The High Court in Gulu has warned individuals against attempting to unilaterally claim family land, stressing that customary land should be treated as shared inheritance unless proven otherwise with credible evidence. The warning came on March 13, 2026, when Justice George Okello dismissed an appeal filed by Alfred Okot Otto in a long-running dispute over about 50 acres in Openy Ward, Acol-pii Parish, Omot Sub County, Agago District.
Okot had challenged a 2019 ruling by the Patongo Magistrate’s Court that dismissed his claim. Okot argued that he lawfully acquired the land on May 23, 2001, through an out-of-court settlement with Jino Obonyo Oyoo, claiming it was not part of the family’s customary estate inherited from his father and grandfather. He alleged that his brothers and nephew had encroached on the land around 2009, prompting him to seek eviction, damages, and formal recognition of ownership.
The respondents, his brothers and nephew, countered that the land had always been customary property belonging to the estate of their late father, Laban Otto, and had been used collectively by family members for decades. During the trial, Okot relied on a written agreement in Luo, but the document was only marked for identification and not admitted as evidence because it lacked the required English translation. Justice Okello also noted inconsistencies in the appellant’s claims, including discrepancies over the size of the land involved and the lack of formal court recognition of the settlement.
The judge ruled that Okot failed to prove ownership on the balance of probabilities, the standard in civil cases. The court upheld the lower court’s decision, declaring that the disputed land remains customary property of Laban Otto’s estate for the benefit of all family members, and dismissed the appeal with costs. URN