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Kenyan authorities arrest Ugandan hunters pursuing waterbuck across border
What you need to know:
- The Kenyan Police also impounded the hunting dogs and recovered snares which were allegedly being used by the suspects.
Eight Ugandan hunters have been arrested after a waterbuck they were pursuing along River Sio in Busia District crossed into Kenya.
The group, armed with hunting dogs and snares, are said to have left Masaba Parish for Majanji, and pursued the waterbuck into Kenya, contrary to the country’s wildlife laws.
Mr Michael Kibwika, the Busia Resident District Commissioner (RDC), could neither deny nor confirm their arrest, saying he was going to Kenya to meet the Busia County Commissioner before he is able to comment on the matter.
The Kenyan Police also impounded the hunting dogs and recovered snares which were allegedly being used by the suspects.
Mr Julius Mangeni, the Masaba Parish, LC2 Publicity Secretary, said the suspects had left Magina and Buhayenje villages on a hunting spree but never returned.
“We got information from their family members that they had been arrested by the Kenya Police after they crossed the border into the neighboring country,” Mr Mangeni said, adding that the group are career hunters in the village.
Mr David Ojambo, a resident, says while along River Sio wetland which forms a boundary between Uganda and Kenya, the group let out their hunting dogs which sniffed out a waterbuck.
“The chase for the waterbuck is said to have started on the Ugandan side of the border, before it crossed to Budimo Village on the Kenyan side of the border,” Mr Ojambo said.
He added that the hunters pursued the waterbuck with their dogs and snares, before being joined by two Kenyans.
The chase drew suspicion from residents who alerted law enforcement officers, leading to their interception, arrest and detention at Bujwanga Police Station.
Sources in Kenya say apart from carrying out an illegal activity, the suspects are being accused of having let loose their dogs to kill domesticated goats belonging to the residents.
By the time of filing this story, the dogs had escaped from the Police Station and sniffed their way back to Masaba Parish, Busia District.
“It appears Police failed to get a detention facility for the dogs and as a result, they escaped back to Uganda,” Mr Mangeni said.
Nakilet Wafula, a resident of Buhayenje Village, where one of the suspects comes from, said some family members were crossing into Kenya to follow up on the matter with Kenya Police.
