Bulisa herdsmen attacked again
MORE clashes erupted on Sunday night between the Bagungu cultivators and the pastoralists in Bulisa district, leaving four more people seriously injured.
By Fred Kayizzi
MORE clashes erupted on Sunday night between the Bagungu cultivators and the pastoralists in Bulisa district, leaving four more people seriously injured.
Security officials said six houses belonging to the pastoralists were set ablaze and seven head of cattle hacked to death during the midnight attack on Bugana village, located within the disputed area.
Sources said birds were hovering over the area to prey on the strewn carcasses.
The Bulisa resident district commissioner, Hussein Matanda, said the fighting ensued when a group of suspected Bagungu farmers, wielding pangas and spears, attacked pastoralists’ settlements.
The Police identified the injured as Edward Kakoora, Christopher Rubondwa, Rushanja and Amos Rwamasomero. They are undergoing treatment at a make-shift clinic, established by the Bulisa district authorities to handle the growing number of victims.
The wounded said their belongings were either looted or destroyed during the attack. Rubondwa complained that money amounting to sh700,000, which he recently got from selling his cattle, was burnt inside the house.
Another pastoralist, identified as Haji Muhoozi, a son of one of the injured, is said to have gone missing. His 160 head of cattle were reportedly stolen during the clashes, which lasted for several hours.
Three of the burnt houses belonged to Edward Kakoora, one of the injured pastoralists. The rest belonged to the other three injured victims.
“The situation is volatile because there are marauding groups of people who have caused a lot of tension among the pastoralists,†said the RDC, who led a team of security officials to the area.
The district was doing everything possible to diffuse the tension, he added.
The Police were carrying out round-the-clock patrols to ensure peace was restored.
Matanda said about 50 pastoralists, mainly women and children, had fled their homes and were camped at Bugana trading centre, where the Police were providing them with security.
Most of the cattle was scattered in the area as a result of the raids staged by the Bagungu, he further reported.
Contacted by The New Vision, araahwa said he was not aware of the clashes because he was in Kampala.
The head of the pastoralists in the area, Grace Bwororoza, claimed that over 320 head of cattle had been stolen in two days of violent clashes in Waiga and Bugana villages.
“There is a lot of tension because the Bagungu are terrorising the residents. Many of the people are in hiding. I myself have fled to Kampala,†Bwororoza told The New Vision on phone, sobbing and with a trembling voice.
Fresh fighting erupted on Saturday evening during a meeting called by the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Henry Muganwa Kajura, to investigate the land wrangle between the two groups.
MORE clashes erupted on Sunday night between the Bagungu cultivators and the pastoralists in Bulisa district, leaving four more people seriously injured.
Security officials said six houses belonging to the pastoralists were set ablaze and seven head of cattle hacked to death during the midnight attack on Bugana village, located within the disputed area.
Sources said birds were hovering over the area to prey on the strewn carcasses.
The Bulisa resident district commissioner, Hussein Matanda, said the fighting ensued when a group of suspected Bagungu farmers, wielding pangas and spears, attacked pastoralists’ settlements.
The Police identified the injured as Edward Kakoora, Christopher Rubondwa, Rushanja and Amos Rwamasomero. They are undergoing treatment at a make-shift clinic, established by the Bulisa district authorities to handle the growing number of victims.
The wounded said their belongings were either looted or destroyed during the attack. Rubondwa complained that money amounting to sh700,000, which he recently got from selling his cattle, was burnt inside the house.
Another pastoralist, identified as Haji Muhoozi, a son of one of the injured, is said to have gone missing. His 160 head of cattle were reportedly stolen during the clashes, which lasted for several hours.
Three of the burnt houses belonged to Edward Kakoora, one of the injured pastoralists. The rest belonged to the other three injured victims.
“The situation is volatile because there are marauding groups of people who have caused a lot of tension among the pastoralists,†said the RDC, who led a team of security officials to the area.
The district was doing everything possible to diffuse the tension, he added.
The Police were carrying out round-the-clock patrols to ensure peace was restored.
Matanda said about 50 pastoralists, mainly women and children, had fled their homes and were camped at Bugana trading centre, where the Police were providing them with security.
Most of the cattle was scattered in the area as a result of the raids staged by the Bagungu, he further reported.
Contacted by The New Vision, araahwa said he was not aware of the clashes because he was in Kampala.
The head of the pastoralists in the area, Grace Bwororoza, claimed that over 320 head of cattle had been stolen in two days of violent clashes in Waiga and Bugana villages.
“There is a lot of tension because the Bagungu are terrorising the residents. Many of the people are in hiding. I myself have fled to Kampala,†Bwororoza told The New Vision on phone, sobbing and with a trembling voice.
Fresh fighting erupted on Saturday evening during a meeting called by the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Henry Muganwa Kajura, to investigate the land wrangle between the two groups.