Politics 11 April 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Urgent Call for Strict Policies to Curb Roaming Herdsmen in Uganda
Roaming herdsmen, known as balaalo, are invading forests and wetlands, sparking clashes with tree planters and legitimate land users. Experts urge tough laws and mindset shifts to end nomadism and promote settled farming amid growing population pressures. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/oped/commentary/roaming-herdsmen-and-need-for-firm-policies-to-end-it-5419924
President Museveni has tasked ISO Director General Arthur Mugyenyi with resolving a heated land dispute in Nsowe Central Forest Reserve, Gomba District. Herdsmen have invaded the area, clashing with private planters holding leases from the National Forest Authority to restore forest cover.
These nomadic herders, evicted from Tanzania in 2013 and previously from regions like northern Uganda, Teso, and Buliisa, now target government forests and wetlands. Despite past forceful removals by UPDF and police, they persist, tarnishing the President’s image despite his long-standing push against nomadism.
Notably, many own large herds yet refuse to settle, even after receiving land through ranch restructuring in the 1990s, which they sold. The article stresses they are not impoverished but resistant to modern, sedentary farming on smaller plots.
Uganda requires firm policies: mindset change campaigns, punitive laws against illegal animal movement, land registration under freehold or leasehold, grazing reserves, and bans on free-range grazing. Treating encroachers leniently perpetuates the issue, endangering the environment and communities.
Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda)