By: Simon Wokorach
Amuru
Two locals in Amuru district have claimed almost half of the animals identified to exit the district as they belong to non-compliant migrant cattle keepers.
There are 501 cattle at the holding ground in Lakang sub-county, Amuru district identified to exit the district as their owners don’t have a water source or fence as directed by President Yoweri Museveni.
However, 203 animals are being claimed by locals, who said the animals were confiscated from them.
Robinah Birungi Acayo, one of the claimants who has 3000 acres of land in the area, told journalists that 153 cattle were unlawfully pushed out of the farm in her absence.
Another claimant, Kabao Elias, revealed that 50 cows belonging to his father were made to exit their land measuring 150 acres.
According to kabao, his father, a cattle keeper from Nakasongola, came and settled in Amuru after buying land in 2017.
However, Stephen Odong Latek, the Amuru Resident District Commissioner said the two complaints have been registered officially, but says it is a ploy by the non-migrant cattle keepers to evade eviction.
“This is one of the dilemmas the enforcement is facing in executing the Presidential directive on the eviction,” Latek said.
By press time security had not yet made a statement about the development.
The eviction exercise named “Operation Harmony” started on November 25th. slightly more than 500 animals were made to exit Gulu and Amuru districts on November 26th and 27th.
The evictions follow Executive Order Number 3, issued by President Yoweri Museveni on May 19th, saying the cattle were causing food insecurity in the region as owners left them to trample on people’s crops.
Cattle owners are directed to fence off their land with four-strand barbed wire, have a source of water, and not overcrowd the land with animals to be considered compliant.
