By Simon Wokorach
Gulu
Gulu District Acting Resident District Commissioner, Cosmas James Okidi, has advised the locals to keep calm as the exercise of evicting the errant cattle keepers commonly known as Balaalo is taking shape.
The eviction of the Balaalo comes at the time when there is wide- spread allegations that they leave their animals un-attended too there by destroying crops of the local population.
The joint security forces of Uganda People Defence Forces, Police and other sister security organs on Monday kicked off the implementation of the Presidential directive of evicting the errant cattle keepers in Gulu.
The two months’ exercise is in line with Executive Order No. 3 which was issued by President Yoweri Museveni in May this year.
The first day of the exercise on Monday, saw a total of 257 heads of cattle from two different farms in Awal- Aboro from Palaro Sub County being evicted forcefully over non-compliance of the stipulated guidelines.
The guidelines contained in the directive stipulates that all the Balaalo must fence off their grazing lands within the districts of operation of Acholi, Lango and West Nile sub regions.
RDC Okidi said the locals should not take the law into their hands during this period of the exercise, adding that the security team will ensure peaceful and lawful eviction of the errant Balaalo from the region.
“Let us ensure that the exercise is peaceful, the security forces are in place to do their work as required,’’ he advised.
The animals evicted were walked to Ade livestock market in Palaro which is gazetted as the holding ground from where they will be issued movement permits.
“The cattle keepers will meet the cost of keeping these animals from the holding grounds but the animals that will not be transported shall be auctioned” Okidi told GNNA.
The Gulu district chairperson Gulu Christopher Opiyo Ateker is hopeful that the District will meet the time frame with successful implementation of the directive.
“The 60 days given to evict the Balaalo will even be much for us and we have enough manpower which shall see us completing this task within one month” Ateker disclosed on Tuesday morning in an interview.
According to a report from the district veterinary department, the district has as a total of 54, 363 heads of cattle but 48.63% of them belongs to the Balaalo.
Palaro Sub County which is the epicenter of the cattle farms has a total of 11,023 herds of cattle, 5,360 of them belong to Balaalo being grazed in an estimated 11,077,65 acres of land.
In the recent interview, the Minister for Northern Uganda Grace Freedom Kwiyucwiny revealed that over 80,000 herds of cattle belonging to Balaalo are within Northern Uganda.
The Minister however said most of the Balaalo are grazing their cows on government land in the region.
“The first phase of implementation is starting off with those who are not compliant and it must be sustainable but those within the government lands must leave immediately” She told Journalists.
Before the eviction of the Balaalo could take effect in Gulu district, 17, locals were arrested and taken to court on allegation cutting a kraal fence belong to one identified Enock in Owalo sub county.
