A major search has begun in Moroto district for cattle rustlers suspected of having shot dead three geologists from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development and two Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers.
Karamojong warriors kill 3 Energy Ministry workers, 2 UPDF soldiers
It was reported that two guns belonging to the UPDF soldiers were also taken by the suspected cattle rustlers
Mike Longole, the Mountain Moroto region police spokesperson, said the killings happened at Kubebe area, Lokisilei Parish in Lotisan Subcounty Moroto District.
“The three officials were identified as Olweny Charles, Musiime Edina and Kigwe Richard all from the department of geology and mineral survey in the Ministry of Energy whereas the the two soldiers are yet to be identified. They were on mineral mapping exercise in the above area,” Longole said.
An interpreter who was with the group managed to escape with reports that two guns belonging to the UPDF soldiers were also taken by the suspected cattle rustlers.
“Joint security forces are committed to ensuring that the perpetrators of this incident are brought to book and two guns added to the wrong hands will be recovered,” added Longole.
UPDF has been registering successes against insecurity in Karamoja
As the year began, the Mobile Police Unit and Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) stopped 229 cows from being transported to unknown locations in the night.
Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said the heads of cattle, discovered at impromptu roadblocks, had no movement documents.
“The cattle were being transported without proper documents and others were being transported in the wee hours of the night. These interceptions were done during our mobile checkpoints,” Enanga said.
ASTU in concert with the UPDF also recovered 221 cows out of the 300 stolen during Christmas week in the Karamoja sub-region.
Enanga said the joint security operation was tipped off about the said thefts and immediately swung into action to arrest the rustlers.
From time immemorial, the Karamoja sub-region has been a stomping ground for cattle rustlers.
In July this year, President Yoweri Museveni initiated a forceful disarmament exercise to put an end to cattle rustling. The order followed outcry from Karamojong people over killings in addition to theft of their livestock.
“We received information that 300 heads of cattle had been stolen and we have been able to recover 221 in a joint security operation in Karamoja. We have handed back the cattle to the owners. We were also informed about 277 goats stolen and we have already recovered 30,” Enanga revealed.
ASTU recovers 133 guns in 5 months, arrested 500
In the disarmament exercise that has so far extended beyond five months now, ASTU and UPDF have recovered 133 guns from Karamojong warriors, upwards of 500 suspected rustlers have also been arrested. Out of these, close to 400 have been charged in the UPDF Court Martial.
Authorities have reported that ammunition is being smuggled from Kenya and South Sudan revealing that ASTU and UPDF have recovered 1,268 bullets, in addition to the guns recovered.
In the process, several suspected rustlers were shot dead in Christmas operations. The Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) report, 2020, indicates that 15,629 animals have been stolen.
However, ASTU, UPDF, Crime Intelligence, and Flying Squad successfully recovered 5,782 of these animals while 9,847 were unrecovered by the end of 2020. As per procedure, police require a person moving an animal from one location to another to have an official movement permit.
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