UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
tribunals mandated to resolve such disputes are said to be excruciatingly slow and
lacking in capacity. Their proceedings were put on hold by the Government in 2006. 243
Furthermore, given that most land in West Nile is customarily owned, many informants
suggested that land disputes could be resolved only by consulting elders, who should
thus be formally empowered to act as mediators. As one participant remarked:
“Land as a commercial entity is causing conflicts. Culturally
we used to settle and use land free of charge and peacefully
without claiming ownership and there was peace...cultural
institutions should be empowered to resolve land conflicts
because they understand issues on land.” 244
Another strongly voiced perception was that land disputes affect rural and urban
areas equally, and that population growth coupled with widespread poverty and
youth unemployment further complicate questions pertaining to land ownership. One
participant remarked,
“Because of poverty, people are selling land that belongs to
other families, especially where there are no elders”. 245
Further, it was stated that even
“foreigners from outside West Nile and even from Sudan
have been buying land… and [we are] also competing for
resources with Sudanese refugees”. 246
The disputed land often becomes inaccessible and is not available for use while the
dispute continues. 247 This leads to family destitution, forced displacement and increased
regional inequality. The unregulated sale of land also results in the destruction of entire
livelihoods as people are driven off their land.
The victims of post-Amin land conflicts in West Nile are above all members of the general
population, many of whom have seen their livelihoods compromised due to disputed
access to land. Perceived perpetrators are individuals involved in regional insurgencies,
in particular the members of the LRA, as well as influential businesspeople buying up
land in the West Nile region. Participants also pinpointed the influx of refugees from
Sudan and South Sudan, as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as further
exacerbating land disputes. They identified beneficiaries of these situations as being
both wealthy businesspeople buying up land in West Nile and Government, which has
Nile, RLP working paper 21, 15
243 Ibid
244 Research conducted in Arua District
245 Ibid
246 Ibid
247 Carfield, M. (2011) Towards legal empowerment: Evaluating the integration of customary and formal
law land dispute mechanisms. International Development Law Organization [Internet], Available from: <
http:// www.idlo.org/publications/grantsreportuganda.pdf > [Accessed 28 May 2014]
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