Emotions were high in Apaa Market in Pabbo Sub County on Friday evening as members of Acholi Parliamentary group visited residents displaced by renewed clashes between the Acholi and Madi from the neighboring Adjumani district.
Dozens of women, children and men started wailing shortly after the Kilak South MP; Gilbert Olanya got up to speak. Olanya began his address with an emotional Luo funeral song.
The song is literally translated as "earthly properties will pass away, only the words of God will last forever. Even the suffering the people of Apaa endure will fade away…".
"Visualize dead bodies lying in hospital mortuary. Visualize arrows stuck on your child, brother or father. Visualize how aliens are torturing the Acholi people", he reinforced his song.
The congregation joined the song with cries, tears and wailing for nearly two minutes as he urged residents to visualize arrows stuck on their brothers and children.
It took the Kilak North MP, Anthony Akol to console and calm down the residents to stop crying. By this time, several members of parliament and district leaders including Amuru district LC V Chairperson, Michael Lakony, Amuru Woman MP, Lucy Akello, Pader Woman Member of Parliament Lucy Achiro Otim and Gulu Woman Member of Parliament, Betty Aol Ochan among othershad also joined in the crying.
Others included Lyandro Komakech, the Gulu Municipality Member of Parliament, Peter Okot, Tochi County and Kitgum Woman MP, Margaret Lamwaka Odwar.
The MPs wiped tears from their eyes as some of the residents bowed down their heads in anguish and sadness. The drama comes hardly two days after a group of men believed to be from the Madi ethnic group from Adjumani district raided several villages in Apaa area accusing residents of encroaching on their land.
The attackers set several huts on fire, butchered livestock and shot men with arrows and spears. They also scattered food stuffs on the ground. Geoffrey Omony, the Labala Parish Councillor read a written memorandum of residents detailing how the Wednesday attack happened and the damage suffered.
Omony said five residents were killed during the clashes on Wednesday between Acholi and Madi communities and more than 27 injured. "We suspect the arrows could have been laced with deadly poison because a number of dogs which consumed goats butchered during the attack have also died" the memo stated.
According to Omony, an estimated 7,000 people displaced by the violence are living in Apaa trading centers without proper shelter and food. In July 2015, six elderly women staged a nude protest in front of legislators and senior government officials during an attempt to demarcate the disputed area.
