14/04/2024
Acholi tribe
The Acholi people of South Sudan
Acoli are a Nilo-Shemetic Luo ethnic group from the eastern part of South Sudan and Northern Uganda.
The Acholi land lies on the western slopes of Imatong Mountains and Acholi hills that rim the southern borders of South Sudan in the Eastern Equatoria sub region. Acholi people are comprised of seven sub-clans: Magwi, Pajok, Panyikwara, Palwa, Omeo, Agoro and Obbo.
In Uganda they occupy districts of Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo, and Pader.
This environment has influenced Acholi lifestyle and economy. They practice a form of mixed farming in which they keep cattle, goats, sheep and fowls in addition to subsistence agriculture; by growing sorghum, millet, simsim, beans, to***co and sweet potatoes.
In recent times, just before the war, commercial farming of Irish potatoes, tea and rice had been introduced. A timber saw mill powered by a small hydro-electrical power plant was operational until 1992 in Katire. There is potential in minerals like gold and chromite in Kit River area.
Origin
Different accounts attest to the origin of Acholi people. One suggest that the Acholi group was formed from different people who inhabited the area as the result of Luo migration and therefore assert that the Acholi are a product of intermarriages between the Luo and the Madi; being Luo in language and custom and therefore closely related in history to the Alur of West Nile, the Jopadhola of eastern Uganda and the Joluo of Kenya, the Shilluk, Anyuak and other Luo groups in the Sudan.
Another legend asserts that Luo was the first man. He had no human parents. He is said to have sprung from the ground. It is taken that his father was Jok (God) and that his mother was Earth. The legend adds that Luo’s son Jipiti, whose mother is unknown, had a daughter called Kilak. Kilak is believed to have conceived a son, Lubongo, whose father was said to be the devil, Lubanga. Lubongo was the first in the line of Rwot – the chiefs