If you visit Kabale
and Mbarara Districts, you will see several tracts of land that have been
fenced off by the rich people as ranches. They have bought off the poor
peasants/cattle keepers and told them to go somewhere else to find land to
settle.
Many of such people
have traveled great distances from their displaced homelands with their
properties and heads of cattle to as far away as Karamoja and the Teso
wetlands in search of new homes. Many have also settled in gazetted areas
and forest reserves in Bunyoro. But they seem to be unaware of the causes
of their predicament and suffering, which basically arise from being
displaced from their own ancestral homelands.
They, therefore, go
outward with an air of forcefulness and a conquest syndrome in the belief
that they are protected by the powers that, in the first place, forced
them to move out. This is what is happening in Kibaale District
today.
For us, the Banyoro
people, we would like to advise the authorities as follows:
Government should
not overly emphasize the otherwise good idea that every Ugandan has the
constitutional right to settle anywhere in Uganda. In the circumstances
that have prevailed in Kibaale historically, this would tantamount to
promoting internal colonialism in modem times.
The rights granted
under the Constitution for citizens to settle and live anywhere in Uganda
are not absolute; they must be popularly acceptable and relevant to
particular situations. The 19th and 20th century British annexation of the
Banyoro people of Kibaale District to Buganda and the subsequent ruthless
Buganda administrations in the area must be recalled to mind.
In the light of this
history, the fears and suspicions of the Banyoro in Kibaale District must
be properly assessed and understood. Let there be well controlled Bakiga
migrations into Kibaale District but not uncontrolled influx.
Let
the Banyoro people not feel that there is a conspiracy to grab their land
by the Bakiga as the Baganda did under colonial tutelage. Let them not
feel that another imperial order is about to be imposed on them under the
pretext of free movement of Ugandans provided under the Constitution and
the Land Act.
Secondly, and as the
Prime Minister of the Kindom of Bunyoro-Kitara recently said, the Bakiga
coming into Bunyoro should abandon their arrogant attitude and avoid
giving the impression that they are settling in the area by force.
If they want to
settle and live in Bunyoro peacefully, they must adjust themselves to
their new environment and respect the culture and institutions of the
Banyoro people.
The writer is Prime Minister Emeritus,
Bunyoro
Kingdom.
