A Dwelling Place For Nyabongo/Labongo
It is believed that on top of Kilak hill, located at Andara village, Labala parish, Kilak north-county, Nyabongo/Labongo settled briefly with his sons before continuing his journey to Oywello-Appaar. It is at Got Kilak that his sons also left him. Ayira went to Gulu where he formed his chiefdom –Payira; Abona formed Paibona chiefdom; Atiko formed Patiko chiefdom; and Acoo formed the Paicho chiefdom. Some of the people from Paicho went to Nyabongo/Labongo Amida in present day Kitgum district.
Got Kilak is where Nyabongo/Labongo lived in a cave with a rocky flat surface. There is also a pile of stones in every corner, and it is believed that this is where Nyabongo/Labongo buried some of his relatives.
There is also a stream flowing through the site, which the community regards as sacred.
Every year, the Lamogi and Pabbo people in Amuru district make ritual sacrifices at Kilak hill (Got Kilak) to appease their spirits in Nyabongo/Labongo’s remembrance. Whenever sacrifices are made, the Pabbo people prepare their sacrificial animal at dusk while the Lamogi people prepare theirs at dawn. The animal to be sacrificed is called lacek (a duiker). The ritual also involves using oboke olwedo (Philenoptera laxiflora), a much-revered plant species among the Luo, whose leaves are used for cleansing so as to invoke good omen, or fortune. It is also used as a local remedy for treating fever or malaria.
The ritual at Got Kilak is carried out by a clan member of Lamogi Pujwani. Until his death recently, Dariya Akim, used to perform this. He was succeeded by Obwona Mogi, who performs it with the help of Boro Odoch (aged 110 years). On the day of the ritual, they both wear animal skin with a special crown called Lalukana, made of human hair. This headgear is made from skinning the scalp of the dead. According to Obwona, the spiritual leader is supposed to wear the animal skin in such a way that his back is left bare. He also smears his face with either black clay or a charcoal-like substance known as ‘bilu’.
One of the taboos during this ritual is that the participants should not eat before the spirits, lest they be penalized by the spirits. Another is that they are not allowed to have sex for three days until the ritual is completed. Some of the roasted meat, known as labana, is eaten after the spirits have eaten theirs.
These rituals are performed to bring peace and unity among the Acholi people, as well as to bring good omen such as appeasing the ancestors to bring rain, bumper harvests, good health, driving away diseases, calming conflicts, and bringing peace.
Got Kilak is said to have gotten its name from a young woman from Payiira clan. She was wandering around the hill and when the natives asked her what she doing, she responded: ‘An alak’ (meaning ‘I have been trekking for a long distance’). This hill was also the fiefdom of Thomas Kwoyelo, a Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander where he used to hide in the 1990s.