How a family of blind people lost their home due to land disputes

In a soft voice, she inquires about the guests while offering part of her mat.

A man in his fifties emerges from a nearby grass-thatched hut to join the guests and introduces himself as Mr. Bosco Ocitti, Mrs. Ajok’s husband.

The couple has been married for fourteen years and has six children, three of whom are visually impaired.

Since July 3, a grass-covered hut provided by a neighbor, Mrs. Harriet Ayot, has provided shelter for the couple and their six children after a tragic incident left them homeless. Mrs Ajok claims her brother-in-law, Mr Simon Obowya, set fire to their huts and destroyed their belongings, a claim Mr Obowya denies.

She says that on June 20 at around 2pm, Mr Obwoya, her husband’s brother, arrived at their house visibly angry and carrying a spear.

“When he arrived at our home, he started destroying a solar panel in the compound that charges the battery. He then asked where his brother was, who had taken one of our visually impaired daughters to school at the time,” says Mrs Ajok.

She added: “Obwoya has always attacked me over my condition and the fact that three of our six children are blind, a condition he claims is the result of acts of witchcraft. He says I am a witch and that it is because of my witchcraft that three of my children are also blind.”

Ms Ajok claims Mr Obwoya took a matchbox from his pocket and threatened to burn everything in their house.

She says he then gathered twelve goats, forty chickens, 22 chicks, a sheep and five mattresses among other household items belonging to the family, locked them in one of the huts and set it on fire. He also allegedly set fire to two other cabins on the family’s property.

Ms Ajok added that she rushed into one of the burning huts to save her three-year-old blind son, who was sleeping inside, and fled into the bush with her other children.

“As I was running, he threw the spear at me, but I fell and the spear flew over my head and fell right in front of me. Our house is surrounded by bushes and it took him a while to find the spear, which gave me the chance to flee,” she says.

Mrs. Ajok added that she took refuge with another brother of her husband, Mr. Odong Atere, who advised her to immediately report the matter to the chairman of LC1.

“The LC1 sent me a letter and I went to report the matter to the Unyama police post that same afternoon. Considering my condition, Mr Odong accompanied me to the police station where a case of arson was filed against Obwoya,” she said.

Mr Obwoya, however, denies any involvement in the incident, claiming the arson was linked to a family land dispute.

“I was framed but previous community and clan meetings had decided that the family should leave the place due to their improper acts regarding sorcery,” Mr Obwoya said.

While Mr Obwoya was subsequently arrested, charged and remanded to Gulu Central Prison, Ms Ajok and her family are yet to return to their home.

“We have not yet had a moment to reconcile or have a family or clan meeting to resolve this issue before we can return,” said Ms Ajok.

The family’s troubles started five years ago when they decided to move back to Mr Ocitti’s home village of Coopil in Unyama sub-county, Gulu district. He was raised by his maternal grandparents in Paboo Municipal Council, Amuru District where he met and married Ajok.

“I returned home for the first time without my wife and children and there were no problems and my brothers and I lived happily,” Mr Ocitti said.

He attributes the problem to a land dispute, noting that he not only returned with his family, but also brought one of his brothers with him. He denies the accusation that the blindness of his wife and children is related to her misdeeds.

“My brother is only using this as an excuse to drive me and my family away from home because our presence would lead to fragmentation of the estate of the family of which we are the beneficiaries,” he said.

Mr Ocitti, 59, the eldest of six brothers, says the incident has left his family homeless and destitute.

“We have been staying here with Mrs Ayot since the day the incident took place. My brother has threatened to kill me, my wife and children in case we go back home, and I am very scared,” he says.

“I ask the government to help me. I need to be with my children and take care of them. That is my humble appeal to the government. My house is no longer safe. Moreover, I don’t even have a roof over my head anymore,” he adds.

Mr Ocitti explained that three of his children attend Coopil Primary School in Unyama sub-county, two do not attend school because he cannot pay their fees, and one has a mental illness.

Attempts to obtain comment from Mr Ocitti’s extended family were futile at the time of writing.

Leaders at Coopil Village say they are aware of the family’s problems and that several attempts to resolve them have been unsuccessful. “We have full knowledge of what happened to Mr. Ocitti and his family, and his brothers have accused him of being the source of all the problems the family has experienced,” said Mr. Michael Ocora, the LC1 chairman of Coopil Village. say.

He added that he once mediated a case in which Mr Obwoya abused his wife, who was six months pregnant at the time, causing her to suffer a miscarriage, which he attributed to Mrs Ajok’s alleged acts of witchcraft. “Obwoya had fought with his pregnant wife after an argument and two days later she miscarried and went back to her village,” he says, adding: “This caused a lot of anger and that is when he decided to go and wanted kill his wife. brother and wife, but fortunately his brother was not at home when Mr. Obwoya arrived.

“We have made efforts to ensure that we can provide this family with some of the necessities of life. We went to the school where the children study and asked the principal to let these children study first and he accepted and also promised to help,” he says.