In Court, Former Kaberamaido Woman MP Veronica Isala Bitchetero narrated that she was a member of NRA's external wing by 1996 when her parents were beaten, humiliated and raided in Kaberamaido. She recalls that her father’s eyes were gorged out by the National Resistance Army- NRA soldiers who were moving with the Karimojong raiders.
War Debt Claimants in Teso are back in court, a year
after a program for their compensation was unveiled by the government.
The compensation program launched in Soroti last year was supposed to be handled in a phased manner until all
the claimants in Acholi, Lango and Teso are covered. during the launch of the compensation, President Museveni said that his government was taking responsibility for the
mess created by the former governments.
But according to lawyer Richard Omongole, the process has not been done
satisfactorily, forcing them to return to court and ensure that they get what is due to the claimants.
//Cue in; “We were shocked…
Cue out…as they are.”//
The claimants have listed 33 witnesses for the hearing that
is expected to end on April 26, 2023, before High Court Resident Judge Dr Henry Adonyo.
In Court, Former Kaberamaido Woman MP Veronica Isala Bichetero narrated that she was a member of NRA's external
wing by 1996 when her parents were beaten, humiliated and raided in
Kaberamaido. She recalls that her father’s eyes were gorged out by the National Resistance Army-
NRA soldiers who were moving with the Karimojong raiders.
Bichetero, who was working with UNICEF in Nairobi then, told the court
that she had to ask for permission from her office to return to Uganda and take
care of the elderly parents who had been beaten and raided by the NRA. The former MP is one of the witnesses presented by Teso War debt
claimants.
David Nyangan, a resident of Ongino Sub County in Kumi
district told the court that
he witnessed the soldiers driving away cattle from Ongino, Bukedea, Ngora and
Serere when he was working in the army. He made the revelations during cross-examination by the Principle State Attorney, Richard Mukisa.
Previously, more than 300,000 people ran to court in five
different cases against the Attorney General seeking compensation. They include
Okupa & Others Vs Attorney General Misc. Application No. 14 of 2005, Okupa
& Others Vs Attorney General, Civil Suit No. 122 of 2009, Ochen Julius
& 200,500 Others Versus Attorney General, Civil Suit No. 292 of 2010,
Geresom Eotu & Others Versus Attorney General, Civil Suit No. 230 of 2010
and Imodot & Others Verses Attorney General, Civil Suit No. 09 of 2012.
In all these cases, the government was either compelled to take
responsibility by a court or just admitted through an out-of-court settlement. However, in Okupa & 2002 Others Vs Attorney General
Misc. Application No. 14 of 2005, the government was ordered to compensate each
beneficiary depending on the property and life lost in the landmark ruling of
2018 of Justice David Batema.
According to Omongole, Teso war debt claimants are
seeking compensation of 4.4 trillion Shillings.
Edward Eninu
Freelancer
Moris OKwi
Freelancer