By Nathan Etengu

OVER 50 families have encroached on Mt. Elgon National Park. The chief warden of Mt. Elgon conservation area, Johnson Masereka, said the encroachers moved into the park after court issued a temporary injunction on November 23 restraining the Uganda Wildlife Authority from destroying property and crops of over 400 people.

He said the areas affected were in Bumbo sub-county, where the park boundary was clearly marked.

Masereka explained that his office and the Uganda Wildlife Authority were not served with a notice of intention to sue.
He asserted that he would mobilise the park rangers to evict the encroachers until the case was disposed off.

“Our work is to protect the national park from any form of encroachment.”
He said the encroachers claim they are being forcefully evicted from their ancestral homes.

“Some of the encroachers used the park to cultivate crops. We had stopped them from illegally cultivating in the national park,” Masereka said.