By Andrew Irumba
Moyo: Fighting for land is increasingly becoming one of the biggest problems in Uganda.
As you read this, three houses have been burnt and Hassan Kaps Fungaroo, a Member of Parliament for Obongi county, narrowly survived being lynched by a gang of youth who accused him of allegedly trespassing on their land. The saga happened in Iboa village Palorinya Sub County, during clashes between Moyo and Obongi residents.
SpyUganda has learnt that chaos erupted on Saturday after the area legislator Fungaroo delivered plastic chairs and tents to a Women’s group in Iboa village. However, he was attacked by a group of rowdy youths who claimed he was trespassing in Moyo district.
According to reports, a tipper lorry ferrying 50 plastic chairs was stopped at a roadblock mounted by some rowdy youth who later smashed the windscreen of the vehicle and destroyed all the chairs. Thereafter they destroyed homes and property of some of the residents who they accused of belonging to the new Obongi district.
Fungaroo said that “The chaos was orchestrated by some politicians in Moyo who are opposed to the shifting of the refugees and the associated resources to Obongi district.”
Joyce Moriku, the State Minister for Primary Health Care, the people of Palorinya are still awaiting response to a petition they submitted to the Ministry of local government demanding that they remain under Moyo district.
However, some sources intimated to SpyUganda that some leaders in Moyo who shunned attending the Technical inauguration of Obongi district have vowed to destabilize Palorinya until they are given refugees to settle in Lama.
Palorinya became the sixth Sub County in Obongi but some leaders in Moyo have continued to resist the decision, saying it should remain Moyo because of the benefits accruing from hosting over 120,000 refugees in the area.
However, police has since been deployed heavily in the area to avert any more clashes.
