Amuria District and Willa Subcounty local governments have petitioned the Deputy Registrar of Soroti High Court over a long-running dispute involving roughly seven acres of government land at Akisim Parish, according to Red Pepper. The officials want the contested files moved out of the Katakwi-Amuria magisterial area and handed to different judicial officers, saying public confidence in how the cases have been handled has collapsed. Their latest petition, dated October 27, 2026, names Grade One Magistrate Nakoko Isaac and Chief Magistrate Epobu Daniel and raises complaints of alleged judicial misconduct, bias and procedural irregularities.
The officials also accuse former Willa Subcounty district councillor Opolot Peter Eregu of manoeuvring to take over the land, Red Pepper reports. The allegations have not been established by any independent investigation or final judicial ruling, and the magistrates and Eregu have the right to respond. Residents caught up in the dispute have separately asked Minister of Local Government Balaam Barugahara to step in, saying the conflict has hurt trade and made their community less safe.
Why it matters
The case turns on who controls public land and the revenue it generates. Willa Subcounty holds government land in all five of its parishes, but according to the local governments, Akisim Parish is the only place where the ownership of that land has been seriously contested. The officials say the standoff has left vendors exposed, put government property and income at risk and dragged on for years without resolution. Their decision to take their complaints about the courts to a senior judicial officer also raises questions about how land cases are handled in the magisterial area.
How the dispute began
According to a petition dated September 7, 2026, the trouble started in 2021. Eregu, who lives in Akisim Parish and lost his re-election bid, is said to have started running a market near his home. The local government says the market had no authorisation, issued no official government receipts and was never inspected by subcounty authorities. At the time, Willa Subcounty already ran a weekly market on Thursdays at Atuktuk Trading Centre, close to the subcounty headquarters.
Officials say they first tried to settle the matter quietly, asking Eregu to stop collecting government revenue without council approval. The issue eventually went before the subcounty council on April 12, 2021, under Minute 7/4/2021, at a meeting Eregu reportedly attended. The council resolved that a market should be set up on available government land in Akisim Parish, bordering Eregu's land to the east. It also recommended moving the Atuktuk weekly market to Akisim, because that market largely operated along the roadside, creating traffic and safety problems.
At the same meeting, Eregu reportedly told councillors that some people had encroached on land he claims as his own. The council then recommended funding to open the boundaries and process a title for the government property.
Boundary marking and court action
The local government says the boundary-opening exercise took place in October 2021. Among those present were Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Wamono, then Resident District Commissioner Lillian Iyal, then District Police Commander Muyamba and the District Internal Security Officer. Michael Erigu, described in the letter as Eregu's uncle, and George Egadu, a retired parish chief, were also reportedly there. The subcounty then engaged the Area Land Committee, which issued a 14-day notice and carried on with the demarcation after the period ended without objection. The boundaries were marked with sisal plants in the presence of neighbours and Akisim community members.
The dispute did not end there. The local government says Eregu and Vincent Ebulu jointly filed Civil Suit No. 10 of 2021 against Willa Subcounty and Amuria District Local Government and obtained an injunction that stopped the titling process. The petition alleges that soon after the injunction, Eregu sold part of the disputed land to Lawrence Areu, another Akisim Parish resident. The local government says it raised the alleged sale in open court but claims the court did not act on it. Officials also accuse the two plaintiffs of seeking repeated adjournments rather than pushing the main case to a conclusion, while continuing to collect revenue from the market they say was taken over without authorisation.
On February 6, 2024, the local government says it wrote to Magistrate Nakoko Isaac about the delays and asked for a faster hearing because some of its witnesses were elderly. The subcounty had also opened a criminal file at Amuria Central Police Station over the alleged illegal collection of government revenue, recorded as SD39/22/02/2022. Officials say the prosecutor sanctioned the file, Eregu was arrested and taken to court, but the court allegedly did not proceed as expected.
The petitions also refer to claims of bribery, a suspected arson attack and alleged forgery of court documents, all of which remain unproven and require investigation by the competent authorities.
What happens next depends on the Deputy Registrar's response to the request to recall the files and reassign them, and on whether Minister Balaam Barugahara takes up the residents' appeal.
