A view of Guru Guru Hill in Guru Guru Sub-county, one of the cultural sites in Amuru District. Photos by Brian Komakech
By Brian Komakech
Amuru: Elders at Lamogi Chiefdom in Amuru District have raised concern over the continued destruction of Guru Guru Hill by a local investor.
Guru Guru Hill, located in Guru Guru Sub-county stretches about 7km and is most famous for its enclave that reportedly accommodated an estimated 3,000 indigenous Lamogi who rebelled against British colonialists in 1911.
The hill is also listed among the national cultural sites in Northern Uganda recognized by the Uganda Tourism Board.
Cultural leaders in the district, however, allege that the cultural heritage site and its features are on the verge of destruction.
James Onen, a lawyer representing Lamogi Chiefdom elders explained that a year ago, the family of Paul Okot sold an estimated 26 acres of land surrounding the Guru Guru Hill to an individual for investment.
Onen identified the local investor as Benson Ocen, the Executive Director of I Live Again (ILA) Uganda Foundation, a non-profit organization operating in the Acholi Sub-region. The investor had allegedly intended to establish a recreational facility, playgrounds, and a counseling center in the area.
According to Onen, while the Lamogi cultural Institution believed it was for investment, they later realized the investor was targeting Guru Guru Hill where he had begun excavating rocks for personal gains.
Onen revealed that the Guru Guru Hill had already been earmarked by the Uganda Tourism Board as a cultural site.
“Upon his purported transaction with the family, he embarked on the massive destruction of the cultural site,” Onen said.
Shs5bn worth of damages
According to Onen, an assessment by a private valuer reveals that part of the excavated is worth approximately shs5bn shillings. He said the local investor has now turned to excavating rocks at the hill for personal gains to the detriment of the heritage site.
He says the Lamogi Chiefdom cultural elders now plan to lodge a petition in court to among others, seek a shs5bn compensation, an injunction on the use of the heritage site, eviction of the investor, and restoration of the destroyed site.
“The level of damage so far caused is worth 5 billion shillings according to the evaluation report, notwithstanding the legal cost and special damage cost, we want ILA to pay the cultural institution, we also pray that he is evicted, we pray for decommissioning because this gentleman has gone ahead to excavate a big volume of rocks and we are praying for a permanent injunction because we don’t want that site to be tampered with,” Onen said.
Already, the chiefdom through their Lawyer Onen of Conrad Oroya & Co Advocates has made an application at Gulu High Court Circuit for a Representative Action order granting permission to selected Lamogi elders to sue the local investor in Court.
GNNA understands that the application was filled in February this year and was granted to the applicants on March 28, 2024. This publication also further understands that Lamogi Chiefdom lawyers extracted the representative order on April 3 and will go on to advertise in the media for 14 days before the main suit can be lodged in court against ILA Uganda Foundation.
What elders say
Samuel Ogikson Otika, an elder at Lamogi Chiefdom, said that part of the cultural heritage site being destroyed by the investor is a pillar of history for the Lamogi.
“We denounce in the strongest level possible the destruction of this cultural heritage site, we shall use all our efforts and the law of this land to block the destruction of Guru Guru hill site,” said Otika.
According to Otika, Guru Guru Hill is a treasure gifted to the Lamogi people by God, and like other natural resources in the region, it needs to be preserved for posterity.
“Guru Guru is a natural resource like trees that we have and was given to us by God. This is our pride. It reminds us of what happened, and where our ancestors fought and were killed by the colonialists,” he said.
Esther Aciro, another elder, said Guru Guru Hill remains of historical and educational significance not only to the Lamogi, but to Uganda as a country.
Aciro noted that there is a need for the community of Lamogi to raise and preserve their cultural heritage for posterity.
“We feel a pain in our hearts that an area full of the history of our ancestors is under threat. We need to protect the place for our children in the future to learn about what happened at Guru Guru,” said Aciro.
We are not excavating rocks
Benjamin Oryem, the Public Relations Officer at ILA Uganda Foundation, however, refuted claims that the organization is destroying the cultural site through the excavation of rocks.
Oryem said the Organization’s main interest is to develop a recreational facility, football pitch, and counseling center to address the trauma challenges the Acholi sub-region is facing, years after the two-decade Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency.
According to Oryem, their development plan is legal and conforms to the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) that granted them an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) certificate.
He, however, acknowledges that during their construction works, they faced challenges with rock obstacles which the contractor after destroying some used for construction purposes.
“Nothing has gotten out of the site, like rocks, or sand. Whatever goes there is for construction work. As you are constructing you meet obstacles. If we get rocks that have blocked our way, we remove and break them and use them for construction. If anyone has evidence of rocks leaving the site, let them present,” said Oryem.
GNNA understands that ILA Uganda Foundation has completed the construction of a football pitch and a pavilion at the site and is constructing a training hall.
Cumulatively, the organization occupies an estimated 35 acres of land out of which 27 acres were purchased while nine acres were donated for environmental conservation by local communities.
About Guru Guru Hill
Guru Guru Hill stretches for an estimated 7.8 km from Lamola Hill to Got Gweno. It occupies Abongo Rwot village, in Amora Parish, Guru Guru Sub-county.
It is famous for its history as a battleground between the Lamogi indigenous people and the British colonialists in 1911.
According to historical reports, the then Lamogi Chief, Onung Tingtra, mobilized his subjects to resist payment of gun taxes that were imposed on them by the British Administrators.
In resisting the gun tax, they staged a three-month rebellion using rudimentary weaponry that included spears, bows, and arrows, and Byeda and Tasa guns acquired from the Sudanese Arabs.
Caesar Obwona Mogi, 74, an elder from Lamogi Chiefdom said about 3,000 Lamogi locals hid in a cave at Guru Guru hill, but after three months of resistance, they were smoked out using teargas by the British colonialists, forcing them to surrender.
Mogi said the teargas which he believed were poisonous, caused diarrhea and death of an estimated 200 Lamogi fighters.
Other Tourism sites
Besides Guru Guru Hill, Amuru District boasts other spectacular tourist sites that include the Amuru Hot Spring in Otwe, Got Gweno Hill, and Lamola Hill in Lamogi Sub-county.
