Acholi district councils tasked to enact ordinances to protect land

ACHOLI – The District, Municipal and City Councils of Acholi have been tasked to enact ordinances to protect land. This directive was given by Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG) and the cultural institution Ker Kwaro Acholi, following the rampant sale of land which has seen thousands of acres of land in the region bought by investors, cattle keepers and top government officials.

Ambrose Olaa, the Prime Minister, Ker Kwaro Acholi, the Acholi Cultural Institution says, the rate at which land is being sold is alarming. He says, if the current trend in land sale continues, the Acholi community will lose its identity in the next 5 to 10 years to come.

Olaa says, following a meeting with all the cultural chiefs in Acholi, it was resolved that the sale of communally owned land, swamps, kraals, forests, and cultural sites be banned.

“The cultural chiefs in a meeting held last week have banned the sale of kraals, communally owned lands, swamps and cultural sites because they are not owned by individuals. We have in the past years seen conflicts arise over ownership of kraals, community land, cultural sites and swamps in the Chiefdom which has seen people injured and properties destroyed. For instance, the Amuru hot springs where the hot springs and the kraal was reportedly sold to MP Odonga Otto by a family,” Olaa explains.

Anthony Akol, the Chairperson Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG) says, one of the resolutions in the meeting with Ker Kwaro Acholi and other stakeholders was to have all the land titles in the sub-region verified.

This is to ascertain the validity of the titles since several people who are brokering land sale in the sub-region have resorted to selling community land, kraals among others fraudulently.

According to Akol, a vetting committee should also be set in all the districts to regulate the renting and sales of communal land. The district Veterinary Officers would then get approval from the LCs before issuing cattle movement or grazing permit.

Denis Onekalit Amere, the Member of Parliament for Kitgum Municipality says, it has become a trend for jobless youths to broker land sale, which is the major reason for the surge in conflicts over land ownership.

Onekalit wants land brokers either for sale or hire investigated and in case any conflict or dispute arising from their land deal; they are arrested to face the law for fraud.

Rwot Otinga Otto Otuka, the Chief of Lamogi Chiefdom, also the Deputy Paramount Chief of Acholi says, people have taken advantage of the cosmopolitan culture of the Acholi to approach, live and acquire their land.

Otinga says, if the people acquiring land were peacefully coexisting without hurting the cultural setting of the community, there would be no problem.

“Reports of sexual violence, land grabbing, forest destruction and being in possession of firearms have emerged mostly from investors and the Balaalo cattle keepers. We can’t continue living with such people who just want to hurt, grab and destroy the culture and the people of Acholi,” Otinga notes.

Several conflicts over land have over the years emerged in Acholi sub-region including the Madhvani Lakang land saga, Apaa township, among others.

https://thecooperator.news/apg-ker-kwaro-acholi-calls-for-unconditional-release-of-apaa-residents-in-custody/

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Kigarama SACCO boss loses civil suit against the registrar; members demand for a new board chairman

SHEEMA – Kigarama People’s SACCO, a historical financial institution hailing from Masheruka town council Kanyeganyegye ward in Sheema Municipality, is on the verge of collapsing due to leadership squabbles.

This started in 2018 after the end of the two terms of Grace Rukumbagaza, the board Chairman. SACCO members sought to change its leadership but failed.

After assuming board office in 2013, Rukumbagaza started manipulating everything to keep himself in power says, John Muhabwe, one of Kigarama People’s SACCO members.

“He started by manipulating the delegates who are supposed to attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and we kept on demanding for change until he reached the extent of appointing the vetting committee using the board instead of electing them at the AGM,” Muhabwe said.

To their surprise, Rukumbagaza held sham elections insisting that he will not leave office until he is done with another term.

This annoyed most SACCO members who appealed to the Resident District Commissioner, District Commercial Officer and later to Joseph William Kitandwe, the then registrar of co-operatives to allow members to conduct fresh elections to choose a new board chairman.

“I was the General Secretary and when our term of office ended in 2012, we elected Rukumbagaza as our new board Chairman. His term of office ended in 2018 after serving six years as a Chairman for the supervisory committee and now six years as the board Chairman,” says John Muhabwe’ one of Kigarama People’s SACCO.

After receiving the petition, Muhabwe says the registrar in his capacity issued a road map directing the board Chairman to hold fresh elections and also for the AGM to elect the vetting committee.

“After realizing that the Chairman’s years of office had expired, the registrar directed that there should be elections and also gave us criteria on how to select delegates,” he said.

Muhabwe says together with Juliet Kyosimire, the General Manager Kigarama People’s SACCO, they selected 200 delegates balancing the 6 zones which was not the case before.

Upon putting in place all legal processes to hold the AGM, the Chairman rejected the plans thus suing the registrar for interfering with the SACCO affairs.

“When he saw 65 delegates picked from the headquarters, Rukumbagaza realized he will not survive the vote and he instead rushed to Mbarara High Court claiming that the registrar was not supposed to indulge in the process of electing the new board,” Muhabwe said.

According to Muhabwe the matter was filed by the SACCO Chairman on 28th November 2019 at Mbarara High Court before Lady Justice Joyce Kavuma.

During the preliminary hearing, the applicant was represented by M/S Ampurire Associate Advocates then the 1st respondent represented by the Office of the Attorney General’s Chambers, while the 2nd-8th respondents were represented by M/S Mugabi, Shyka & Co. Advocates who all presented their submissions before the Judge.

On 22nd October, 2021, Judge Kavuma dismissed the case with costs on grounds that the application was brought outside the time limit given by the statute.

“I find that this application is statute barred and incompetent before this Court for being filed out of time without seeking extension time. Accordingly, the application is hereby dismissed with costs,” read part of the ruling.

The Vice Chairman Godwin Arikwera, confirmed that he is now a passive leader since the Chairman side-lined him in all the leadership affairs of the SACCO.

“Currently, I don’t have any mandate at Kigarama People’s SACCO because the Chairman usurped all my powers as his deputy,” Arikwera explained.

Also, Osbert Amanya, another member of Kigarama People’s SACCO says, Rukumbagaza used his powers as a Chairman to buy a SACCO van and open more branches without the AGM approval.

“We’ve spent almost three years without holding any AGM, his term of office expired; so how did he go ahead to purchase a SACCO van and opening other branches in Ibanda and Mbarara without members’ consent? Amanya asked.

Also, Mzee Kahima Samson, one of the founder members, who was chased from the delegates meeting in 2019 by the accused Chairman also complained that Rukumbagaza must leave the top leadership for Kigarama People’s SACCO to move forward.

“It’s true we voted you expecting great things but that should not make you to refuse handing over power. Are you waiting up to a time when Jesus Christ comes back?” Kahima asked.

Way forward

Muhabwe says, Kigarama People’s SACCO can only restore its lost glory if the current Chairman is replaced.

“For the last 15 years he has led the SACCO, what else does he want to achieve? He should pave way for the members to decide who should lead the SACCO,” Muhabwe advised.

He adds that if the Chairman does not show any intentions of appeal, they are ready to write to the registrar of Cooperatives calling for fresh elections during the 2020/2021 AGM.

“We are still waiting because 14 days expired on Saturday which court allows for one to appeal but if we find that he has not appealed we shall write to the registrar to call for our AGM,” Muhabwe emphasized.

On his part, Amanya says they are not ready to count the total compensation if the Chairman has not stepped out.

“We are not the ones who opened a case, so awarding us costs was irregular and we cannot meet the costs when he is still the serving Chairman because he has all the chances of getting all the money from our SACCO,” says Amanya.

He adds that plans of getting an external auditor are underway to assess the SACCO’s finances.

“We are in the process of bringing an external auditor to assess the loss the Chairman has caused to the SACCO because we have almost spent 3 years without holding an AGM. We don’t know the SACCO’s turnover neither do we know how much he spent on buying a van nor on opening other branches,” Amanya appealed.

Allan Buhanda, the District Commercial Officer (DCO) Sheema District advised Kigarama People’s SACCO members to organize pre-AGMs and have a legitimate board.

When Chairman Rukumbagaza was contacted to comment whether he is willing to appeal the matter or not, he answered that he cannot speak to strangers.

“I don’t speak to anyone whom I don’t know,” he briefly replied.

Kigarama People’s SACCO started as a public limited company with only 24 members and later registered as a SACCO on 11th April, 2005 but currently it has a total membership of 8797.

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Cooperatives, Commercial Officers trained on Cooperative Identity, Business Management & Regulations

KAMPALA – The Assistant Commissioner for Cooperatives in the Ministry of Trade and Cooperatives (MTIC), Robert Mpakibi has urged leaders of cooperatives around the country to always insist on using the established regulations or legal guidelines in the management of their establishments.

Mpakibi says cooperatives should endeavor to refer to the available laws and regulations for guidance in financial and social audits, management and other legal requirements to avoid running their cooperatives into legal ditches that can lead to their collapse.

Mpakibi, who represented the Registrar of Cooperatives in the MTIC says, cooperatives need to keep their organs functional at all time, and stick to the established operational procedures to avoid unnecessary management sanctions.

While addressing a training session for cooperatives and District Commercial Officers in Namugongo, Mpakibi acknowledged the fact that many cooperators are ignorant of the sector rules and regulations in Uganda. He encouraged them to endeavor to learn and follow them always.

“You people need to stick to the rules and regulations of this business. You do not bend a single regulation, because it will catch up with you. You should enhance your knowledge levels about the law and compliance to handle a wide range of areas,” he added.

He stressed that cooperatives should always ensure that institutional financial audits are carried out by fully certified bodies or persons sanctioned by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda as provided for by the Cooperative Societies Act as amended in 2020.

“You can only be sure if your financial audit is done by a certified auditor,” he said.

Mpakibi also revealed that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives is carrying out a cooperative census to validate the cooperative register, and ascertain the cooperative movement’s contribution to the national economy.

“We have so many cooperatives in the register, we need to find out how many really exist. We are examining the level of compliance, their participation in the activities and their contribution to the economy,” Mpakibi said.

The 4 day leaders orientation training organized and conducted by The Uhuru Institute for Social Development under the auspices of the Coop360 Network, a platform that so far brings together 50,000 cooperators from across Uganda aimed at skilling the District Commercial Officers and selected cooperative leaders in areas like cooperative identity and fundamentals, financial and social audits, taxation, strategy development, and conflict prevention and management.

Denis Odeba, the Senior Officer Learning and Organizational Development at The Uhuru Institute says the training initiative aimed at building a sustainable operational environment for the cooperators with skills, knowledge and proper understanding of the cooperative identity, fundamentals and business practice.

“Knowledge sharing in cooperative business is key to social development, where different players contribute to the community development agenda like agriculture, education and others in a collective manner,” he added.

Under the Coop 360 Network, several cooperators have been skilled in multiple business aspects to support the sustainability of the cooperative movement.

The District Commercial Officer – Kamuli, Fredrick Ssentongo, who also attended the training says, the training and networking was so handy that it would address most of the challenges cooperators have been facing, especially those that are financial and operational.

“Many of the cooperatives especially SACCOs and other groups think a cooperative is a charity, where you are just given money without investing,” he said.

He says cooperators need to appreciate that fact that they need to invest, save, pay back the loans and sustain the business like any.

The District Commercial Officer, Bududa Wafula Hashim says, many cooperatives have collapsed due to governance challenges.

“The leaders are mismanaging the cooperatives due to ignorance of the rules and the regulations. Such a training will go a long way in enabling us manage such and change the trends,” he says.

The trainees included; leaders of cooperatives such as Kamuli Entrepreneurs Development Organization, Ngora District Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Kapsukwar Maize Producers SACCO, Bushika Area Cooperative Enterprise from Kamuli, Ngora, Bukwo and Bududa districts respectively alongside their respective District Commercial Officers.

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APG, Ker Kwaro Acholi calls for unconditional release of Apaa residents in custody

ADJUMANI – The Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG) and Ker Kwaro Acholi have called for the unconditional release of 7 residents of Apaa who have been arrested and are being detained in Adjumani district.

The residents identified as Vincent Okumu, Kenneth, Stephen Ojara and his son Julius Arop, Patrick Oloya, Denis Ochaya and one only identified as Okumu were arrested between August and October this year.

Apaa township, measuring over 24 square miles, has been at the center of conflict with both Acholi and the Madi claiming ownership. The attacks between the two communities have seen 20 people killed and 2 missing since 2015 to-date.

Addressing the media, Anthony Akol, the Chairperson Acholi Parliamentary Group says, the people who were innocently arrested and tortured in Adjumani district must be unconditionally released within a 14-day period of time.

According to Akol, failure to release these people, the members of Acholi Parliamentary Group will pitch camp in Apaa township to send a clear message on the ongoing human rights violation which include; torture, freedom to live freely as well as access to social services such as schools and health centers which have since been closed for over two years now.

“If the government can not order for the release of the people arrested innocently, we are going to pitch camp, and send a clear message on how the government has failed to control and run the country,” Akol asserts.

Akol, also the Member of Parliament for Kilak North, says a team from APG, Ker Kwaro Acholi, Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI) among other stakeholders will pursue dialogue with the Madi community for a long-lasting solution to the conflict.

Ambrose Olaa, the Prime Minister Ker Kwaro Acholi says, as the cultural institution, they are going to re-establish and ascertain the boundaries of Acholi land and their neighbors which is one of the ways forward to solve land conflicts arising from border disputes.

Sharon Laker Balmoi, the Gulu District Woman Member of Parliament says, with the current trend of occurrences in Apaa, children and women are left to suffer on the veranda of houses or even under trees because their houses have been destroyed.

“We have lost the education of future children, people have caught illnesses without treatment because of the harsh conditions they have been subjected to, yet the government can’t take a stand to end the dispute. Regardless of where Apaa is, the right to land ownership and other human rights must be respected and protected, which the government seems to have failed to do,” Balmoi said.

The dispute has seen tons of food crops destroyed in the past three years leaving the community members homeless, without access to education and health.

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