UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
themselves ‘natives’ of the land, whereas those arriving later, even if they held Ugandan
citizenship, were seen as ‘immigrants’ or ‘foreigners’. In Kibale District, for example, the
Bakiga are considered ‘immigrants’ by the Banyoro, since they ‘only’ settled in the area
in 1966. Similarly, the Shana in Bulambuli are considered ‘immigrants’ by the Bagisu.
The Shana are believed to have migrated from western Uganda and to have first settled
in Budaka District. From there, they gradually migrated to Bulambuli District where they
constitute a minority group who feel marginalized and find themselves in land conflicts
with the Bagisu ‘locals’.
The ‘Balaalo’, cattle keepers from western Uganda who graze their cattle in a cattle
corridor running to northern Uganda, are often considered State sponsored outsiders or
intruders. In Nakasongola, it was said that the Balaalo graze their cattle in the gardens
of the local inhabitants, thereby damaging those gardens. This complaint also came up
in Hoima. It was said that the Government, whose leaders are ethnically related to the
Balaalo, support them and shield them from legal action. In Bundibugyo, it was said
that the Balaalo are strategically employed by Government to settle in areas rich in oil
deposits in Ntoroko District, to secure future State access to those places.
This has caused conflict between the local Butuku and the Balaalo. In Arua, participants
voiced a similar complaint, maintaining that the Balaalo have relatives amongst the
highest ranks of the military who provide them with guns, making it difficult for the
locals to defend their land, even when destruction of their crops by the Balaalo provoke
anger and aggression. In Nakasongola, the cattle keepers were accused of bribing court
officials to win land cases. With regard to populations moving across national borders,
it was said in Hoima that the Alur from the DRC enter the district, bewitch the local
Banyoro and occupy the land illegally. In Mbarara, participants discussed conflicts over
land between refugees from Rwanda and the DRC and the local population in their
district. Before and after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, a large number of Rwandan
refugees came and settled in the area and together with the Congolese refugees they
were said to have encroached on land, leading to conflicts. It was alleged that many have
been naturalized as Ugandans.
Conflicts over land between citizens and the State and investors
Conflicts over land between the State and citizens date back to colonial times. The British
demarcated areas for national game reserves, thereby pushing people off fertile areas of
land that they previously inhabited. One major example is the Pian-Upe National Game
Reserve in Karamoja. 45 After Independence, the Batwa population was uprooted in a
similar manner from Semuliki forest and displaced to a small area of land in Kasita Sub-
County in Bundibugyo in 1991, where their numbers have dwindled almost to extinction.
Similarly, the Bakiga and Bafumbira tribes were evicted from Mpocha Game Reserve in
Kasese in 1992.
45 Pian-Upe, together with the Matheniko and Bokora Reserves together formed 26.204 square kilometres
of land in Karamoja by 1964. By 1965, 94.6% of the land in Karamoja had become a protected area
for wildlife conservation. See Margaret Rugadya et al, Tenure in Mystery: Status of Land under Wildlife,
Forestry and Mining Consessions in Karamoja Region, Uganda. (2010)
36