Some Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Acholi sub-region have expressed their discontent with the extension of the deadline for evicting migrant cattle keepers in the northern part of Uganda. President Yoweri Museveni has extended the eviction deadline to November 15, moving it from the initial date of October 20. This marks the third extension of the deadline aimed at removing cattle keepers from the region.
The President initiated the eviction process through an executive order, Executive Order Number 3, issued on May 19, 2023, with the original deadline of June 30. The rationale behind this order was the belief that some of the pastoralists were causing food insecurity by allowing their animals to graze in crop gardens.
The first extension of the deadline was to September 30, following a request from Gen. Salim Saleh, the Senior Presidential Advisor on Defence and Chief Coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation (OWC). Subsequently, on October 1, the state Minister for Northern Uganda, Grace Freedom Kwiyucwiny, announced yet another extension, pushing the deadline to October 20.
PP Okin Ojara, MP for Chua East, voiced his opposition to the extension of the deadline to November 15, arguing that it contradicts the purpose of an executive order. He emphasized that the continuous extensions have exclusively revolved around the issue of pastoralists, while the order originally addressed various concerns, such as ending commercial charcoal burning, resolving Turkana and Karamojong issues, and deploying the police force in the country. Ojara expressed concern that these extensions appear to protect the pastoralists, even as they infringe upon the customary land rights of the indigenous people.
Ojara further revealed their intention to mobilize local communities to prevent future conflicts with pastoralists over what they consider the ‘promised land’ of the Acholi.
Gilbert Olanya, MP for Kilak South, suggested that the repeated deadline extensions signal that President Yoweri Museveni may not be genuinely interested in evicting the pastoralists but instead facilitating their acquisition of land in Acholi. Olanya pointed out that the pastoralists were evicted from other parts of the country without encountering significant challenges, raising suspicions about the delay in their eviction from Acholi.
He added that they would begin assessing the presence of pastoralists in all the districts to determine how many still remain in the region.
On September 30, Gen. Salim Saleh stated the importance of implementing the executive order correctly to avoid exacerbating existing problems. This eviction operation has been designated “Operation Harmony.”
