MP Atiku battles police and Army in tree planting demonstration to evict Gen. Salim Saleh from Barifa Forest

MP Atiku battles police and Army in tree planting demonstration to evict Gen. Salim Saleh from Barifa Forest

By Robert Ariaka Yiti.

Arua. October 13, 2012. 

Police officers battle with MP Atiku during his tree planting demo. Pictures by Robert Ariaka Yiti.

The Member of Parliament for Ayivu county Hon. Bernard Atiku was on Friday morning embattled in a scuffle with the police and army as he launched his move to lead the people of Ayivu to plant trees in the de-gazetted land in Barifa.

The law maker together with the elders of Ayivu had earlier on seeked permission from the police to accompany them in a tree planting demonstration which they say was a move to inform the officials of national Forest Authority about the de gazetted land in Barifa.

According to the residents of Ayivu, Gen. Salim Saleh is being accused of grabbing the land without the consent of the elders of the area. He had asked for the land to pay Ex-servicemen for three months when the general elections were approaching last year but to date he has since changed his plan to establish developments in the disputed land.

Atiku who was accompanied by the elders and youths of Ayivu was blocked by the police and army while entering the Municipality gardens where the assembly was to take place before moving to the Barifa camp site.

The MP who surprised police and army in his time of entrance into the town using a boda boda rider who dropped him at Hass petrol station near the roundabout to pick tree seedlings to begin his demonstrations despite police and army closing all the entranced by deploying heavily the army and police waiting to see from which angle his car was coming from.

The police, Army and the MP were embattled in a fight for close to one hour as police kept pulling and grabbing the tree seedlings from the hands of the law maker as they harassed him.

DPC Arua Dan Biaruhanga and the RPC Walera Charles were physically involved in grabbing, pulling and exchanging verbal wards of fight with the MP threatening to arrest him if he does not withdraw from his demonstration. 

The red top soldiers and police were deployed at the scene of the contentious Barifa land ready to disperse anybody who would forge a way to the camp.

The strong FDC die hard who remained aggrieved, was later calmed by the elders of the constituency on grounds that, they would meet the officials of NFA, Arua Municipality, and a representative from central government under the ministry of environment and natural resources to explain and ascertain on what grounds was the Barifa land de gazetted and given to Gen. Saleh to operate in even after the three months period of paying Ex-service men.

On calming down, MP Atiku handed over 100 seedlings of pine tree to the DPC Arua arguing if the police and army continue to abuse the law by blocking peaceful demonstration which the constitution of Uganda grants permission to, they stage more dangerous demonstrations in future.

 “We have seen guns and our people have suffered enough in insurgencies to which our region is still marginalized from better developments but police and army are only here employed to protect land grabbers” the FDC man uttered in the process of battling the armed forces.

“I want NFA to produce legal documents to the people of Ayivu and Arua municipality to ascertain who own the land under the current developments in the forest. The land act, forest laws are very clear and nobody is above the law to promote impunity especially the armed forces who are employed using government money which is tax payer’s money” he said.

One of the elders there are two issues to iron out; one of the issue is security and another is land issue which have been misunderstood. We are going to seat down as elders to reclaim our land which was given to missionaries in 1936 for plantation of eucalyptus trees but now NFA and Arua municipality went ahead to exchange the land for business to which we object. 

Even if RDC Abiriga wants or not this remains our land but as an RDC he is not supposed to control people by ordering police and army to use live ammunitions to disperse demonstrators. His advisers should guide him because he lacks direction as RDC, the elder reiterated.

This was a peaceful demonstration to so love for our environment and NFA has mandate to protect forests to avoid illegal entrance in gazetted forest land and if NFA has hard us or not, we will still continue to demand for our land, the law maker said.

The scuffle gradually calmed down after the legislator and his followers withdrew from the demonstration and handed over the tree seedlings to police and left. No arrest was made as the law maker battled the police and army threatening that, anybody who would proceed to arrest him would leak his blood.  

According to information from an insider from the camp site, NFA is already in the process of legalizing the documentation of the de-gazetted land at Barifa. The source intimates that, the own going structures at the camp site are temporary structures under the Ecosan project which would easily be removed if the people in the area do not need the own going developments meant to help them. 

According to the RDC Walera Charles, the MP and his elders should seek legal procedures to handle the issue of land but for them, they will act on court orders if they are to accompany the people of Ayivu with the MP to plant trees at Barifa camp.

Arua RDC Ibrahim Abiriga had the previous day ordered the police and army to use live bullets to shoot at MP Atiku if he staged the demonstrations to plant trees in the disputed land at Barifa camp site Abiriga also ordered police to arrest Atiku immediately and whisk him to Kampala for further management.

End.