Studying Colonial Law and Prisons
A larger study of law, disorder and crime in Lugbara society (Alidri 2021) provided material for this article on the transformation of prison labour into a resource in colonial Uganda. Historical inquiry and anthropological studies were used to explore, retrieve and reconstruct the past (Carr 1990; Middleton 1963: 82). Official colonial prison reports, archival materials from the National Archives in Kampala and anthropological studies on the Lugbara were used to explore the function of prisons as a colonial hub to mobilize prison labour as a resource. Oral traditions, which provided a vivid narrative of the colonial prisons, were used to retrieve historical information on the nature of colonial law and prison as handed down through generations by word of mouth (Vansina 1985; Atkinson 2010). Oral history was used to recover personal experiences of the contemporaries such as Rasil Opindu and Sila Amaga, born in 1916 and 1936 respectively, who witnessed the dramatic unfolding of colonial prisons and carceral justice under the administration of Sir A. E. Weatherhead, the first District Commissioner in the West Nile District. Despite their advanced age, their narratives sketched the historical realities of both colonial and post-colonial prisons. Ex-convicts were interviewed to explore their experiences while serving their sentence. This enabled the study to explore the historical continuity of prisons in the post-colonial period. The snowball approach was used to identify respondents who had knowledge of the colonial prison system and institutions. In-depth narratives were recorded from the Lugbara cultural leaders (Lugbara Kari), clan elders (Ba’wara), retired civil servants and politicians, elderly women and men, and youth. They were identified based on their knowledge and experience of the history of the Lugbara and prisons in the West Nile region. Collective experiences and memories were retrieved through Focus Group Discussions and group interviews held with the council of elders of Ombia clan in Maracha and elderly women in Ayivu.
Historical Background
The formal history of the prison and prison labour in West Nile is tied to the introduction of colonialism (Bruce-Lockhart 2017:19). Before the arrival of the Belgians among the Lugbara people, the Onzivu clan had settled the area around what became Arua hill. The Belgian troops arrived in the southern Enclave (West Nile) in 1892, becoming the first European forces on the ground, and two years later, on 12th May 1894 in Brussels, the Anglo-Belgian Agreement was signed, which set the limit to Belgian expansion to West Nile by defining the Nile-Congo watershed as the boundary between the British and Belgian territory (Leopold 2009: 466). The Belgians in the service of King Leopold II established a station there, setting up a cell for detaining persons who were considered ‘unruly’ for attacking the Belgians and failing to supply them with grains, cattle, sheep and goats (Leopold 2009: 466).
The first Belgian station in West Nile was established at Alenjua, present day Alua in Oluko, Arua District, probably in 1898. This station was transferred to Offude or ‘Monr Wari’, present day Alikua in Maracha District, in 1900, which became the main Belgian station among the Lugbara. Another station was established in Yumbe in Aringa County.