Kibaale calm after violent land clashes

Western Uganda’s Kibaale district is reported to be calm again following fierce ethnic clashes over land which resulted in the murder of three civilians, including two children who were beheaded with hunting knives. A further 50 people suffered serious injuries from attacks with spears, axes and machetes, according to police sources. The fight occurred on Monday between members of the Banyoro tribe and the dominant Bakiga tribe of western Uganda. A group of Bakiga attacked the Banyoro in a “pre-emptive strike” when they saw them in a Bakiga-settled area and feared an attempt to appropriate their land by force. Police commissioner for Uganda’s mid-west region Grace Turyagumanawe told IRIN “it was just the usual fighting over land". "We have already arrested 15 involved in starting the fight. We are still pursuing the ringleaders but we have a good idea who they are. We will be bringing them to justice,” Turyagumanawe said. Turyagumanawe added that security had been bolstered in the region. “We have increased foot patrols and have quite a number of extra men on the ground. We are now in a better position to prevent further scuffles.” The gruesome killings are the latest in a long line of clashes concerning questions of land and self-rule in Kibaale. In April 2002, the Banyoro and Bakiga came to blows when the numerically dominant Bakiga succeeded in electing one of their number as a councillor for the district. The Banyoro rejected the results because they regard the Bakiga as aliens on their land. The Banyoro say they want to be compensated for historical wrongs by the British who, they say, robbed them of their homeland a century ago. In 1974, a government resettlement policy facilitated a large influx of ethnic Bakiga into Kibaale, leaving them in the majority, Minister of State for Lands and MP for Kibaale, Isoke Baguma told IRIN. "No-one was displaced but the move was done without the consent of the Banyoro,” he said.