UGANDA, Acholi | Real Muloodi News | Following worrisome disagreements and environmental destruction, the Acholi Cultural Institution has banned unregulated sales of land larger than 50 acres in the region.
The paramount of Acholi, Rwot David Onen Acana II, stated that this is a resolution of the council of elders of the cultural institutions that comprise Acholi’s 57 sub-chiefdoms.
Rwot Acana II noted that the council of elders has specified that land deals involving 10 acres or more must be approved by the Chiefdom after extensive questioning.
He stated that the sale of land larger than 10 acres necessitates a council of elders to determine the grounds for the transaction, the nature of the transactions, what the money would be used for, and ownership of the land, among other things.
Rwot Acana II said, “I made a pronouncement that no land beyond 50 acres should be sold, and if it`s beyond 10 acres it must be handled by the cultural institution so that we can know why you are selling it because all these problems people claim to be selling land to solve will never end. Whether being sickness, death, or education, it will never end or stop.”
Rwot Acana II addressed the Pader District community and Payira Clansmen that unregulated property deals had resulted in crimes, insecurity, and disputes, as well as the introduction of evil elements into the region.
He warned them that selling the land would not solve the difficulties they claim caused them to sell the land, thus a lasting solution is required.
The Prime Minister of the Payira Clan, Ochora Ocitti, stated that the land in Acholi is communally held and should not be misused or lost via the dishonest activities of self-seekers.
He went on to say that losing land endangers the people’s expanding population, economic activity, and sense of belonging.
Sunday Opiyo, a resident of Kalili in Laguti Sub County in Pader District, praised the proposal, saying that some individuals sell land to foreigners for as little as USh50,000.
Unregulated land sales, according to cultural elders, have resulted in moral degeneration, spousal violence, violent land conflicts, and illicit trafficking in forest goods in the region perpetrated by the stated land purchasers.
READ MORE LIKE THIS:
DP Chairperson Mao Launches Land Rights Campaign in Acholi Sub-region
The Government’s Drive to Certify Customary Land Meets Culture Clashes