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The Arrow Boys is a militia group that was deployed to flash the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels out of Teso Sub-region in 2003

Lawmakers hailing from and around Karamoja Sub-region that is plagued by cattle rustling have urged government to deploy Arrow Boys to fight the vice.
The Arrow Boys is a militia group that was deployed to flash the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels out of Teso Sub-region in 2003.
In a joint press conference at Parliament yesterday, the lawmakers claimed the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) is not doing enough to address what they described as a security crisis in the sub-region.

The legislators drawn from Teso, Lango, Bugisu, and Karamoja said if the UPDF cannot scale up its operations to end the cattle raids, then the Arrow Boys should be deployed.
“Government should allow us mobilise the Arrow Boys to come on board. Government should facilitate them with the necessary weapons,” Soroti Woman MP Hellen Alobo said.
But Defence and Army spokesperson Brig Felix Kulayigye insisted that the MPs’ proposal would frustrate the efforts of disarmament exercise.

“We are working with police and other security units to contain the situation. However, the idea of the Arrow Boys cannot be considered because it would mean getting guns back into the communities,” Brig Kulayigye said.
He added: “So for now, we have sufficient forces until otherwise. I request that the honourable members be patient with us because we have put efforts to ensure that the situation is contained.”
In recent weeks, the resurgence of cattle rustling has left residents of Karamoja and surrounding districts worried.
The chairperson of Karamoja Parliamentary Caucus, Mr Remigio Achia (Pian County), wondered why the army allegedly does not return to the owners the cattle it claims to recover from rustlers.

“Whereas there are claims by the security forces that they have recovered 17,706 heads of cattle, these cattle have not been handed over to the owners. Most of the livestock disappeared in the watch of UPDF, either transported in the nights in absence of roadblocks or they are escorted by the UPDF,” Mr Achia said.
But Brig Kulayigye said the claims are unfounded. “It would be good for them to name the particular area in which the cattle were not returned to the owners. To make a blanked statement is not accurate,” he said.

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