3 Karamoja chairpersons arrested for dealing guns and illegal ownership

The suspects are chairpersons from Kaabong including Ngorok Eluktoper, Lonya Akol, LCII chairperson Lopethakori parish and Lodukali Lokol, LCII chairperson Kalapa trading center in Kaabong District.

Eluktoper is accused of fraternising with one Mariko Teko, resident of Lokiriama village in Turkana county, Kenya, to trade guns in exchange for livestock in the districts of Moroto, Kotido, Kaabong, Napak, and Nakapiripirit.

Teko was arrested last week after security trailed him.

Following the arrests, Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) 3rd Division Spokesperson, Maj. Isaac Oware said that it was an intelligence-led job that yielded the suspects in a syndicate of crime.

“We are aware that Teko has been smuggling guns from Kenya, brings them to Karamoja, and exchanges them for cows in the districts of Kotido, Kaabong, Napak, Nakapiripirit, and Moroto with the help of Ngorok who looks for the market, we are now hunting for those customers’’ Oware said.

Besides the three, two more suspects have also been arrested under similar charges for dealing with the Toposa community in South Sudan. Lokieny Lonya, brother to Akol Lonya, and Lokeris Lomuso are also being detained.

Commenting on the operation, Mt. Moroto Regional Police Spokesperson, Michael Longole said that rustlers are moving away from subsistence raids to commercialised raids. He noted that, in commercialised raids the livestock is loaded on vehicles and transported to other regions.

To try and curb this trade, Longole said that they have tightened security at road checkpoints to frustrate the transportation of raided cattle.

This operation is the second phase of the joint security forces that started in May 16 2022. So far, more than 4,669 livestock has been retrieved, 244 guns and about 930 rounds of ammunition.