Diagnosis of the Balalo Controversy In Gulu: A Political-Economic Dissection And Practical Policy Analysis For Uganda

 

By: Isaac Christopher Lubogo

Intro:

 

The recent tensions in Gulu District surrounding the presence of Balalo—a term widely used to refer to nomadic cattle keepers (mostly from Western Uganda, often associated with the Bahima or Banyankole ethnic groups)—are not a new phenomenon. This decades-old pastoralist movement has triggered clashes over land, identity, livelihood, and political patronage, inflaming historical wounds and raising deeply uncomfortable questions about land governance, ethnicity, and the state’s role.

 

This analysis offers a diagnosis of the Balalo controversy in Gulu, anchored in Uganda’s current political economy, historical land conflicts, and policy enforcement gaps, while benchmarking possible solutions against grounded international and regional experiences.

 

II. BACKGROUND: WHO ARE THE BALALO AND WHY GULU?

 

The term Balalo is loosely used across northern Uganda to describe cattle herders—especially those moving with large herds across districts. Most Balalo are pastoralists or agro-pastoralists from western Uganda seeking grazing land due to population pressure and land exhaustion in their home areas. Gulu and other Acholi sub-region districts offer low population density, vast land, fertile soils, and post-conflict disorganization of communal land systems, making them ideal targets.

 

However, their movement and settlement have sparked:

 

Ethnic tensions

 

Land disputes (customary vs freehold)

 

Accusations of impunity and political protection

 

Clashes with locals over cattle trampling gardens

 

Alleged illegal acquisition of land and environmental degradation

 

III. POLITICAL ECONOMY ANALYSIS

 

1. Land Governance and Legal Pluralism

 

Uganda’s land regime is legally pluralistic, recognizing:

 

Customary tenure (dominant in Northern Uganda)

 

Leasehold, freehold, and mailo systems

 

While the 1998 Land Act protects customary land rights, enforcement is weak. Balalo allegedly acquire land from local elites or corrupt officials, often without proper community consultation, violating customary norms.

 

> “Land belongs to the people,” says Article 237 of the 1995 Constitution. But who are “the people”? And who decides what constitutes proper land use?

 

2. Political Patronage and Ethnic Suspicion

 

The Acholi people, who endured decades of war and internal displacement, have an enduring suspicion that the central government is deliberately facilitating demographic and political engineering by aiding Balalo settlement.

 

Just some time ago, Local leaders, such as Gulu District Chairperson, issued eviction orders. President Museveni later issued guidelines in October 2023 directing the Balalo to register, fence their land, and ensure community harmony—but implementation was erratic. And may be now we only hope that the ongoing saga as recent as the directive to relocate.

 

> Many initially saw this as a deliberate state hesitancy rooted in the ethnic and political importance of the Balalo to the regime, particularly their association with NRM support bases.

 

IV. THE HICCUPS: ROOT CAUSES OF THE CRISIS

 

1. Breakdown of Customary Land Protection

 

Customary land, while recognized by law, is vulnerable in practice. Weak land governance institutions in Northern Uganda (District Land Boards, Area Land Committees) cannot withstand political pressure or manipulation.

 

2. Unregulated Pastoralism and Environmental Strain

 

Balalo cattle movements often destroy crops, deplete wetlands, and cause soil erosion. Environmental laws like the National Environment Act (2019) are not enforced consistently, and no national pastoralist zoning policy exists.

 

3. Political Interference and Lack of Enforcement

 

Security organs are often reluctant to evict illegal settlers, especially when they are believed to be under the patronage of high-ranking military or political elites.

 

4. Ethnic Framing of a Land Use Issue

 

The framing of the conflict as “Balalo vs Acholi” risks overshadowing land use planning, zoning, and governance failures. It plays into the politics of fear and identity, creating combustible resentment.

 

V. BENCHMARKING SOUND SOLUTIONS: LESSONS FROM ELSEWHERE

 

1. Kenya’s Group Ranch System (Maasai)

 

Kenya developed group ranches in Maasailand to organize grazing, control movement, and allow communal tenure to evolve into structured land use. Uganda could adopt regional pastoralism zones and rotational grazing corridors recognized under law.

 

2. Botswana’s Tribal Grazing Land Policy (TGLP)

 

Botswana zones land into commercial, communal, and reserved areas. Cattle owners must register and confine herds within designated land to reduce overgrazing. Uganda needs a national pastoral zoning framework.

 

3. Ethiopia’s Communal Land Certification

 

Ethiopia introduced communal land certificates for pastoralists to secure mobility and prevent encroachment. Uganda could explore mobile customary rights recognition through digital mapping and certification.

 

VI. POSSIBLE SOUND SOLUTIONS

 

✅ 1. National Pastoralism and Land Use Policy

 

Uganda urgently needs a Pastoralist Mobility and Land Use Policy, harmonizing grazing rights, fencing requirements, and environmental protections. The Uganda National Land Policy (2013) is too generic on pastoralism.

 

✅ 2. District-Based Enforcement of Presidential Guidelines

 

President Museveni’s 2023 Balalo directives should be enforced uniformly with monitoring by a multi-stakeholder taskforce—district leaders, Uganda Land Commission, NEMA, Ministry of Lands, and the Ministry of Security.

 

✅ 3. Customary Land Mapping and Protection

 

Launch community-led mapping of customary land in Gulu and beyond, supported by the Ministry of Lands and NGOs. Issue Certificates of Customary Ownership (CCOs) under the Land Act to protect local claims.

 

✅ 4. Civic Dialogue and Identity Healing

 

Reframe the issue as one of land use and governance, not ethnic invasion. Truth-telling forums, community mediation, and policy-based civic education can defuse identity-fueled tensions.

 

✅ 5. Institutional Strengthening

 

Strengthen Area Land Committees and District Land Boards in northern Uganda through training, digitization, and anti-corruption safeguards.

 

VII. CONCLUSION: CAN THE STATE REDEEM TRUST?

 

The Balalo crisis in Gulu is a microcosm of Uganda’s unresolved land question—where customary rights, state power, ethnicity, and economic desperation collide. Without transparent, enforceable, and inclusive land governance, Uganda risks entrenching not only land injustice but also a violent ethnic nationalism.

 

> As Frantz Fanon warned: “The wealth of the people is the cause of their misery, because the colonizers saw it and came for it.” Are Uganda’s marginalized seeing history repeat itself?

 

The future lies in a technocratic, grounded, and socially just resolution, where land serves both its ecological and cultural custodianship role, and national development does not breed national distrust.

 

Recommended Immediate Actions

 

1. Declare a moratorium on all pastoralist settlements in Gulu until a verification exercise is done.

 

2. Establish a Balalo Taskforce chaired by the Ministry of Lands, not State House.

 

3. Commence mass land rights education and legal aid for Gulu communities.

 

4. Parliament should urgently review the Land Act to reinforce customary tenure rights with enforceable mechanisms.

 

5. Use GIS and satellite mapping to track herd movements, land degradation, and compliance with zoning regulaions.

 

Let Uganda not choose silence over fairness. For in the stillness of injustice grows the loudest cry of rebellion.