By Phoebe Masongole
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and locals living near Pian-Upe Game Park in Karamoja Subregion have clashed over the rampant illegal grazing of livestock and killing of wild animals for food.
UWA officials say that at least 7 animals are killed daily by the locals, a figure they claim has been rising due to the acute hunger that has hit the entire sub-region.
According to local leaders, over 900 Karamojongs, mainly children and the elderly have succumbed to hunger-related diseases since February this year following massive crop failure due to a long dry spell.
James Okware Ilukol, a senior warden in charge of the game reserve, however, hunger is not the only reason for this worrying trend.
He says there has been an increase in poaching, with poachers mowing using the local communities to kill animals for a fee, with 50 people arrested and convicted.
Okware said over 30, 000 cattle enter the reserves every day to graze and take water despite the UWA restrictions.
The lack of demarcated boundaries between the reserve and community is blamed for the clashes between the community and UWA.
Stephen Korimaran, the district councilor and a resident of Lokales sub-county said the government should support locals with food and other necessities to curb the killing of wildlife animals.
According to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) and government of Uganda statistics, eight in every ten households here are either critically food-insecure or simply food-insecure.
According to the wildlife ACT 2019, it’s an offense to hunt, take, kill, injure or disturb any wild animal or plant and the punishment is imprisonment of up to 10 years or payment of a fine of up to Ugandan shillings seven million or both.
