Kole North Member of Parliament Hon. Samuel Opio Acuti has urged the Attorney General to provide clarity on the issue of animal compensation for war claimants in the Lango sub-region.
In his speech, Acuti emphasized that the animal compensation process for Lango sub-region beneficiaries is being affected by inconsistencies in the figures of claimants and data cards. He questioned the accuracy of the data cards mentioned in the Attorney General’s report.
Acuti demanded that the Attorney General provide a clear and accurate total number of beneficiaries without excluding any group from the overall payment data. He claimed that people’s numbers have been reduced, despite previous assurances from the Attorney General that complaints would be addressed.
Acuti reminded the audience that the court had ruled in favor of paying the 42,420 Lango war claimants as per the court decree, but this has yet to be fully implemented.
During his speech, Jackson Kafuuzi Karugaba, the Deputy Attorney General, stated that a total of 2 trillion shillings is required to compensate war claimants in the Lango, Acholi, and Teso sub-regions. He added that only 130 billion shillings has been released to beneficiaries so far.
It was previously planned that each sub-region of Acholi, Teso, and Lango would receive 50 billion shillings each.
MP Okot Felix Ogong of Dokolo South expressed dissatisfaction with his compensation, stating that he received only 600,000 shillings despite his father owning over 1,000 cattle.
MP Okot Boniface, the youth representative of Northern Uganda, raised concerns about the distribution of compensation, claiming that the real beneficiaries are sometimes overlooked, while those who did not lose animals are benefiting instead.
Hon. Okot urged the Minister of Justice to ensure that the genuine beneficiaries receive the compensation they deserve, resolving the matter once and for all.
