35 rangers killed in conflict with Benet, says wildlife authority

The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) manager of conservation education and awareness, Vanice Mirembe, has said they have so far lost 35 rangers in the conflict with the Benet community.

Mirembe said the rangers have been killed by panga-wielding people who were fighting to remain in the forest in Mt Elgon National Park.

She said the authority would not sit back and watch as an encroachment on national parks goes on.

Mirembe was speaking during the national advocacy meeting held at Ministers Village in Ntinda, Kampala on Friday October 23.

The meeting was organised by the International Christian Ministry with support from the European Union to discuss critical issues affecting both the Benet and Batwa community.

Speaking on the issue of resettlement of the Benet, Mirembe said when the 6,000 hectares of land on Mount Elgon were allocated to the Benet, the district officials grabbed the land and allocated it to themselves.

Faith Tushabe, the African International Christian Ministry executive director, said the meeting was organised to seek support from key decision-makers in influencing policy change in relation to the wellbeing of the Batwa and Benet.

"Even the so-called Benet that were given the land sold it and ran back into the forest. When they encroached on the forest, we came out strong and drove out all the encroachers. Remember, in 2008, we lost a tourist to the very same group, which ran back to the forest," Mirembe said.

During the meeting, the Benet community asked the Government to provide them with land for resettlement.

Moses Kiptala, a Benet leader, said although the Benet community was allocated land temporarily by the Government in 1983, the rangers continue to harass, beat and even rape women who stay around the national park.

"When rangers find cows tied near the boundary or grazing in the park, they seize the animals. If you want to get your animals back, you pay a fine of sh50,000 per cow and sh20,000 per goat.

This is totally unfair," Kiptala said. Kiptala accused rangers of shooting dead members of the Benet community they find grazing animals in the park.

He named 12 people who were allegedly shot dead between 2000 and 2020. He said although the killings are reported to the Police, nothing is done.

Kiptala also requested the Government to demarcate the national park's boundaries in order to ensure the security of tenure for the settled persons.

"If the resettlement of the Benet has not been finalised, there is no way you can stop us from entering the protected area because this is our indigenous homeland," Kiptala stated.

Jackline Sange, the Kween district councilor, said it is hard for some Benet to avoid the protected area since their cultural sites are inside the park.

These include Kapkiminy, Tulwo, Kapukorwek caves, Cheptum, Kapchewut among others. Sange said currently, some of the temporary resettlement areas where over 1,200 household Benet are, include the sub-counties of Tuikat, Kwosir, Kitawo, Benet and Kaseko.

Kiptala asked the Government to elevate their community to a county in order to be represented in Parliament. Responding to issues raised by the Benet, Nelson Guma, the chief warden of Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Area in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, said the issues are not very unique and that the issue of the boundary is being handled.

He said besides the 6,000 hectares of land given to Benet to resettle them, the Benet are going to be given additional 2,250 hectares of land.

"We have a list of beneficiaries which will be used by the Office of the Prime Minister to distribute the land," Guma noted. On the issue of rangers, Guma argued that UWA has standard operating procedures (SOPS) which rangers follow.

He said if a ranger is sent for an operation, under their SOPS, they are expected to apprehend and prosecute the suspects.

"If there are crimes committed by individuals, those individuals will be held accountable for their actions," Guma added.

According to the Uganda Wildlife Act, a domestic animal found in the national park, is supposed to be impounded and the owners pay a fine of sh50,000.