BY POLYCAP KALOKWERA
The local leaders in Agago District are requesting for the deployment of UPDF soldiers in spots frequented by the Karimojong cattle rustlers.
The request follows the increasing raids on these areas for food items and animals in the last month.
Yesterday, suspected armed Karimojong cattle rustlers shot a one Joseph Akol, a resident of Amuri village, Agali Sub County and another person identified as Komakech was shot dead early today.
The district chairperson Leonard Opio Ojok confirms that the Karimojong have been raiding food items since June adding that many households within the district don’t have food items to feed their families.
He says previously they had been targeting cattle but now they are breaking into homes and taking food items, chickens, goats and even uprooting cassava from the gardens.
Daily Monitor reported today that 8 in every 10 Karimojong households have no or limited food and leaders claim starvation has killed hundreds of residents since January, with the misery worsened by rustling and massive crop failure.
Mohamed Okwir, the LC 3 chairperson of Adilang sub-county said residents are scared of going to the garden due to fear of being attacked by the Karimojong.
The Residence District Commissioner Agago District, Emmanuel Okot tells KFM that the Karimojong have been raiding the district since the beginning of the month adding that they have intensified the security to ensure the safety of people and their properties.
