APAA CONFLICT: WEST NILE MPS VOW TO SHUN PEACE CELEBRATIONS OVER KILLINGS

By Dramadri Federick
 
Arua City
 
Members of Parliament from West Nile region under the West Nile Parliamentary Group have vowed not to attend president Museveni’s Peace celebrations in protest of the continued killings in Adjumani district over Apaa Land under security watch.
 
The MPs irked by the notably four people killed and several others nursing injuries in various health facilities within a week by unknown group of people reported to have come from Amuru District reveal that since the conflict over the Apaa land sparked in 2011, government has kept the people of west Nile in the dark even when all committee reports of parliament, including that of ministry of lands Housing and Urban development indicate that of the Apaa land is in Adjumani district.
 
According to the lawmakers they are not going to be part of the 23 years of peace in west Nile celebrations slated for April 12, 2025 in Yumbe district in which President Museveni is expected to be the chief guest as the communities are in pain due to insecurity and bloodshed.
James Mamawi, the Adjumani East Member of Parliament says there is no sense of celebrating Peace in the region as the communities as in a state of uproar.
 
“We don’t see any sense of us (West Nile MPs) loosing people and again you (president Museveni) want us to go and celebrate Peace in West Nile. What is the peace all about)?” he questioned.
 
Mamawi however blames the Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) for failing to protect locals despite heavy deployment in Zoka Forest Reserve, East Madi Wildlife Reserve.
 
“We have over 1,000 soldiers there, but people are still being killed. What is the UPDF doing in Zoka if they can’t stop the violence? Who is commanding them even when they are allowing these people from Acholi Sub region to come and kill the Madi’s in Adjumani district?” Mamawi wondered.
 
Etuka Isaac Joakino, the Upper Madi Constituency MP expressed his frustration with the manner of handling the conflict stating that government is robbing the people of West Nile in a day light with all the facts pointing that Apaa land belongs to the Madi people of Adjumani district in West Nile region.
 
Etuka disclosed that, “the president should declare his interest, because all the facts are clear, to date if we continue seeing people dying, to date if we see people butchered, killed like any other wild animal, your Excellency we are so so disgusted.”
 
Whereas Jesca Ababiku, the Adjumani District Woman MP, accused the government of turning a blind eye to the violence in Apaa while prioritizing peace missions abroad. She wondered why the President has not acted decisively to end the 14-year conflict.
 
“We’re being killed at the watch of the soldiers, so Mr. President, we are disappointed on why you have decided to maintain this conflict for all this time. If this is how you are paying us, this time we the people of West Nile shall not vote unless this issue is resolved,” Ababiku said firmly.
Obongi County MP, George Didi Boka, noted that the conflict has caused both medical and economic losses adding that this has strained relations between the Madi and Acholi communities.
 
“This killing is a loss of Human capital to the nation, as of Saturday, four people were declared dead in various health facilities within Adjumani, while several others are meeting costs of treatment for those who survived, therefore, government should take charge of the cost implications of the conflict as the President was responsible for maintaining the status quo,” Bhoka noted.
 
Geoffrey Feta, Chairperson of the West Nile Parliamentary Group, has asked the president to declare his interest for maintaining the conflict that has not only affected the communities but the entire wildlife reserve.
 
Feta thought, “How can a democratically elected government fail to resolve a conflict boundary which has known facts for 14 years? Can’t we say there’s a state where government is not interested in providing security to the people in the area? Should the locals take charge of the situation? Because people have to defend themselves.”
 
On Thursday Last week (April 3, 2025), security forces led by Major General Felix Busizoori, the Commander of the UPDF Fourth Infantry Division told journalists in a press briefing organized in Gulu city that political actors are inciting hostilities between the two communities.
 
Cabinet on February 25, 2019 took decisions to approve a resettlement package of 10 million shillings, 20 bags of cement and 20 iron sheets to each household with a valid national identity card registered in Apaa area between 2Ol3 and 2Ol4, directed that the rest of the households in the reserve without the requirements be given shs.2 million and vacate the land as the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Robinna Nabanja takes the lead in the implementation.
 
However upon the prime ministers’ declaration, President Museveni in his tour of Acholi sub region in 2021, denounced the declaration saying the status quo be maintained as his team dives into verifications.
 
 

Written by admin