{UAH} FREE XMAS FRIENDLY WISHES FROM GULU - ACOLILAND 2016

THE PRE – COLONIAL ACOLI FOLKS WERE CONFEDERATES – A/Forum 16 – 12 – 2016 – By Ocaya pOcure

Before the British colonizers carved the region upon the headwaters of River Nile into the colonial dependency they named Uganda, the territory in the midst of the northern extremity of Uganda was occupied by Luo Jo-Gang people who later became known in East Africa as, "Lwo or Luo Jo-Gang. GULU-UGANDA:  Acholi people were the integral part of a great Lwo confederacy called "Lwo or Luo Jo-Gang". That pre-colonial Lwo or Luo confederacy consisted of autonomous states of various sizes headed by divine chiefs known as Rwodi-Moo which meant - anointed chiefs. Those who could be categorised as kingdoms were the Payira, Puranga, Lamogi, Padibe, Parajok, Panyikwara, Oboo and Lokoro. Thus, these confederate states of the Luo Jo-Gang then occupied extensive land territory which extended southwards, from Lokoro Hill in the modern Sudan, to Pawir located to the North of modern Bunyoro, and Westwards, from Kidipo Lyec meaning Elephant habitat now called Kidepo National Park.

Located to the North-East of Kaabong, down to the River Nile that Jo-Gang land territory was estimated to cover approximately 60,000 square kilometres. Onyango notes. The preponderant relief element consisted of two categories, from the undulating plateau where the un-demarcated border-lines of the inter-lacustrine Bantu territory kept on shifting inside Bunyoro Kingdom. It was over 4,000 feet or 1,220 meters above sea level, slopping northwards to the precipitous escarpment, which demits the plateau. At just over 2,000 feet or 600 meters above sea level. Then the vast Rift Valley which began from the escarpment at the northern foot of 750 meters above sea level at Lororo Hill. The Luo Jo-Gang territory was a gently rolling Savannah, which was clothed with rich grass. All the way from the boundaries of Bantu territories down to Lororo Hill, the undulating Savannah was interspersed with the whole Jo-Gang territory very good for both food crop cultivation and cattle keeping. Before the British Colonial Authority destroyed most of the woodlands in order to eradicate the Tsetse Flies, the land was teeming with wildlife consequently. The Jo-Gang who occupied the woodlands, mainly in the Western part, became sedentary agricultural communities. But those in the eastern part of the territory were cattle keepers; this economic occupation also dictated the pattern of their land tenure. They sparsely built their invariably self-sufficient homesteads over extensive areas, this was because heads of the families had to leave enough empty pieces of land between their homesteads to cater for both foods crop cultivation and family cattle grazing.

In order to avoid land disputes. Members of one clan were allocated communally owned ancestral land territory for their exclusive occupation. To ensure peaceful co-existence among the confederate state, these Jo-Gang people had developed very sound beliefs, norms and customs which governed and regulated the social and economic activities, as well as moral behaviour of members of their societies. "These beliefs, norms and customs were believed to have been prescribed, or sanctified by the Supreme natural deity called, "Nyarubanga" therefore they were the nucleus of their traditional Jo-Gang religion, which ordered their pattern of existence in "Wi Lobo" in other words, "in heaven" it was their philosophy of life which should be closely examined if we are to understand this pre-Christians Lwo-Gang well.