Omona's Wife Jessica Acan, says her husband had returned home with people he called developers and ordered them to vacate the land to pave way for his developments
Santo Omona, a Ugandan
UK based Businessman has evicted his own family in Gulu shortly after he returned
home during the corona virus global pandemic.
Omona reportedly left
home a wife and five children in 2000 at Obiya West in Gulu West Division on a customary plot of land measuring two hectares when he went to work abroad.
Jesica Acan, the wife
of Omona says her husband had returned home with people he called developers
and ordered them to vacate the land to pave him way for his developments.
Acan says the team had
started demolishing the building the following day which sparked conflict as
they attempted to resist, but that Omona was backed up by some of the relatives and
evicted them.
She with the children stormed the office of the
Resident District Commissioner on Tuesday and camped there until the next morning
and were temporarily resettled back home.
“My husband abandoned me
twenty years ago with the children and he has evicted us now from the only land
we survive on” a tearing Acan recounts.
Cizzer Openy, the elder son who is 28 years says he himself has a family with two children and was shocked to see his own father evicting them after he returned.
Tom Oree, the Deputy
Resident Commissioner for Gulu says the state is investigating Mr. Omona for
using a different name while in the foreign Countries.
Omona can now not be traced and the Deputy RDC says says he has disappeared
and gone back to his place of work in the United Kingdom at the time the country was
in a total lockdown adding that the office has summoned him for unlawful
eviction.
Oree says his office is
overwhelmed with settlement of land related conflicts and has received 480 cases
in six months of lockdown. He says 75% of the conflicts
were settled with mediation and the rest ended up in civil court with the most
affected sub counties being Awach, Palaro, Unyama and Bungatira in the District.
Oree however called
for impartiality of courts in handling cases of land related issues saying the underprivileged
have continued to lose lands at the hands of the wealthy people.
He says the delay in
conclusion of cases of land conflicts in court have continued to affect the
poor person who may not afford transport to attend court and the rulings are often made against
them.
Cue in…….”now another
problem……”
Cue out……”so this kind…………….”
“The Judiciary must
learn to separate criminal justice and civil suit and they should be impartial
in handling land related conflicts if we must protect the poor from losing
lands” Oree added.
A 2018
report by Advance Afrika, a non governmental Organization working with Uganda Prison
Services in Northern Uganda says 37% of convictions arise from land conflicts more, than any other crime committed in the region.