Gulu District according to a report from the District Veterinary Department has a total of 54, 363 herds of cattle but 48.63 percent of them belong to the migrant cattle keepers, the Balaalo group of people.
The farmers from Paicho and Palaro Sub Counties say that the wildcats suspected to be hyenas, leopards, or wild dogs have killed and feasted on at least seven cows, three sheep, and fourteen goats in less than two weeks.
Charles Okello, the Agoro Sub ward councilor where the open graves are found, says that the community was equally angered by their abandonment. He disclosed that the deceased’s nephews he identified as Charles Odong and Otum died mysteriously and another suffered a mental breakdown, something he says was largely attributed to the anger of the spirits of the deceased’s couple.
Now, Stephen Odong Latek, the Gulu Resident District Commissioner and head of the District Security Committees, says that the condition to fence off all grazing lands has now been extended to all cattle farmers.
According to Latek, the district has written another letter to MAAIF seeking more vaccines in order to cover the entire district, adding that the only communication they received is that their request is yet to be granted.
David Oyite Ojok, another poultry farmer in Ongedo has also lost ten chickens to the disease. The farmers say that they are treating the disease with pounded guava leaves and Tse-Tse flies repellents, which are believed to cure the disease.
Patrick Kinyera, the Gulu District Secretary for works and technical services says that out of the 980 kilometres, only 500 kilometres of roads have been maintained.
A 60-year-old Margret Auma, a grandmother in the village living with 16 children says they are forced to trek more than 6 kilometers of distance to fetch water from a nearby borehole in a neighboring sub-county.
Richard Tek-kwo a resident of Mede Village in Oroko Parish which is greatly hit by the shortage says his family are depending on water harvested from rain and open springs in order to adhere to the Health Ministry`s guidelines.
The deceased, a resident of Ongedo village, in Palaro Sub County, was hacked to death at the height of a protracted land dispute with one George Odong, who was later arrested as a prime suspect. It is alleged that on April 26 at around 5:45 pm, Odong led seven of his accomplices who were armed with sharp and lethal objects and descended on Olum, in order to repossess the disputed land.
