THEFT

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Under the cover of a three-day power black-out, an estimated 150 goats have been stolen from the Moroto mosque premises.

The goats were the property of Sheikh Lochoro Mohamed, the Matheniko county khadi, who has a home in the mosque compound, which is located in Moroto municipality in Moroto district.

This is the third and a successful effort in a row following botched raids early this year.

Moroto Resident District Commissioner (RDC) George Wiliam Wopuwa, when contacted via the phone, acknowledged the theft.

Without divulging details, he said the goats were heading to Mt Moroto. The incident happened past midnight on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Ismail Aleper, a brother to Lochoro, said the raid has caused a great loss to the family.

"The army came in the morning, only to try to track but failed when they got to the mountain slope,” Aleper said, adding that several households have lost their wealth to the bandits holed up in the hills.

He urged the army to find means of disarming the thugs that had gone into hiding in the mountain.

Ibrahiim Longole, a resident of Camp Swahili, blamed the laxity on the forces saying, "We called them timely, even before the goats could climb the mountain."

“These people told us they would come in the morning,” he stated, adding that they would have confronted these thugs.

Longole asked the army leadership not to relax on issues concerning protecting the citizens and their property.

John Achia, a neighbour to the mosque, said a dozen rustlers swept the entire kraal.

He added that the goats were driven along Adyebo Road, Uganda Museum Murram Road, before climbing Mt Moroto.

The incident came barely two weeks after suspected Tepeth rustlers stole the RDC’s 19 gala goats from the Karamoja development agency, where he was keeping the herd.