Excitement As Redeem International Resettles 63-Year-Old Woman In Arua City

ARUA. There was a lot of excitement in Nyai-Kasua cell, Pokea Parish, Ayivu Division in Arua city over the weekend when Redeem International, a non-governmental organization (NGO), resettled a 63-year-old woman back on the land initially sold by her biological son.

Anna Ezaru, a widow, was on Friday, December 20, 2024, offered a new mattress, bedsheets and utensils by Redeem International to start a new life on the land she was forced to leave after the death of her husband.

This is after the NGO took over the case in which Ezaru dragged her son, Bernard Anduma to police for selling her only remaining piece of land.

Anduma was later arrested and jailed for six months in Arua government prison after pleading guilty to the offense of selling his mother’s land without her consent.

According to Grace Adiru, the Deputy OC CID in charge of Ayivu West Division, Anduma connived with the area local council (LC) one chairperson to sell his mother’s piece of land.

Adiru said at first, the case file was dismissed due to the absence of witnesses in court but later, a criminal case was reinstated when Redeem International took over the matter.  

While in court, Anduma pleaded guilty before the magistrate and asked for forgiveness from his mother, a reason the court gave him a lighter sentence of six months imprisonment for not wasting court’s time.

The land in question was then reverted to Ezaru who was fully resettled during a colorful function also attended by the locals in the village.

But during the function, Adiru noted that many widows have been subjected to a lot of suffering over property when their husbands die yet the Succession Act gives them the mandate to inherit the property left behind by their deceased husbands.

She said orphans equally suffer in the hands of their step-parents when their biological fathers die, an act she warned the community against or risk being imprisoned.

Yudah Bule, an elder in Nyai Kasua Cell used the occasion to welcome Ezaru back home. Bule said all the steps Ezaru took against her son were in good faith with the sole aim of ensuring that the piece of land sold is regained not only for her but also for Anduma who is in prison.

He said when Anduma gets out of prison, he will come and eventually build on the same land because his mother is now aging gracefully enough to leave the land for him in the near future.

Denis Kumakech, the Programs Manager Redeem International, Arua Field Office, noted that as Redeem International, they deal with protecting the rights of widows and orphans in terms of land rights.

“And this was one of the activities. You will realize that the land our widow was rivaling over was returned to her and then, in terms of restoration, we had to organize this function. When we are doing such restoration, we call upon the community and it is the same space that we use for sensitizing them, get views from the community and also those that have various concerns in terms of succession are able to ask questions and also get answers to the same,” Kumakech said.

“So, this, we had to do it with the help of stakeholders who are all in the pipeline of the justice, law and order sector where we usually work together with them and then give this information to the communities so that they are empowered and people are able to protect the rights of widows and orphans in that regard,” Kumakech added.

In her remarks, Ezaru expressed gratitude to Redeem International for the tireless effort made for her to regain full control of the land she had earlier lost.

“I am the happiest person today and I want to sincerely thank Redeem International for resettling me back on my land. I wouldn’t have loved to take my son to prison, but because he decided to sell the only piece of land I’m left with, I was forced to take action to report him to the police and later to court. This was out of pain because even after laboring to refund the Shs4m he received from the buyer, my son went ahead to connive with the LC to eat the money – meaning they wanted me to totally lose my land,” Ezaru narrated.

Ezaru, however, said she has forgiven her son and all other people who supported him because her interest was to only regain her land.

Geoffrey Edema, the Senior Community Development Officer in charge of Ayivu Division, warned locals against the rampant sale of land in the area, saying that act is increasing the rate of criminality mainly after finishing the money.

Relatedly, Edema urged elders to consider establishing local justice systems to handle issues that arise in the community before the cases reach the police so as to promote peace and harmony among the local people.

Joseph Afeti, the Ayivu Division Deputy Mayor, condemned the numerous cases of grabbing land from widows in the West Nile sub-region in general. He appealed to the public to always support widows and orphans in repossessing property left by their family heads other than fighting them.  

While presiding over the occasion, Judith Bako, the Assistant Arua Resident City Commissioner, said she is so glad to see that Ezaru has finally been restored on her land.

As government, Bako promised that they will continue supporting development partners like Redeem International to continue helping the community members, especially the widows, widowers and orphans to regain their rights when it comes to land matters.

Ezaru, whose husband died 26 years ago, is surviving with six children of which Anduma is the third born.