Talks between Karamojong and Iteso begin over land demarcation

The Government has started mediation talks between the Karamajong and the Iteso to convince the two communities to allow surveyors from the Ministry of Lands to undertake surveys to come up with a common boarder line to avert a likely conflict.

The Karamojong and their neighbours , the Iteso are threatening to go to war against each other over a boarder between the two tribes. The disputed boarder at Alekileki in Katakwi and Moroto, is the center of controversy with each tribe claiming a different boarder point.

While the Karamajong claim this rock as the boarder established and clearly marked by the colonialists, the Itesot claim that the Boarder is at this seasonal river where the governor planted an acacia tree which has since been cut down.

If the two communities agree, experts from the Ministry of Lands will base on the marked boundaries contained in the 1962 constitution to remark the boundary between Teso and Karamoja .

This boundary has been a center of controversy besides the cattle rustling which has put a wedge between the two communities. The disputed boarder point is a very fertile area and both communities would like to own it to grow crops.

The Ministry of Lands has deployed close to 76 specialized surveyors to undertake this assignment but this is just one among the numerous boarder conflicts that exist especially with the creation o f new districts. Obongi County in Moyo is in conflict with Yumbe over a boarder.

Budaka and Mbale are in conflict and upto six people have so far been brutally killed. Farmers have since been stopped from cultivating at River Namakwekwe , the Boarder point between Mbale and the recently created Budaka ,for fear of further bloodshed. One victim was cut into pieces and his remains dumped in the boarder River.

This is Godfrey Katende a driver with the Department of surveys .Together with his boss, Lutaaya survived mob justice in Kamuda sub county ,Soroti District where they had gone to survey and demarcate land in line with the government's programme of poverty eradication.

Unlike other boarder conflicts, the current conflict between the Karamajong and the Iteso at Alikeleke because of the presence of illegal guns in Karamaja.

The Ministry of Lands has been conducting consultative meetings in the two sub regions to gather their views on the ongoing formulation process of the Land Policy and the question of the boarder between the Iteso and the Karimajong featured prominently.