President Yoweri Museveni met with security leaders in northern Uganda and made the first eviction order of 2025, after the Executive Order Number 3 of 2023 was halted in December 2023, due to the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in more than 30 districts across the country.
President Yoweri Museveni has issued
a second directive in a month for the eviction of migrant cattle keepers, commonly
referred to as balaalo, from
northern Uganda, beginning on June 25, 2025.
On May 19th,
President Yoweri Museveni met with security leaders in northern Uganda and
made the first eviction order of 2025, after the Executive Order Number 3 of
2023 was halted in December 2023, due to the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease
in more than 30 districts across the country.
After the resumption of the eviction exercise on May 23rd,
all migrant cattle keepers were ordered to exit with their animals by June 4th.
However, no animals were evicted.
This caused complaints from leaders
and residents across northern Uganda, saying the president is taking the Acholi
for granted by issuing fruitless executive orders.
Maj. Felix Busizoori, the Commander
of 4th Infantry Division, told journalists in a press
conference at the 4th Division Barracks on Wednesday, that President
Museveni had issued the second eviction order of 2025, to ban completely any movement of free-ranging livestock from outside northern
Uganda and criminalise the practice.
The second eviction order is also aimed at
allowing the audit on cattle keepers claiming they legitimately bought land,
have fenced their farms' sanctuary, have permanent water sources and have not
blocked access to the permanent water sources, and therefore cannot be evicted.
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Maj. Busizoori, however, explained that the audit
will take place once all the cattle have left the area and without the tension that
their presence is generating.
According to Maj.
Busizoori, the first phase one of the eviction, which has already began, involves
sensitizing the masses, the landowners, the local leaders on the ground,
and the community of cattle keepers, and appealing to
them to leave voluntarily.
After a week of sensitisation, deliberate eviction is
expected to start on the 25th of June 2025 and take 65 days.
He stressed that the
eviction will exclusively be conducted by security agencies, plus officials
from the Ministry of Agriculture (district veterinary officers), the National
Forest Authority, the Wildlife Authority, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Others are officials from the Acholi Cultural
Institution, LC IIs, LC IIIs, plus the community.
“No politician will be permitted in the
operational areas. Let them give us time, and we execute the directive,” Maj. Busizoori
said.
He explained that the animals
will exit the sub-region, but the cattle owners will remain, as verification of
their land deals takes place, and it will be up to the audit team and land
owners to determine who remains on their land and who doesn’t.
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audit.”//
Maj. Busizoori therefore
warned politicians against meddling in the eviction exercise, and let the
identified officials for the work, to prevent further conflicts and
controversies.
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conflicts.”//
He explained that for organisational
purposes, the animals will be evicted parish by parish so that they don’t cause
commotion where they will be taken, given their huge number.
Philip Acaye, Commissioner of
Police, who represented the Inspector General of Police, appealed to all the
community members and leaders to remain calm, as the
security personnel implement the eviction.
“Let everyone stay in their lane. If we do that, we shall all come out without
bruises. If we try crossing lanes, that's when we can get bruised,” Acaye said.
Acaye asked the
community to provide them with credible information to support the exercise and
the security personnel to stick to their Standard Operation Procedures of the
eviction.
“We don't expect any
acts of indiscipline. Any of such will be dealt with. And as Uganda Police, our mandates are very
clear. Any criminality during the activity and exercise will lead to
prosecution,” he said.
Geoffrey Osborn Oceng,
the RDC of Amuru District, called upon politicians to desist from inciting the
population, stressing that the eviction exercise is “a matter of governance.”
“The Executive Order made by the President is here to be implemented, and
exactly we will do it as ably explained by the commander,” Oceng said.
Background:
The Balaalo Controversy
The balaalo, mainly from
western Uganda, began settling in the north over the last decade in search of
grazing land. While some acquired land through lease or purchase, many occupied land through informal deals,
some involving individuals selling communal land without clan consent.
In Acholi, elders and cultural
leaders have decried the rapid commodification of land and called for urgent
intervention to protect future generations, besides the current illegal
grazing, environmental destruction, and rising land conflicts linked to the
influx of non-local herders and their cattle.
