UPDF to deploy aircraft in hunting down defiant Balaalo as evictions intensify

Gulu, Uganda: The Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) have announced plans to deploy aircraft to track and flush out errant migrant cattle keepers hiding in the bushes across northern Uganda. This move comes as the eviction of migrant pastoralists, locally known as Balalo, gathers pace under a fresh presidential directive.

Major General Felix Busizoori, the UPDF 4th Division Infantry Commander, confirmed that while many migrant cattle keepers have begun moving their herds voluntarily, a significant number are evading security forces by hiding in isolated areas with their livestock.

“We plan to deploy planes to locate and evict those who are stubbornly evading the ongoing exercise,” Maj Gen Busizoori said.

Last month, President Museveni issued Executive Order Number Two mandating the eviction of migrant pastoralists from northern Uganda and other affected regions, citing irreconcilable conflicts with local communities.

According to the President, peaceful coexistence between unregulated migrant cattle keepers and the local communities has proven technically impossible.

Museveni listed four major reasons, including unfenced grazing lands, lack of permanent water sources on the farms, unresolved disputes over land ownership among local communities leading to violence, and the illegal blocking of traditional access to permanent water and fishing areas by some cattle keepers, which he labelled the illegal obstruction of community resources as both criminal and exploitative.

Amos Asiimwe Banji, the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) of Pader District, reaffirmed that the exercise targets all non-compliant cattle keepers, including locals who have ignored previous orders.

“Indigenous cattle keepers who refuse to comply will also be required to either sell their animals, relocate, or face forced eviction,” Banji warned.

So far, authorities report that over 12,000 herds of cattle belonging to Balalo have been removed from West Acholi and West Nile sub-regions. However, an estimated 200,000 cattle remain in defiance of the Presidential order, mainly belonging to herders from Western Uganda.

The ongoing eviction aims to audit those herders who claim to have legally purchased land, fenced it, established water sources, and maintained peaceful relations with local communities. These claims are under verification by district authorities and security teams.

With military aircraft soon to bolster ground operations, security officials say this latest measure is expected to bring closure to a decades-long saga that has fueled tensions, land conflicts, and violence across Northern Uganda.