By Ishaa Otto Amiza
The Catholic faithful have a saying: “God is good, all the time. God is good.”
Indeed, God is good.
In the February 2026 elections, I stood again for Parliament in Oyam County South on the NUP ticket. My candidature on NUP in Lango was like a visitor contesting for land ownership — respected, but not trusted with the title. That, however, is a discussion for another day.
As a candidate of a party known to oppose NRM, my position on cattle compensation for Lango was clear. Museveni cannot compensate for cattle taken under circumstances his own NRM know very well. I rejected his political gambling and that remains my position to date.
To me, the “Cattle restocking” project introduced by President Museveni during campaigns was a political strategy to penetrate Lango, Acholi and Teso amid fears of losing votes over unfulfilled compensation promises.
Agents in the regions began demanding “five cows per household” as a replacement for court-awarded compensation. This was irregular and unacceptable. The push started in Teso, moved through Lango, with Hon. Julius Achon Bua as one of the leading voices in our sub-region.
I could not believe that leaders would turn away from their own people and accept such a ploy.
The argument was that court processes were slow and corrupt. Therefore, government should abandon legal compensation and instead give every household five cows under a restocking program.
I opposed this position in Oyam South for three reasons:
1. Legal vs Political: Compensation awarded by courts is a legal debt to verified victims of cattle raids 1986-2003. Government restocking is a development program. One cannot legally cancel the other.
2. Fiscal Reality: Restocking Lango, Acholi and Teso at 5 cows x ∼1.8M households = over UGX 18 trillion at UGX 2M per cow. The national budget for FY 2025/26 was UGX 72.1 trillion, with debt servicing taking UGX 27.7 trillion. The math does not add up, making the promise unrealistic.
3. Timing Test: If restocking was genuine and not campaign rhetoric, government would have delivered before elections.
Today, the promise of “5 cows per household” has shifted to “UGX 5 million per household/village” under PDM and other programs. One person per village is being selected to receive funds meant to buy cattle. The dream of universal restocking has faded, but the legal court awards remain unpaid.
This has created confusion and conflict among victims of cattle looting. In a village of 200+ households, selection criteria for “the one beneficiary” rarely considers land for grazing, animal husbandry skills, or capacity to manage cattle. The result is conflict instead of healing.
So the questions remain:
1. Why is government shelving payment of court-awarded cattle compensation while promoting parallel restocking programs?
2. Why is Lango, Acholi and Teso being told to accept a program that cannot reach all victims in place of a legal right?
3. Do leaders believe our people will trade a court judgment for a political handout?
4. Why is the UGX 80 billion allocated for cattle compensation being diverted to a “one household per village” restocking program?
5. In the context of 5 cows or UGX 5 million per household, for how long will government take to pay all 1.8 million households in Acholi, Lango and Teso?
6. In the alternative, why couldn’t government invest in irrigation technology per village and provide agricultural inputs with Ox- plough and Oxen to farmers instead of a non starter ” restocking” .
What is happening in Lango, Acholi and Teso in the name of restocking or “compensation” is politics meant to blindfold the population.
Compensation heals the past. Restocking builds the future. Lango, Acholi and Teso deserve both — not one in place of the other.
My last word:
Government should take note. Cattle compensation awarded by courts of law will be paid, unconditionally, whether today or in future. The jokes around cattie restocking shall end in shame!
For God and My Country
