In recent weeks, Members of Parliament from the northern and eastern regions called for a fresh disarmament process in Karamoja in order to reduce the number of guns in civilian hands. It is estimated that there are about 500 illegal guns being kept by the suspected rustlers.
President Yoweri Museveni has
announced that the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces will soon redeploy troops in
Karamoja in order to solve the current security crisis in the area.
These will boost the several UPDF
detaches that have been established along the Karamoja borderlines to curb the
rampant cattle rustling in the region that has hit new heights in the last
three months.
In recent weeks, Members of
Parliament from the northern and eastern regions called for a fresh disarmament
process in Karamoja in order to reduce the number of guns in civilian hands. It
is estimated that there are about 500 illegal guns being kept by the suspected
rustlers.
The MPs have reported deaths in
their constituencies, coupled with cattle rustling and intimidation of the
public by warriors and criminals. But President Museveni says that the Karamojong
issue will soon be solved;
//Cue in; “That is an issue….
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Earlier David Muhoozi, the
Minister of State for Internal Affairs said that because of the para-military
operational nature of the cattle rustlers, it has been difficult to curb cattle
rustling in Karamoja and parts of Teso. However, he added that intelligence organizations
had been tasked to identify hotspots for deployment, especially for cattle
rustlers coming into Agago district from the Karamoja region.
The joint security forces
comprising both the army and police have also reported that it killed up to 251
suspected cattle following the relaunch of disarmament operations in the
northeastern sub-region last year. In the same period, at least 1,626 suspected
rustlers were arrested, and a total of 14,898 livestock was recovered. Security
forces also recovered at least 160 guns.
Meanwhile, President Museveni has
commended Ugandans for standing with the government in the fight against
Covid-19. He said that Ugandan was able to contain a virus that put the entire
world on its knees because nationals listened to advice from the governments and
from scientists.
In his Easter Message, released
this morning, Museveni sent out heartfelt condolences to the families who lost
their loved ones due to COVID-19 and other natural causes in the last two
challenging years.
“I want to congratulate Ugandans for standing with us in the fight against corona. Up to date, we have lost only
about 3,000 people. The number would have been higher if you had not cooperated
with us,” he said.
The President said that if it
were not for the indiscipline of some opposition groups that sparked off the
second wave immediately after the general elections, the number of those who
died would have been much lower.
//Cue in; “This number could….
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On the issue of terrorism,
President Museveni said that the government is giving them a bloody nose and all of
them will be no more soon. He saluted the Uganda People’s forces for fighting
hard to defeat terrorism.
“We have given them a hard
lesson, we are pushing them hard in Congo and the operation is continuing. We
are now at the third phase. We shall defeat them,” he said.
