Over 30,000 Karimojong face starvation after stone quarry is closed

A group of the Karimojong reformed rustlers who recently handed over their guns to the government and turned ventured into stones quarrying for survival, now face starvation after the government closed the quarry.

They accuse the government of mistreating them after convincing them to voluntarily surrender their guns which were their main source of livelihood.

The quarry situated at Naput village in Rupa Sub County, Moroto District had attracted many people until the officials from Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) chased them away saying it is in the game reserve of Matheniko.

Mr Paul Lokut, one of the reformed cattle rustlers told Daily Monitor that they will not sit and watch their children die of hunger yet God gifted the region with lots of stones they could use for survival.

"How shall we feed on our children who are already getting malnourished? Theirs are eating food of their choice, and so we shall not sit and watch our children die of hunger. The quarry is not in the game reserve, and it is currently being occupied by both Turkana and Karimojong pastoralists," he said.

Ms Sarah Akolong, who deals in stones said that for the last one week, her children have been surviving on eating porridge which even got finished on Saturday.

"My children have slept hungry for two days now simply because UWA has blocked us from quarrying the stones for sale. Where do they want us to get food to feed on our children?" She asked.

"Government told us to hand over guns and we respected the directive thinking they were giving us another means of survival but in vain. We joined stone quarrying because we did not want to start begging. Now they have blocked us, what do they want us to do," Mr John Losukari another reformed warrior, said.

Mr Losukari, said they have lived in that area for the last three years but have not seen a single wild animal crossing.

Mr Peter Losigiria said they would rather start serious poaching as the only means for them and their family members to survive.

"We had stopped poaching completely because we had our source of income, but now that UWA has blocked us from stone quarrying, we will resume poaching to get food for our children," he said.

Mr Luke Apalomuria, the area LCI chairman said his life is at risk since the former rustlers are now accusing them of convincing them to hand over their guns and go into stone-quarrying business.

"I made sure that I convinced many warriors to hand over their guns and advised them to quarry stones for survival, but now they have blocked them and have turned against me," he said.

Mr Apalomuria, said the reformed rustlers have been making money at least Shs50,000 which was enough for them to feed their families. He appealed to UWA to allow them to pick stones from the place since there are no wild animals to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

Mr Fred Kiza, the senior warden officer in charge of Mt Elgon, appealed to the community to understand that the area is under conservation and no other economic activity will be allowed to take place in it.