APAA, UGANDA: The genesis of the gruesome Apaa land conflict could be traced to the illegal occupation of the land from Zoka River to the present day Ngoro area, which is in Zoka Aliwara village, Mungula parish in Itirikwa Sub County by Gen.Julius Oketa in 2006.
As relative peace was slowly returning to Northern Uganda and in Adjumani district, between 1998-2001, Uganda Wild Life Authority, [UWA]engaged the first council of Adjumani district local government, including elders and opinion leaders.
The idea was negotiating with the district council to allow UWA create a Wild Life Protected Area out of the defunct East Madi Controlled Hunting area which was established by the British colonial government.
Having weighed the development impact that could be created by the Wild Life Reserve, the visionary and focused council headed by Mr. Owole Nixon [current RDC Tororo district], gave a green light to UWA and allocated 827, kilometers square of land which UWA named East Madi Wild Life Reserve.
This development facilitated the opening of a security road from Apaa that connects up to Adjumani town between 2001-2002.
On November 25, 2006,Gen Oketa Julius [RIP] who was following the events keenly and closely ferried strange people in 3 Lorries, they moved through Adjumani town, parked at Hotel Zawadi at around 2:00pm where he had lunch and continued to the wilderness of Zoka.
The UPDF Gen.then occupied the entire area from Zoka River to Ngoro area where he established a giant bee farm and deployed UPDF soldiers to guard the farm and allocated land for his henchmen for farming.
The Ofua, sub county council in reaction convened a crisis council meeting on July 6, 2007, and resolved that Gen.Oketa Julius and his kinsmen be advised to peacefully vacate the place.
The Ofua sub county council moved a step further, on July 11,2007, they petitioned President Yoweri Museveni through the then East Moyo county MP Erwaga Santos accusing Gen.Oketa Julius of land grabbing.
President Yoweri Museveni acted swiftly, in October 2007, he sent his presidential adviser on Northern Uganda Richard Todwong who drove to the farm of Gen.Oketa Julius in the company of Suru-Baru Simon the district councilor representing the people of Ofua Sub County.
In December 2007, an aggrieved party in Ofua sub county led by Suru-Baru Simon that includes; Gule Simon, Drali Lomere, Flamino Oloya, Sikondo Madrara and Sebastiano Ovuru dragged Gen.Julius Oketa to Adjumani grade one Magistrates ‘court.
The civil suit was registered under Miscellaneous Application number;0014/2007, Gen.Julius Oketa severally shunned court summons and later abandoned the bee farm, but left behind, his clansmen led by two elders; Justino Opira and Olum Jenaro.
Following the departure of Gen.Oketa Julius another group led by former Pabo sub county chairman Ojera Christopher invaded the area, the group includes; Atube Bosco, Okot Samuel, Kinyera Richard and Ojara Stephen Okello among others.
The group moved and settled in Zoka which is in Gbayi village, Zoka parish in Itirikwa Sub County; they then created their own villages and named themZoka A, B and C villages.
The elders who were abandoned by Gen.Julius Oketa and another team, who were led by former Pabo sub county chairman Ojera Christopher, became landlords and started selling land in the area indiscriminately and brought in more tribes’ men as leaders and clan chiefs in the area looked on because the place was not secure that time.
The astute and daring group fired a lot of propaganda that the vast fertile land was in Pabo sub county and later rallied behind, the then Kilak County MP Olanya Gilbert and several Acholi politicians including Nobert Mao and the versatile former Chwa county MP Odonga Otto behind them.
But now the fate of the deadly Mafia group who has been master-minding cut throat land grabbing deals in Zoka area is balancing on a shoe string after the chief land deal executioner Ojara Stephen Okello has been send to the mighty walls of Openzinzi prison.
The most feared and ruthless Ojara Stephen Okello has been behind the grabbing of 826 acres of land in Zoka B, Ngoro area, Aliwara Village in Mungula parish, Itirikwa Sub County.
The now incarcerated, chief contract land grabber has been acting on instructions from affluent individuals and groups of Acholi communities in Diaspora and Uganda with full backing from heavy weight Acholi leaders who have been issuing orders from above.
This could be the precise reason that Ojara Stephen Okello has been getting protection from the UPDF and the police in Zoka central barracks and the surrounding police posts and military detaches.
Ojara Stephen Okello also reportedly secured express orders from above for the police backed by the UPDF to arrest and detains whoever was found cultivating on the land in contention.
The Officer in- charge Zoka central Police Field Force Unit barracks Collins Kansimire who takes orders from Field Force Unit headquarters Kampala, during several interviews said he was under instructions to protect wanainchi whose lands were on the verge of being grabbed.
Incidentally, Ojara Stephen Okello has been masquerading as the bona fide owner of the said land with fake land sales agreement [land document].
A document of land sales agreement whose copy I have secured indicates Ojara Stephen Okello acquired the chunk land from Mze Olum Jenaro and Okot Justino on November 8, 2006.
The document additionally shows the land in question is in Apaa village, Pabo sub county in Amuru district whereas the actual land Ojara Stephen Okello is claiming ownership of is located in Zoka B, Ngoro area in Aliwara village, Mungula parish in Itirikwa sub county Adjumani district.
History still maintains that the area where the land in question is located was inhabitable in 2006, except for super Ugandans like Gen.Julius Oketa who had UPDF protection, as it was area of operation of the remnants of the Lord’s Resistance Army [LRA] of Joseph Kony as relative peace started returning in the area.
As his luck was about to desert him, on September 11, 2021, three Madi youths who were going to harvest soya bean were way laid by Acholi youth militia who were reportedly working under Ojara Stephen Okello, unfortunately one, of them, Idro Edward who was hacked to death.
The police swung into action and investigations pointed fingers at Ojara Stephen Okello since the garden of the deceased is located on the land whose ownership Ojara Stephen Okello has been claiming.
Adjumani magistrate grade one court presided over by Agnes Nantaawo, on October 2, 2021, charged him with murder and remanded him to Openzinzi prison.
Ojara Stephen Okello now joins Olanya Patrick and Ocaya Simon who have been remanded to Openzinzi prison on October 8, 2021, with the connection to the September 11, 2021 murder of Idro Edward while 11 suspects are still on the run.
Arkangelo Erwaga an elder in the area said Ojara Stephen Okello and his miscreant gang have been confusing decision makers that there is a village called Apaa in Adjumani district, this he thrashes as absolute lies.
“He said the area in contention which Acholi leaders and land grabbers refer to as Apaa is a place in East Madi Wild Life Reserve which was named by encroachers mostly from Acholi sub region. It is on record that there is no administrative unit at the level of a village called Apaa in Adjumani”.
The Ali clan chief Chandiga Ben, has expressed contentment, observing that at last government is beginning to listen to the people of Ali clan and those who have peacefully settled in the area and has vowed to pursue the murder case to its logical conclusion because they have lost many lives in such kind of a needless land related violence.
Chief Chandiga Ben said, the actions of Ojara Stephen Okello who is a specialist in cut-throat land deals has piled misery on the legitimate settlers in the area since he has been claiming almost the entire arable land in Ngoro area.
He said aside from the murder case in court, the Ali clan leaders will soon convene a crisis meeting to discuss modalities of bringing everlasting peace in the area because wide spread land conflicts that have been orchestrated by strangers is threatening the fragile unity and peace of the community.
The situation is far from over as the UPDF and Uganda Police Force continue to torment residents in the area on alleged orders from a resurgent super deep under cover land grabbers who are believed to be the lieutenants’ of jailed Ojara Stephen Okello.
Several attempts to have the matter in the area including that in Apaa which lies in East Madi Wild Life Reserve, sorted out amicably have long failed forcing president Yoweri Museveni to take it up.
The president has had separate meetings with leaders from Acholi and West Nile, this year and promised to convene the last meeting before the end of the year [2021], but the meeting that was scheduled for November 26, 2021, has been called off indefinitely.
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