OTUKE, UGANDA: President Yoweri Museveni has warned that gun seekers from Karamoja will soon lose an appetite for carrying illegal guns in a move to end the unsettling cattle rustling practice in the war-stricken region.
“You touch a gun you are dead. This is really the answer. They are going to touch the bitterness of carrying a gun, said President Museveni.
The president made the remarks on Tuesday 16th, May 2023 speaking to over 300 delegates from the Lango subregion who gathered at Baralegi state lodge in Okwang sub-county, Otuke district, in Northern Uganda.
Mr Museveni also ordered the recruitment of 12 LDU personnel per parish in all the sub-counties of the district bordering Karamoja in Both the Acholi and Lango sub-region to bring an end to the increasing rate of cattle rustling.
He also promised to assist the families of the 41 people killed by the cattle rustlers of Karamoja as mentioned by the leaders in Agago including the injured, orphans and allowing the children affected to study for free.
Museveni said Peter Okwera who hails from Agago and NRM historicals during the NRC told him on Sunday the 16t May 2023 from Baralegi when the Acholi delegation met him that he[Okwera Peter]started hearing about cattle raids in 1954.
He added that the quick response must be the eyes day and night in the form of planes and drones From the UPDF that must be dispatched immediately to the scene of crime to follow and see where the cattle rustlers have gone.
“These people are stealing cows which are easy to see during the day or at night. When the raiders are spotted, they can call the gunships that can also operate at night. We have all the capacity to solve this problem.”
The chairperson Lango Parliamentary group Judith Alyek (Kole district Woman MP) told the president that there are some rich businessmen who use guns and give cattle raiders and hence the origin of the guns must be traced.
Otuke County MP Paul Omara told the president to remove both the deputy RDC and the DPC FROM Otuke because they arrested and paraded local leaders almost half naked in the police cell for holding a security meeting recently.
Meanwhile, Dokolo district Woman MP Hon Atim Cecilia Ogwal urged the president to retain and promote Otuke RDC Gillian Akullo, Dokolo RDC Babra Akech and the DPC of Dokolo on the grounds that they are doing good work.
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