Two farmers mistaken for cattle thieves shot dead in Kitgum

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Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers in Kitgum district have confirmed shooting dead two people in an incident described as wrong identification.

Local sources report that two soldiers deployed to guard the protected communal Kraal at Kitileng village in Namokora town council, on Thursday at about 11:19 pm, shot the two farmers who were returning home with two oxen.

Those killed have been identified as Richard Opira, aged 42, of Amoyo Kol, and Joseph Obutu, aged 50, a resident of Many-Ngeyi village, all in Omiya Anyima sub-county, Kitgum district.

A report from local leaders in the area indicates that Opira and Obutu, who had been in the garden several kilometres away, had gone to the enclosure to retrieve their oxen, which had strayed into the community kraal.

The Oxen belonging to the two famers killed by UPDF soldiers. (Credit: UPDF)

"When the duo rushed to remove their cattle from the kraal, the guards who were on alert opened fire and killed them on the spot on suspicion that they were cattle raiders who were terrorising these areas," said a witness on condition of anonymity.

Jimmy Ebil Ssegawa, the Kitgum resident district commissioner (RDC), confirmed the incident, saying the two farmers were killed on mistaken identity.

Ebil says they were shot 10 meters from the kraal, and the two oxen were discovered in the morning.

The RDC warned locals to refrain from walking at night with animals, saying the army in the area is always on the lookout for any person walking with livestock at night, and they are all treated as raiders.

The bodies were taken to Namokora Health Centre IV for postmortem examination and will be buried on Saturday, August 30, 2025, at their respective homes.



Captain Edwin Mawanda, the 5th Infantry Division public information officer, confirmed the incident, saying that those killed were intoxicated and entered the Kraal at the wrong time.

He expressed that the army was willing to cater to burial expenses.

It is not the first time UPDF soldiers have killed the locals in these areas in Namokora due to mistaken identity.

On May 6, 2025, Peus Oryem, a peasant farmer from Obutuel in Namokora North sub-county, was killed by the UPDF’s 75th battalion on mistaken identity.