Africa-Press – Uganda. Last Wednesday, a kraal belonging to Mr Steven Mugokya in Bumwangu Village, Bumufuni Sub-county in Bulambuli District was raided by cattle rustlers from Karamoja Sub-region in the middle of the night and about 40 cows driven away.
Mr Luka Mugoya, who is employed by Mr Mugokya to guard the kraal, sustained several injuries as he tried to fight off the armed rustlers who were six in number.
“They were armed with guns but for me, I only had arrows and a few spears. They overpowered me and took away the cows,” Mr Mugoya told Monitor at the weekend.
Most villages in Bumufuni and the neighbouring Bunambutye and Bukhalu sub-counties have recently witnessed a surge in cattle raids.
The most affected sub-counties neighbour Nakapiripirit District to the north, Kween to the east, Sironko to the south and Bukedea to the west.
According to the locals and leaders, in a period of three months, they have lost about 600 cows and 50 in the past one week.
Mr Mugokya, whose 40 cows were taken away on Wednesday, said he is now destitute and stranded.
“As you can see, my kraal is now empty; All the cows were taken, leaving me with nothing. The hope of my children going to school next term has been shattered,” he says.
Mr Sam Luswet, the youth chairperson for Bumufuni Sub-county and a resident of Busangai Village, says the rustlers after stealing cattle sometimes set houses on fire.
“When we make an alarm, the security takes a day to respond. We have been left on our own so far,” Mr Luswet said.
He said sometimes, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces soldiers claim to have recovered the stolen cows but they rarely give them to the owners.
“We ask the government to intervene and bring this menace to an end, otherwise, it’s pushing us into abject poverty,” he says.
Mr Alex Namiti, another resident, says the vice is affecting the implementation of government programmes such as the Emyooga and Parish Development Model.
“I was one of the beneficiaries of Emyooga money, which I used to buy cows but after some months, the cows were taken by the raiders. I don’t know how I’m going to pay back,” Mr Namiti says.
Last Monday, the locals in Atari Trading Centre killed one of the suspected raiders after they foiled an attack at one of the kraals.
Mobilisation
The locals through community mobilisation have now armed themselves with arrows and spears to protect their cattle from raiders.
Mr Noah Sakwa, a resident of Atari Trading Centre, says the government should provide them with security if not, arm them.
“We need home guards. It is time the government armed the veterans in our communities to boost security because the raiders are using that security gap to drive away our animals,” he says.
Ms Juliet Nandudu, a resident and a mother of five, says they no longer spend enough time in their gardens due to growing insecurity.
“We are living in fear. Whenever there is an attack, our cows are taken and our husbands sustain severe injuries, some are killed and we are left widows,” Ms Nandudu says.
Mr Rashid Kuloba, whose father was killed in the cattle raid last year, says the government should deploy more UPDF soldiers in the affected sub-counties.
“Let the government set up a military unit near here. For sure, we feel abandoned by the government and yet we vote 100 percent NRM,” he says.
Mr Micheal Wambani Suni, the area councillor of Bumufuni Sub-county, says they have had numerous security meetings but no positive results have come out of them yet.
“We proposed that the government should train us vigilantes but the idea has remained on the table yet raiders continue to raid us day and night,” Mr Wambani says.
Mr Wambani observes there is high school drop out of pupils because of the rampant raids in the communities.
The district chairperson, Ms Annet Nandudu, says continued cattle raids have tremendously affected government programmes in the affected areas.
“My people apart from losing their cattle, are dying and this is the rainy season but they fear to go to the gardens because raiders hide there,” she says.
Ms Nandudu says there is a need for the government to deploy LDUs in the areas to boost security and curtail raiders.
What security says
The spokesperson for the UPDF Third division, Maj Isaac Oware, could not be reached for comment by press time but the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Mr Stanley Bayole, said the UPDF has enhanced foot and motorised petrols in the affected areas.
He adds the UPDF soldiers have also tried to recover and returned the stolen animals from the community members
“As government, we are not sleeping. We have also enhanced security. We follow the footsteps of the stolen cows and we recover them. We only call upon locals to be alert,” he says.
He, however, ruled out arming the locals to protect themselves from the raiders, saying it aids criminality.
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