By Our Reporters
Members of the Imoratok Clan in Ogolai Sub-county, Ococia Parish in Amuria District have petitioned the Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba to save them from persecution from Orungo Catholic Church.
The petition is dated May 28, 2024 and is signed on behalf of the beleaguered clan by 6 petitioners namely; Aleu Mark, Egaru Richard, Odongo Thomas, Eculu Vincent, Anoku Mark and Ekeu Joseph.
Details
According to the petitioners, they decided to run to the minister because they now see her as their only last resort having failed to get justice from all would-be agents and temples of justice including the area Resident District Commissioner, Police and even the courts of law.
The petitioners, in their letter which was received by the minister, want her to prevail over the area RDC, District Police Commander and the Church to stop harassing members of their clan following earlier persistent incidents of the same conduct but which have been perpetrated and perpetuated by the same named parties.
Secondly, the petitioners also want the minister to write to the Chief Justice to cause a review of this particular case which they say was bungled by the lower courts and the high court in Soroti upon the instigation and influence by the church. The petitioners further aver that all these atrocities against them are the handiwork of Fr. Ipurale Ocom Joseph who operates under the auspices of St. Peters Canisius Catholic Church Orungo, which is said to be a non-existent legal entity.
On top of that, they want the minister to cause the resurveying of the suit land so that clear demarcations can be distinguished between the land which the church received through donation by one of the plaintiffs’ deceased elders in 1944 and that which it is being accused of cunningly and violently grabbing.
“We are grateful for your urgent intervention to alleviate the continued suffering and plight of the Imoratok clan and the community of Ococia-Morungatuny in Amuria district,” in part reads the plaintiffs’ petition to the minister.
How It All Started
Documents seen by this publication trace the genesis of this matter to the noble and kind act of the late Etengu Honorat, the father of Aleu Mark, one of the petitioners who is a retired teacher and proprietor of Ococia Girls Secondary School.
It is stated that then a staunch catholic faithful, Etengu— desirous to see his community educated and healthy — donated about 50 acres of land to the church to construct a school and health centre to serve the local community.
Indeed, Etengu’s benevolence paid off when the church established the two amenities as requested.
However, hell broke loose 65 years later in 2009 when a one Fr. Ipurale was transferred to Ococia Catholic Church. In a bid to secure the church land, the priest embarked on the process of surveying it in a bid to get its title. While this was the noble thing to do, Fr. Ipurale is said to have been tempted by the devil to encroach on an additional 87 acres of land, way over and above the original 52 acres which were donated by the late Etengu.
The petitioners however aver that the entire process was done with utmost impunity and in total breach of legally prescribed procedures on land acquisition, documentation and ownership.
“The respondents/defendants in total abuse of the law, encroached on the Appellants/plaintiffs land by surveying additional land approximated 87 Acres to the benefits of a non-existent legal entity called St. Peter’s Canisius Catholic Church Orungo without any regard to the appellants/plaintiff interest and claims of ownership,” the petitioners state in part. Other breaches cited include: “No meeting was held with neighbours before the day of survey. No written Notice was delivered to the Clan adjacent neighbours. No Public notice was hanged as to invite Clan members and general public to participate in the survey; while some people who signed as adjacent neighbours are not the adjacent neighbours like Okello James and his brother Arienga Paul who is two kilometres away from this land among others who were paid to sign.”
The suffering begins
The church’s illegal extension of their land boundary meant that it encroached on the land of 9 members of the Imoratok clan, among whom was Eleu Mark. Consequently, Eleu sought redress from the relevant authorities against Ipurale, Amuria District Local Government and the Registered trustees of Soroti Catholic Diocese, right from the sub-county court and later high court.
However, the plaintiffs first felt the church’s wrath Fr. Ipurale through St Peter’s Cenisius catholic church dragged the Imoratok Clan to the then Morungatuny sub-county L.C 111 Court. Consequently, the LC III chairman Vincent Etolu and the sub county area land committee in total disregard of the rights of clan members planted sisal on the grabbed land. Ensuing protestations led to the arrest and detention of some clan members like Ekeu Joseph and his uncle Late Ekeu Okulu at Morungatuny police.
The clan wrote to the Chairman Parish Council calling for a peaceful resolution of the matter but the church blatantly stated that it was not ready for the same.
The church’s darker colors later manifested in 2011 when Aleu Mark fell sick and travelled to Kampala to seek for better health care. In his absence, Fr. Ipurale reportedly applied for a freehold land title for the land, albeit using forged documents of land ownership. He also reportedly forged minutes of meetings alleged to have been attended by Aleu, on top of attending lists of people who were claimed to be adjacent neighbours to the suit land.
For instance, during cross examination in court, it was discovered that Okello James, Arienga Paul, Obirai James Peter, Okello Selex, and Okello Moses were all purported to be adjacent neighbours to the land yet the visit of locus showed the truthful neighbours to be Aleu Mark, Opila Peter, Odongo Thomas and Egaru Patrick.
Curiously, the court registrar also omitted key evidence from her report on the visit to the locus, including an argument over the true boundaries of the church’s land amongst Fr. Ipurale and his own team members.
Several other inconsistencies were also exhibited by the priest during cross-examination but curiously, the court disregarded them when ruling the case in his favour. For instance, while in the dock, the priest testified not having knowledge on basic facts about the land, including: who donated the land, when it was donated, and the sketch map drawn during the land’s donation. Also, neither Fr. Ipurale nor his other witnesses provided a single document pertaining to the ownership of the surveyed land, while he also accepted all information given by Church members who had claimed to know about the land but during cross examination denied having any of such information. As a result, he apologized for telling lies in the court, pleaded that he did not possess some of the academic documents he had claimed to hold; while he also accepted to be shown the true boundaries of the land by the plaintiffs.
It is such deprivation of justice amidst glaring evidence in their favour which has forced the petitioners to run to the minister.
