UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
Madi claim that the Acholi used ‘their spears’, the spears they had bought from the
Madi, to kill the Madi indiscriminately during their first major armed confrontation.
The Madi conceded total defeat. After this fight, the Madi mobilized for a revenge
expedition and waged an offensive. The fiercest battle between the Madi and Acholi
happened in Meto at Otce Mountain in the current Moyo District. Chief Aliko instructed
his fighters to “squat and shoot” (“nyotu nyi kwir” in Madi) and to aim for the legs
of the Acholi, so as to avoid the shields they were using to protect their bodies. 298
During this battle, Madi fighters defeated the Acholi and chased them across river Loropi,
back to Acholiland. River Loropi’s name is believed to have been derived from this battle.
After the defeat of the Acholi fighters, the vanquished were directing fellow fighters to
run towards the river (“walaro pii”) and to cross into Acholiland. The Madi were said
to have been supported by the Aringa ethnic community who fought the Acholi with
poisonous spears and shot at their legs in order to win the battle. 299
These battles, along with subsequent events following the overthrow of Idi Amin, such as
atrocities committed by the Acholi dominated Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA)
in West Nile and by the Acholi led Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), placed a strain upon the
communities’ relationship. This strain has since been aggravated by boundary and land
conflicts between Madi, Alur and Acholi on the border in Nwoya and Amuru districts. An
adult man in Dzaipi sub-county, Adjumani district, said that “This conflict is unresolved
and I can compare the strained relationship between Acholi and Madi to that of Israel
and Palestine.” 300
During the 1970s, an attempt at reconciliation between the two communities failed
when the spear that was supposed to be bent during a ceremony (to symbolise an end
to hostility and reconciliation) disappeared mysteriously from the present Dzaipi subcounty.
The participants agreed that it must have been stolen by someone who did not want to
let go of the hostility and/or did not believe that the ceremony would be able to address
the deep seate danger and facilitate genuine acceptable reconciliation. To date, the two
communities have not successfully reconciled. 301
54. Conflict between the Acholi and Langi according to the Acholi
(1906 - present)
Participants cited British colonial official General Bwana Tong, formerly District
Commissioner for Lango, as primarily responsible for increased tensions between the
Acholi and Lango ethnic communities. They explained that in 1906, General Bwana Tong’s
bodyguard from Bunyoro was killed by the Langi. In response, Bwana Tong mobilised the
Acholi Chiefs to wage war against the Langi in revenge for his bodyguard’s death. In
doing so, he sowed the seeds of discord between the Acholi and Langi. 302
298 Research conducted in Adjumani District
299 Ibid
300 Ibid
301 Ibid
302 Research conducted in Pader District
136