Kampala — The Basongora are a pastoralist tribe in Uganda and they are as old as any other tribe in Uganda, but under persecution. This is evident in the history of this country. European explorers like Stanley talked about meeting the Basongora in the Rift Valley. Kingdoms like Buganda, Bunyoro and Ankole fought against the Basongora in the 17th and 18th century.

The Basongora who have ancestry in Virunga and Congo are mainly found in Kasese where they have lived for many years. They existed even before Queen Elizabeth National Park was gazetted in 1952. Through years of persecution some of them have on several occasions migrated to Congo. Their houses were burnt and animals killed. A few years ago, they were expelled from Congo and forced back home with no land to live on.

However, this problem is not new. When the park was gazetted, the colonialists treated them like a tribe that did not exist. They were forcefully removed from the park in a guise of saving them from Rinderpest and other diseases. The gazetting itself took almost 98% of the land that belonged to Basongora.

After independence in 1962, the Government took over the remaining land for national projects. Even the alternative 17sq miles that were given to them were taken over by Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). The land currently occupied by Mubuku Rice Scheme, Hima army barracks, Ibuga Refugee Settlement and Mubuku Prison was once owned by the Basongora.

On May 22, the Basongora received a letter from the tourism ministry warning them against an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in Queen Elizabeth National Park. The letter authorised UWA to work with the district leadership to restrict the Basongora herds near the vaccination centres so that they do not mix with wild animals and spread the disease further.

The Basongora heeded this directive. Unfortunately on May 27, they were attacked by UWA guards, who destroyed their property worth millions of shillings. Basongora are not poachers. They love wild animals. They were living with these animals long before the park was gazetted. So saying that UWA chased us away because we were affecting park conservation would be ridiculous.

The Government is aware of our plight. When the NRM government came in 1986, they pledged to settle the Basongora. However, in 1989, the local leadership in Kasese hired people and destroyed Basongora settlements. In 1994, President Yoweri Museveni recommended that some of the institutional land be degazetted to accommodate Basongora, but this pledge has never been fulfiled. The Basongora have held numerous meetings with government officials, including Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi and former minister Kisamba Mugerwa.

Our relationship with the local leadership is not good. The district leadership has been party to the destruction of Basongora property. This happened in 1991 and 1999/2000.

It is like Basongora are not recognised in the district. When the Ministry of Education and Sports directed that children should be taught in local languages, Kasese district directed that only Rukonjo had to be used. Rusongora was thus left out.

The Basongora want justice done. We want the Government to correct the injustices of the colonial times committed against us. We want the land that was taken away from us after independence. We should also be given an avenue through which we can exercise our rights and all those persecuting us to should be charged under the law.

The writer is the leader of the Basongora