The government will pay 5 million shillings in cash to each household in Northern Uganda, instead of distributing live cattle to conflict-affected regions.
The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting held on December 5, 2025, and was disclosed on Monday by the state minister for Northern Uganda Rehabilitation, Kenneth Olusegun Omona, in Gulu City.
Omona said the Cabinet decided that giving cash would be easier and more useful than giving cattle to the three areas of Teso, Lango and Acholi.
Omona cited operational challenges that would have overwhelmed the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) if live animals were procured and distributed across the three sub-regions.
Omona revealed that 80 billion shillings have already been earmarked and are readily available to kick-start the programme, which is expected to run for five years once implementation guidelines are finalised.
He noted that the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister has already written to Chief Administrative Officers, directing them to prepare for the identification of beneficiaries.
According to him, once guidelines are approved, beneficiaries will be organised to open bank accounts so that funds are paid directly to households, not through any government agencies.
In October this year, during campaign engagements in the Acholi Subregion, President Yoweri Museveni said he had agreed with regional committees from Acholi, Lango and Teso to restock communities affected by cattle loss during the insurgencies. Museveni indicated at the time that the proposal involved giving five head of cattle to each household.
However, while Lango and Teso agreed to focus solely on restocking, Acholi leaders reportedly proposed a hybrid approach, both compensation for those already verified to have lost cattle and restocking for households.
Omona clarified that the Cabinet considered all regional submissions following consultations by an inter-ministerial committee constituted by the Prime Minister. While the Cabinet agreed to restocking across all three subregions, it varied the mode of delivery in favour of cash payments.
He said the programme would be closely supervised by the Office of the Prime Minister, through the ministries responsible for Northern Uganda and Teso affairs, to ensure transparency and efficiency.
Omona appealed to political, cultural and religious leaders to sensitise communities on the proper use of the funds, warning that 5 million shillings is a significant amount for households unaccustomed to handling large sums.
Rosalba Oywa, an opinion leader in Gulu City, told Uganda Radio Network that the shift from live animals to cash payments signals a lack of goodwill towards the Acholi community.
Oywa argued that if the government were genuinely committed to restocking, it would stick to cattle, which she said provide long-term livelihood security for households compared to cash that can be quickly lost or misused.
She further questioned the feasibility of the government’s ambitious plan, citing delays in addressing historical grievances in the region.
Oywa noted that to date, the government has failed to fully compensate a number of verified war debt claimants who are fewer than the total households in the entire Acholi subregion.
According to the National Population and Housing Census report of 2024 undertaken by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), the Acholi subregion has a total population of 2,037,595, out of which 2,012,607 are household population and 24,988 are non-household population.
War debt claimants
According to a 2024 report from the government assurance and implementation committee, there are 92,634 war debt claimants in Northern and Eastern Uganda. Out of the total claimants, the Acholi Sub-region has 16,946, while Lango has 42,024, and 33,664 claimants are in Teso.
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