UPGRADE Project

Akello Pilimena of Laminatoo village, Agonga parish in Koch Goma sub/county has been so distressed for over two years because of the bitter relationship between her and her immediate neighbor Apat Pauline daughter of the late Rudolfo who had given them this land to live on back in 1980's.The relationship has been so bad that even when her chicken, goats, pigs cross over to Pauline's home, they get stoned and sometimes killed, so bad that it has made life almost impossible for her and her children.

How it all started;

The husband of Akello Pilimena was given land by Rudolfo because he was one of the first teachers of the only primary school in this village so he could reside near the school with his entire family. All this was out of good will and friendship. The two families lived in harmony until recently in 2012 after the two friends had both passed away.

One of the daughters of mzee Rudolfo by the names of Apat Pauline who initially lived in Gulu town all this while decided it was time to go and settle on their ancestral land and engage in agricultural work.

When she went back home and started constructing a hut, Akello Pilimena was not pleased with the developments around her even when this land was given to them out of good will by Rudolfo the father of Apat Pauline. The two families that once lived in harmony now became enemies to each other and this extended to the children who had started fighting among themselves, simply because back then boundaries were not well demarcated but gardens belonged to families and were respected.

After series of quarrels and fights, Akello reported the issue to the local leaders (Rwot Kweri) of the area who tried his best to help resolve the issue but nothing changed. He later invited the elders of the village to help the two families. The elders tried to demarcate the boundary but this was not respected by Akello Pilimena and she went ahead to cultivate in areas which was not belonging to her.Becuase she no longer respected the family that had allowed her husband to settle in this area, instead she wanted full control of the land without any regard for the original family members.

With the help of the peace committees the issue was reported to the office of the LC111 because of the rising tension between the two families. The chairman LC111 then requested ARLPI to come in and help to which the two parties agreed since they had tried all the local leaders and failed to reach an agreement.

We the ARLPI team and the LCIII of the sub county, with the help of local leaders and neighbors who know the area very well guiding the process. The family of the Late Rudolfo suggested that a clear boundary be put between the two families to avoid any occurrence of violence and quarrels and that they had had enough of bitterness.

Akello Pilimena and her sons  also agreed that for  peace to prevail, boundary demarcations has to be done in the presence of all that were part of the mediation and vowed to respect the decision made by the local leaders.

Akello Pilimena, extreme left pointing at what she believes is the boundary of her land in the presence of the LC111, elders and neighbors.

After the boundaries were verified, trees were planted to avoid any occurrence of violence in the area among the two families.

Above, the widow of Rudolfo on wheel chair gives an account of how this land was initially used communally without any quarrels. 

She also expressed her appreciation to ARLPI and the office of the LCIII, "this land issue has been causing me sleepless nights and after all this I can finally rest. I hope Akello and my daughter will respect what has been done here today so that I can have peace."

Above the LC111.Mr. Okullu John Bosco digging a hole to plant trees in the boundary that has been agreed upon by both families.

A CASE OF TWO YOUNG MEN DETERMINED TO KILL FOR LAND.

Opiyo Simon and Ojok Nelson of Lanyoro village, Amar parish, Koch goma sub-county-Nwoya District almost killed each other over land boundary, had it not been for the presence of neighbors who calmed the situation

How it all Begun;

This conflict started in 2013 when these 2 parties returned from Koch Goma center where they had lived because of the LRA insurgency. By this time Nelson had married a wife and had children. His father instructed him (Nelson) to construct his house where his grandmother used to dig which was again next to Opiyo's home. Opiyo thought Nelson's father was doing this as a means of grabbing their land.

In2014, a fight broke between the two parties. Opiyo demolished one of Nelsons hut. Besides Opiyo also threatened to kill Nelson and his father using petrol since he has it in his house (He sells petrol in that village). This case was reported to the clan head Mr. Olwedo Leone who delegated his committee members to handle the case but they failed to resolve it.

In 2015, the case intensified when Opiyo went with a spear where Nelson was digging and threatened to kill him if he does not leave the area where he had constructed his hut. However, Opiyos mother managed to stop his son from committing such act.

In 2015, Nelson reported the case to Mr. Okullo John Bosco, the LC3 of Koch Goma sub-county. Who then requested ARLPI to help him in the process of mediation to which the two parties agreed and a date was set.On the 13/5/2016, a mediation was conducted chaired by the LC3, ARLPI staff, Clan heads and other community members.

At the end of the mediation, the 2 parties agreed on the following

Recommendations:

1.    Nelson accepted to leave his current home and to construct a new home at another site by September 2016.

2.    The boundary to be properly demarcated.

3.    Indigenous trees (LUCORO) to be planted at the boundary and this was done immediately.

The LC1 of the area Mr. Kilama thanked ARLPI for finally settling the conflict among these two young men.As he quotes "I already had fear that this land issue if not handled would lead to loss of lives, am glad you have saved us from such tragedy from occurring in my area." He said they as local leaders tried to resolve the issue but community simply don't respect them anymore.

Nelson also said he will try to work on his relationship with Opiyo so that they live in harmony since they are neighbors. The mother of Opiyo was thankful that she could now relax because she always worried about what her son might do. She further states "this son of mine has been filled with a lot of anger over this land issue, but I will try my best to counsel him so that he can forget now that clear boundary has been demarcated."

Rwot kweri of the area planting a tree in the boundary in the presence of the two parties.

STORIES FROM PADER AND AGAGO

The Land stakeholders have contributed greatly towards land conflict mitigation especially in Latanya sub-county. They have helped to solve a lot of land disputes and domestic conflicts in the area as stated by the youth councilor  "you people's work has helped reduce work load for us because previously before Land stake holders our offices used to be crowded from morning to evening with land conflict cases but now we have time to handle other issues since you people are there to handle land conflict cases", remarked the area councilor LCIII for Ngekidi parish during the reconciliation ceremony between Akec Kaciyano and his in-law Ongom Cipiriano from Ipabo village, Ngekidi Parish, Latanya sub-county. The conflict between the two dates back to 2013 where they failed to agree on where each of them should dig and stop. The land they are struggling for is around 20 hectares and Akech claims that Ongom has grabbed part of his land and the land should be divided equally. When they failed to agree on how to divide the land, Akec reported the case to three different cultural leaders who tried to mediate but failed, Akec then proceeded to the magistrate's court in Pader. The magistrate referred the case back to the land stake holders trained by ARLPI for mediation in November 2015. The land stake holders managed to succeed in the mediation in April 2016 after holding four different mediation meetings with the two conflicting parties. The chairperson of the land stake holders then wrote a mediation report to the chief magistrate of Pader who then dismissed the case that was before him and told the Mr. Akec and Ongom to respect the agreement that they have reached, the case file was then destroyed before the two. A reconciliation meeting was then organized on the 12^th May 2016 to reconcile the two so that it act as a lesson to other people. The ceremony was presided over by ARLPI's secretary general Pr. Patrick Okecha. Interestingly, Akech's son married Ongom's daughter and this makes them in-laws, below are some of the pictures taken during the reconciliation ceremony.

Akec Kaciyano greeting his in-law Ongom Cipiriano in a reconciliation ceremony presided over by ARLPI secretary general Pr. Patrick Okecha

Mass community sensitizations have helped to enlighten a lot of people in the communities who were being denied their rights especially widows facing challenges with in-laws our land. A case in point is Lanyero Christine of Patongo sub-county, Aloi central village, Lukwangole parish And she states am really grateful to ARLPI because their sensitizations especially on land rights has helped me to confront my brother in laws who threatened to throw me from my late husband's land because I only gave birth to a girl chiId, thank God you people opened my eyes otherwise I would be homeless. This conflict started in 2014 when the husband to Lanyero Christine who was for a peace keeping mission in Somalia died. The brother to Lanyero's husband and Lanyero's father in-law Mr. Okullu Atanasio started saying that Lanyero should leave their compound and the land that she was cultivating since she is of no use to them anymore. When Lanyero pleaded with them to let her stay so that she take care of her only daughter from the father's homestead all the pleas felt on deaf ears as both Lanyero's brother-in-law and father-in-law were speaking one language that she must leave after all she is having a girl child who is of no use to them. But luck was on Lanyero's side when she attended one of ARLPI's sensitization meetings where she heard that as a married woman she also has right of her late husband's customary land. She convened a clan meeting but the clan members could not help her since most of them were still saying that she must leave. Lanyero then contacted the chairperson of the women/youth peace ring and requested for a mediation. The peace ring consulted with her in-laws whether they accept the issue to be mediated upon to which the in-laws agreed. After  the peace ring members talking to Lanyero's in-laws about what the law says about the rights of widows and orphans to property ownership, the in-laws agreed that Lanyero should now stay where her husband left her continue cultivating the garden that she and her husband were cultivating before and look after their grandchild.  They were later reconciled by a member of ARLPI's program committee Mrs. Okech Pauline. Below is the picture of Lanyero with her brother-in-law and her father in-law who were chasing her away.

A widow, Lanyero Christine embracing her brother-in-law and kneeling before her father-in-law, Okullu Atanasio during reconciliation ceremony.