Elgon settlers to be relocated

By Nathan EtenguEncroachers who have defied a government directive to vacate the Mt. Elgon national park, are to be re-located, state minister for tourism Jovino Akaki said on Saturday.AKaki was addressing leaders from Mbale and Sironko where he accompanied the parliamentary committee on tourism, trade and industry.He said the Government would look for funds to relocate the encroachers within this year.Akaki warned the defiant encroachers, including those who were recently evicted from the park, not to open up new gardens or construct new structures in the park.“With immediate effect, all the encroachers who are still in the national park together with those who were evicted, will have to be registered,” Akaki said.The committee led by Nwoya county MP Zachary Olum visited the national park to assess the extent of encroachment by over 300 families.parliament recently passed a resolution ordering the encroachers to vacate the park.The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) evicted the families after retracing the park boundary.Akaki said UWA found out that the settlers had uprooted trees and other landmarks to shift the park boundary of 1964.