President Yoweri Museveni has issued a new Executive Order banning the unregulated movement of Balaalo cattle herders into Northern, Eastern and North-western Uganda, citing escalating land conflicts, destruction of crops and public health risks.
In Executive Order No. 2 of 2025, issued on June 1, Museveni also directed the Attorney General to draft a law criminalizing the practice of free-ranging livestock in areas without fenced land and permanent water sources.
“It is now technically impossible to have a healthy, mutually beneficial, and conflict-free movement of unregulated cattle into these areas of our country,” the President said, pointing to land tenure disputes, blocked access to water and crop destruction by roaming animals.
The directive, which follows up on Executive Order No. 3 of 2023 comes amid growing tensions between local communities and incoming pastoralists, some of whom have been accused of forcefully settling on communal land, fencing off public resources and triggering violent conflicts.
“It is criminal and very unfair to the locals to introduce free-ranging cattle in these areas because they will inevitably trample and feed on people’s crops,” Museveni stated.
He added, “Even when you fence, but do not have a permanent water source, the cattle will stray during dry seasons in search of water and eat crops in the process.”
The President acknowledged that some herders had acquired land legally and established water sources but warned that these cases would still be audited. He announced the formation of a committee to vet land ownership claims and assess whether access to natural resources like the River Nile had been unfairly blocked.
“The logical answer is to remove all those cattle brought into these areas so that we achieve two long-term solutions: first, to ban completely any movement of free-ranging livestock into these areas; and second, to assess legitimate land claims without tension,” he directed.
He further condemned past incidents where herders, acting “blindly and indisciplined,” even crossed into Tanzanian national parks and triggered outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease that affected Uganda’s dairy and beef industries.
Museveni emphasized that the National Resistance Movement (NRM) remains committed to patriotism, Pan-Africanism and social-economic transformation, but warned against “internal colonialism” where one group’s economic activities infringe on the rights of others.
“We must never frighten any of our communities with the fear of internal colonialism where some groups trample on the legitimate rights of others. There were such mistakes in the past they will not be permitted to happen under the NRM,” he declared.
The President’s remarks also addressed the broader East African integration agenda, making it clear that while Uganda supports the free movement of goods, services, labour and capital, rural-to-rural migration for agricultural purposes must be regulated to prevent tensions across the region.
“Whenever we are discussing the East African Federation, fears often arise about rural lands being invaded by land-hungry immigrants. It is, therefore, crucial to assure our partners that such migration can and will be regulated,” Museveni said.
He criticized what he described as “artificial overcrowding” narratives used by some herders to justify relocation, arguing that land scarcity is often the result of primitive agricultural methods. He called on displaced pastoralists to adopt modern, intensive farming on smaller plots or reinvest in trade and business in their home regions.
“Let them sell the cattle that have multiplied on account of the free pasture they have accessed in these unplanned actions and buy smaller pieces of land where they traditionally live or build shops in trading centres,” Museveni advised.
Museveni also reflected on historical land reforms, noting that Uganda’s 1995 Constitution deliberately decentralized land management to avoid politicized disputes.
“The Uganda Land Commission was removed from managing all land in the country. That power now rests with District Land Boards to avoid the distortion that outsiders are coming to take our land,” he said. Adding, “You can imagine the noise around this issue if the national commission was involved. But we foresaw that trap.”
He further noted that by not decisively acting, it encourages new influx. These colonial-style injustices should not and cannot happen under the NRM.
