West Nile: The 33rd King of Alur His Majesty Ubimu Philip Rauni Ularker III has made a commitment to addressing the issue of protracted land disputes amongst his subjects.

This was during the swearing-in ceremony of the new duty bearers recently at Alur Kingdom Palace (Kal Atyak).

The King expressed his deep concerns about the numerous land conflicts that are resulting in the loss of lives and properties. He cited an example of a case in which a man was reportedly killed in Aka Sub-county, Zombo District, where over 200 huts were burnt after the incident.

The Standard has further learnt that in a bid to directly address these protracted land disputes, King Ularker III has since called upon the office of the prime minister headed by Opar Lawrence Angala, to work hand in hand with chiefs and his office to tackle different land disputes in the kingdom.

“The Jadipu Ker Alur currently has a huge task of cleaning up land conflicts in our kingdom, we have a lot of challenges that we are facing and bringing a lot of division amongst us. This has not shown a good spotlight on Alur, we just need to work together to resolve these such that the Kingdom remain peaceful,” the King said.

In the same vein, Rtd. Lt Col Pius Alitema, the Zombo District Resident Commissioner gave commitment to working hand in hand with the kingdom to ensure the numerous land cases are addressed amicably.
“As a government, I want to say we are ready to work with you and am so happy that His Majesty you invited me to come here and know the ministers and directors we are going to work with,” Alitema said.

“The kingdom, religious and political leaders should work hand and hand to address the issue because it touches all of us,” Bolingo stressed.

The Chairperson of Land Board Aka Sub-county Micheal Ngamadhe said his office has over 20 cases of serious land conflicts which should draw the attention of everyone to avoid bloodshed.

Cases

Mundel Parish in Nyapea Sub-county. There have been serious land wrangles in Nyapea Sub-county but lately calm has returned thanks to the intervention of Alur Kingdom and the office of the District Resident Commissioner.

Aka Sub-county, Zombo District, more than 20 cases of serious land wrangles are still pending. Ngamadhe recently appealed for the kingdom and the District intervention to avoid bloodshed.

In Kucwiny Sub-county, Nebbi District, cases of land wrangles are rife. The Sub-county court headed by the LC3 chairperson was able to amicably resolve 28 cases of Protracted land disputes from 2021 to date but many cases are pending.

Land ownership

Land in Alur is predominantly customary owned, meaning, indigenous communities manage it in accordance with their customs.

Customary land tenure is widespread throughout Uganda and covers more than half of the country. Most of it is found in the east and northern parts of the country with some traces found in part of western Uganda.

However, a Certificate of Customary Ownership (CCO) can be issued and a freehold title obtained if the land is converted to freehold tenure. Although it is usually characterized by non-registration of interests, lack of registration does not invalidate a customary tenure according to the Justice Center Uganda.

Alur Kingdom boasts over 8 million subjects that cut across Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo and those living in the diaspora. It has 64 chiefdoms.