The former Spy chief, General David Sejusa, has spoken out on historical land injustices in Uganda’s cattle corridor, urging citizens to distinguish between the so-called Balaalo and indigenous squatters displaced by past regimes.
Sejusa via X (formerly Twitter) said that most of the land in the cattle corridor stretching from the Tanzania border through Masindi and Nakasongola to the River Nile and Lake Kyoga was historically occupied by indigenous cattle-keeping communities, not by foreign pastoralists.
“Let me show you the distinction between the now (in) famous Balaalo and squatters of the cattle corridor ranching scheme,” Gen. Sejusa stated.
He noted, “The areas had traditionally been occupied by mainly cattle keepers. And please, understand that cattle keepers here is not synonymous with being Hima, or Tutsi. There are many other tribes who keep cattle in these areas, including indigenous Banyoro, Baruuli, Batooro, Basongora, etc.”
He recounted how the Obote I government, followed by the Idi Amin regime, implemented a sweeping ranching policy that carved up huge tracts of land into ranches. These were then allocated to government officials and those with political influence leaving out the original landowners most of whom were illiterate and lacked political clout.
“Obote I government created a ranching scheme covering this whole area. Ranches were created and allocated to government officials and those with government connections. The indigenous peoples who owned and occupied these areas were excluded from the scheme… they were never resettled elsewhere! ” Sejusa explained.
He noted that even families like his, which had invested in ranches by building dip tanks and dams in Ranch No. 1 and No. 2, were eventually dispossessed in favour of political elites of the day. The displaced communities, he added, became tenants and squatters on their ancestral lands paying rent in cattle to absentee landlords or powerful ranchers.
“These were Ugandans rendered homeless by their own governments, chased from their ancestral lands where even the wars between the Bachwezi and the Babiito couldn’t remove them,” he lamented, adding, “But Obote and Amin, and their henchmen, like Babiiha, dared!”
However, Sejusa dismissed comparisons between these historical squatters and the modern-day Balaalo pastoralists, some of whom are accused of encroaching on land in northern and western Uganda without legal rights or consideration for local communities.
“Never compare these people to the so-called Balaalo who go loitering in foreign land for greener pastures, literally! “Squatters of the ranch restructuring scheme had suffered great injustice which had to be addressed. The governments of Obote and Amin had not only committed a great wrong but it was criminal,” Sejusa said
Reflecting on his own history of confronting land injustice, Sejusa revealed that his involvement dates back far before the controversial 2010 Buliisa evictions.
“My struggle against land injustice stretches far back. Even in the ranch restructuring scheme, I was central and it wasn’t easy! I remember the then Vice President, comrade Samson Kisekka, grilling me on the floor of Parliament (NRC) and my sister, Miria Matembe calling on the President to sack me as Minister of State for Defence because of my ‘actions’,” he said
Gen. Sejusa concluded by reaffirming his deep commitment to fighting injustice. Noting, “When I hear fellows telling me about Buliisa, I laugh. They know nothing. I don’t like injustice!” he said
