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Former Aruu County MP Odonga Otto, a prominent voice in the campaign for the eviction of Balaalo cattle keepers from Northern Uganda, has revealed that the complexities of the issue have been compounded by the presence of Rwandan cattle keepers.
Otto claims that while the local Acholi community might be open to allowing some Balaalo back after a thorough eviction and verification process, permitting them to use land for grazing under new, clearly defined terms, the Rwandan-speaking Balaalo present a distinct and more intractable problem.
He insists that this particular group needs to be entirely removed, citing a pervasive feeling among locals of being invaded by foreign nationals.
The Question of Customary Land Owners
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While some of the Balaao claim to have legally acquired land in Acholi and other parts of Northern Uganda, Odonga Otto and other supporters of the impending forceful eviction hold that land there is communally owned and not for sale.
Otto dispelled notions that the Acholi people are inherently unwelcoming, clarifying that commercial plots in towns like Gulu are readily available for purchase by non-Acholis, and that notable figures such as Gen Salim Saleh have bought them.
However, he drew the line at the acquisition of vast swathes of rural communal land.
"What we cannot do is allow a person to come from outside and buy 3 square miles of rural communal land and fence it off; even I, who is a clan leader, cannot do that. Who are you excluding?"
“These are hunting grounds, these grounds for rituals…how do you come in and fence off all the hills, the valleys, and the rivers?"
Odonga Otto
A Proposed Path to Resolution
For Odonga Otto, the way forward is unequivocally clear: "The Balaalo must all first leave Acholi."
He proposed a meticulous verification committee tasked with establishing the true identity of these cattle keepers, specifically to ascertain who among them are Rwandan nationals.
His conviction stems from personal observations, recounting how his Munyakole manager could not comprehend the language spoken by a Mulaalo, only to discover the individual was speaking Kinyarwanda.
"This is why Ugandans need to be patriotic. We must first protect our country. I think about 60% of Balaalo in Northern Uganda are Rwandans, and not the Ugandan-Rwandans. These are people who have come from Rwanda," Otto asserted.
Following this rigorous verification, he suggests that those who legitimately purchased land could be allowed back, but under new arrangements where land is rented out to them, rather than owned
Balaalo cattle keepers
Museveni's Executive Order and its Enforcement
The debate surrounding the Balaalo eviction has gained further traction with President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni’s executive order concerning their removal from Northern Uganda.
Following an initial directive in May 2023 (Executive Order No. 3 of 2023) addressing issues of indiscipline, illegal land occupation, failure to fence grazing areas, and crop destruction, the eviction exercise which began in December 2023 was temporarily halted in early 2024 due to an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease.
However, it was formally resumed on May 23, 2025, with President Museveni giving migrant herdsmen a definitive 14-day (or in some reports, three-week) ultimatum to vacate.
The State Minister for Northern Uganda, Kenneth Omona, affirmed that forceful eviction, led by the UPDF and supported by other security agencies, would follow non-compliance.
Despite this, Balaalo pastoralists have challenged the order in court, alleging discrimination and a lack of proper verification regarding land ownership, while some Acholi MPs have expressed frustration over perceived delays in the order's full enforcement.