many who have known happiness.
In the sunset of our lives we have to dream of a destiny in the ” Sugar Candy” mountains