Army recovers over 3000 stolen cows in Karamoja

CATTLE RUSTLING|CRIME|UPDF

KARAMOJA - The Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces (UPDF) has recovered 3114 stolen cows in operations against cattle rustling in Karamoja sub-region.

While addressing journalists at Uganda Media Centre in Kampala yesterday, the army deputy spokesperson, Lt. Col Deo Akiiki said they have also recovered 88 illegal firearms and 357 rounds of ammunition.

"We had an upsurge in cross border cattle raids between January and April this year in the region," he said.

Akiiki said the UPDF recorded the success from January to date when they stepped up operations against cattle raids.

In the operations, Akiiki said 146 people have been arrested from both Kenya and the Ugandan side for involvement in the crime.

The operations in Karamoja are also aimed at recovering the illegal guns that remained behind during the disarmament exercise.

According to the security and local leaders, guns which are in the hands of wrong elements were a threat to the peace of the region.

The army says it will continue to deal with the wrong elements in the region until total peace is attained.

Reports indicate incidents of cattle raids by suspected Karamojong warriors have persisted in the sub-region despite enhanced vigilance by security and other stakeholders.

The army attributes the success of the exercise to the cooperation with the local leaders in the region.

Recently about 20 armed Karamojong warriors raided a kraal at Aringa village in Agago district running away with over 70 heads of cattle.

However they were pursued by the army together with the Police's Anti Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) and intercepted at Lomoro village in Ngora Parish and recovered all the livestock.

In another incident, security agencies pursued five cattle rustlers that escaped with bullet injuries sustained after a fierce battle with the army, in Kween district.

The armed rustlers were intercepted at Cheborom village in Kween sub-county and 203 stolen cows were recovered.

The slip in the security situation in the region authorities allege was a scare to investors.

They recently urged the UPDF to step up intelligence in order to remove guns from wrong elements.

According to police, cattle theft crime is on an increase in the country and efforts are underway to thwart it.

The 2019 annual Crime Report indicates that 7, 665 cases of cattle thefts were reported compared to 7,161 reported in 2018, which is an increase of 7.0%.