FDC’s Gilbert Olanya kneels before Museveni, begs him to resolve Apaa insecurity

Kilak South Member of Parliament Gilbert Olanya has knelt before President Museveni, asking him to resolve the land disputes in the contested Apaa area, Adjumani district that have claimed lives.

Olanya was among the leaders from the Acholi sub-region who met with the president on Saturday, June 11, 2022, at the Baralege State Lodge in Otuke district.

In his remarks, Olanya said that they trust President Museveni on the issue of security, and asked him to help resolve the issue of Apaa once and for all.

“There is serious insecurity going on in a place called Apaa, we held over 10 meetings with you over Apaa but right now people are sleeping outside,” Olanya said.

The Kilak South MP added that there are some organised group of gangs who burnt more than 300 houses and that right now people are sleeping in the cold.

“I request your excellency, you are the commander in chief and the fountain of honour, please let the issue of Apaa come to rest. Just you giving instructions to those people and nothing will continue,” Olanya added.

This website understands that new tribal clashes, according to several reports, flared up between the Madi and Acholi people who reside in the contested Apaa area on June 4.

The reports of these attacks circulated on social media and several pictures of injured men whose hands had been cut went viral on various platforms.

Days later, a group of about seven MPs from the Acholi sub-region who went to visit the area were blocked from accessing the area by a joint force of police and army officers at the Amuru-Adjumani border.

The Amuru Resident District Commissioner Stephen Odong Latek had however earlier warned MPs and politicians not to go anywhere near the contested area without informing security in Adjumani due to safety reasons.

Olanya, while petitioning the President, said that the security officers told them never to access Apaa.

At the same meeting, the Chairperson of the Acholi Parliamentary Group Anthony Akol told President Museveni that people in Apaa are suffering greatly.

Akol said that perpetrators of the recent attacks in Apaa which left 27 residents wounded and about 300 huts burnt down should not be left to walk free, and asked the president to intervene.

Museveni reacts

In reaction, President Museveni blamed himself for not constituting a judicial committee that would champion peace in the Apaa area.

The president said that he was busy and apologised for the delay.

“I must admit that it is my mistake now because we agreed on forming a judicial commission of inquiry. I even came up with some names, but we got busy with so many things and we didn’t conclude it,” Museveni said.

The president was however quick to remind politicians not to spread malicious and misleading information that could further escalate the conflicts.

He said that it is not good for leaders to be misleaders.

“Everything they hear, they go and turn it upside down. We don’t only have to stop the nonsense going on, but also find responsibility for all this chaos,” Museveni stressed.

The Apaa land turned contentious when government in 2017 demarcated boundaries between Amuru and Adjumani Districts.

Apaa village was placed under Adjumani, to the dismay of the Acholi people from Amuru with whom they have inhabited the land for decades.

Since then, the attacks have been recurring as the Madi community want the Acholi people pushed out of the land.