Kampala — GULU leaders have appealed to the Attorney General, Kiddhu Makubuya, to implement the presidential directive to pay the Acholi war debt claimants trillions of shillings for their cattle looted during the insurgency.

Gulu district chairman Norbert Mao and senior presidential adviser, Richard Todwong blamed the AG for delaying to implement the presidential directive.

"We want to protest the delay by the Attorney General to implement the president's directive. He knows very well that this is a thorny issue here; many people think government deliberately wants to keep people in the north poor," Mao said.

In a joint press conference at Acholi-Inn last week, Mao and Todwong said the compensation could alleviate the differences between the NRM and the north.

"The prosperity-for-all campaign is a non-partisan matter and the AG is delaying justice to the victims of the war," he said.

Todwong said the President recently directed the AG to start paying beneficiaries who have been cleared as he appoints a team to verify new claimants.

He said there are many presidential directives which are being ignored by some ministries: "It has become a tradition in some ministries that presidential directives are either ignored or amended, but I will make sure that I follow up this directive until it is implemented."