Word of caution to all those politicking, especially opposition politicians, who are attempting to unseat President Museveni’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) in the 2026 elections. Desist from using the balaalo saga to get sound bites against the people of Acholi and by extension President Museveni. You should especially be cautious of jumping on the Andrew Mwenda bandwagon. He has it all wrong on the balaalo saga. You will do well to remember that Acholi are not the first and only first nation of Uganda to demand for and benefit from such a ban. In 2006, for example, balaalo were evicted from Iteso land in Greater Eastern Uganda.
It is not lost on many that there is deliberate misinformation in which people are throwing around terms, like genocide of the balaalo. Creating a false impression an ethnic group, balaalo, is under attack by another ethnic group. The false narrative being that the first nation of Acholi, numbering about two million and who claim a part of northern Uganda as their homeland, are somehow to blame for wanting balaalo off their land. Machiavellian insensitive attempts in play to draw parallels with the plight of Palestinians on whom Netenyahu’s Israel is committing a genocide, an ethnocide of their culture and grabbing their lands.
First factoid burst. Among the 65 ethnic groups, first nations of Uganda, recognized in the Uganda Constitution, balaalo are not one of them. Balaalo are not necessarily an ethnic group, but rather they are migrant cattle keepers, with a propensity for free-ranging livestock; often in a manner that disrespects land user rights of others, especially sedentary smallholder farming households.
Second factoid burst. It is reported that some balaalo have allegedly occupied communal land of Acholi through informal or fraudulent arrangements often without approval from authorities of Acholi clans.
If allegations are true that balaalo have occupied Acholi land, without approval from authorities of Acholi clans, their assertion that they have ‘legitimate land ownership titles’ of Acholi land are in question. As with majority of land in Uganda, land in Acholi is mostly held under Customary Tenure.
“Customary tenure is applicable to a specific area of land and a specific description or class of persons; governed by rules generally accepted as binding and authoritative by the class of persons to which it applies; applicable to any persons acquiring land in that area in accordance with those rules; and characterized by local customary regulation.” Constitution of the Republic of Uganda
The findings of an “audit of herders who claim to have legitimately purchased and fenced off lands,” in Acholi, as decreed by Executive Order by President Museveni, are of interest. What will they be? The process and procedure of how the balaalo acquired ‘legitimate land titles’ of Acholi land prior held under customary tenure will most certainly be riveting. But let us wait for the findings of the audit.
Third factoid burst. The balaalo saga is not about negative tribalism. It is about stopping a way of life, if you will, economic practice by migrant cattle keepers, that harms and disrespects land rights of others. The reason why, on the balaalo saga, President Museveni is on the right side of the law of the land; and the right side of a leader’s moral compass. It is the right decision to ban and criminalize free-ranging livestock, large herds of animals, unleashed in an area in which majority residents live and derive their livelihoods as members of smallholder sedentary farming households. Don’t take my word for it, discussing “the balaalo question: where do we go from here?”, in November 2023, Hon. Norbert Mao had this to say about President Museveni’s decision:
“The essence of Executive Order No. 3 is being lost and the community most affected by the balaalo issue is in a state of confusion. We cannot afford to be drifting like a rudderless ship, decidedly undecided. The answer to the confusion is to go back to basics starting with the expulsion of the balaalo without any further delay for the reasons that are well stated in the Executive Order.”
