Kabuleta blames govt for Karamoja insecurity
The former presidential candidate, Mr Joseph Kabuleta (right), attends the National Economic Empowerment Dialogue conference in Kampala yesterday. PHOTO / ISAAC KASAMANI
What you need to know:
- During the delegates’ conference for the National Economic Empowerment for Dialogue (NEED), a political pressure group, Mr Kabuleta said cattle rustling activities are aided by the army and top government officials.
Former Presidential candidate Joseph Kabuleta has said the government and the army are jointly to blame for the insecurity in Karamoja Sub-region.
During the delegates’ conference for the National Economic Empowerment for Dialogue (NEED), a political pressure group, Mr Kabuleta said cattle rustling activities are aided by the army and top government officials.
“We managed to camp in Karamoja two weeks ago and what the people are telling us is that when the army gets the cattle from the rustlers, they don’t return them to the owners. We have also discovered that the government is setting all these insecurities in the sub-region because of their wealth,” Mr Kabuleta said.
He added: “The government always managed to steal their natural resources over the years but now there are enlightened young brains in Karamoja and they won’t allow such things to happen anymore. They are fighting back and the government is creating the insecurity just like it has created elsewhere in other regions.”
This is not the first political group to accuse government of insecurity in the north. Two weeks ago, leaders of the National Unity Platform (NUP) accused the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) of being behind the killings and cattle rustling in Karamoja.
In his response, Lt Col Ronald Kakurungu, the UPDF deputy spokesperson, told Daily Monitor last evening that people should avoid places where the operations are happening or during crossfire with the enemy.
“In a crossfire, you expect anything and anyone to die. But why would those so-called innocent civilians go to places where operations are happening. If they are not criminals themselves? They should stay away,” Lt Col Kakurungu said in an interview.
Last month, UPDF released a statement giving an update of their operations in the Karamoja Sub-region indicating that in their operations dubbed Usalama kwa wote, which started in July, they have achieved on many fronts.
They indicated that between March 19 and March 29, they had killed 20 warriors, recovered four guns and 47 ammunition, arrested 39 warriors, and 776 livestock.
They also indicated that four UPDF soldiers and five civilians were killed by suspected warriors, and 170 livestock stolen.
UPDF also indicated that they have since killed 309 warriors, recovered 184 guns, and 2,352 ammunition, arrested 1,792 warriors, prosecuted 360 of them and recovered 17, 186 livestock.
Mr Emmanuel Chero, a local leader in Karamoja who attended the delegates’ conference, yesterday said the government has failed to team up with the local leadership to fight the issue.
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“We have the “manyata” leaders but government deploys UPDF which doesn’t want to consult from them and the techniques that can be used to counter the warriors. We know how to trace the footprints of the cows and the warriors and with this, we can counter them well,” Mr Chero said in an interview.
Background
Research from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics shows that 79.1 percent of the people live in dire poverty in this area, which has more than 13 mineral deposits including tin, gold, iron, nickel, copper, cobalt, marble, limestone, graphite, gypsum, wolfram, uranium, and lithium.
