Sebei locals flee homes over rising cattle raids

On the outskirts of Chepsikunya, Ngenge Sub-county, Kween District, fierce-looking faces of Sebei residents last Friday kept a close watch on the dusty Bunambutye-Ngenge road.

They anxiously waited for area leaders for a meeting to discuss endless killings and cattle raids in the area.  Never before had most of the top brass in Sebei assembled over the cattle crisis like this.

At around 12:35pm, area MPs, including Fadhil Kisos Chemaswet (Soi), William Chemonges (Kween), Emma Rose Cherukut (Kween Woman) and Phylis Chemutai (Kapchorwa Woman) arrived at the venue.
Residents braved the scorching sunshine to welcome the legislators as they sung heroic Sabiny songs. The atmosphere was tense with police and the army deployed in the area.

This was in the wake of the previous week’s killing of a prominent herdsman, Andieman Musobo Kapsus, allegedly by Karimojong cattle rustlers.

The leaders had said they would only bury the deceased after the government had pronounced itself on the matter.
During the meeting, area local leaders warned that if the government doesn’t take a lead against the cattle rustlers, they would be forced to organise their own “home guards” to protect lives.

 “The UPDF manpower is very small and can’t work because this is a porous border. We are asking the army commander to beef up security, the situation is bad; failure to do so, locals may have to protect themselves,” Mr Geoffrey Chelogoi, the chairperson of Kween District, said.

He said rampant cattle raids have created fear and forced locals in the most affected areas to flee their homes.
However, top security commanders, during the meeting, assured masses that they would heighten security and restore sanity. On Saturday afternoon, the commander of Land Forces, who is also the First Son, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, said the army would deal with the Karimojong warriors.

In a tweet, Gen Muhoozi said: “We are going to deal all the Karachunas (warriors) a terrible blow.”

According to the report compiled by local leaders, nine people have been killed and more than 800 cattle stolen since this year began. The most affected sub-counties are Ngenge, Sundet, Kiriki and Chepsikunya.

Mr Siraji Chebet, the chairperson of Chepsikunya Town Council, said political interference is frustrating the efforts of the army to fight the cattle theft.

“The politicians want to dictate what the army should do. Leaders have become more of thieves than the raiders,” he said.

Mr Chemaswet said the army should beef up security by redeploying more of the Anti-Stock Theft Unit personnel in the sub-region. “Since the withdrawal of Anti-Stock Theft Unit personnel, the theft of cattle has gone up. We are requesting the President to redeploy the unit to Sebei so that it can reinforce UPDF,” he said.

Mr Erias Kasirabo, the commandant of the Anti-Stock Theft Unit, said they would set up more checkpoints on the roads in the area to fight cattle theft.

He said the guns being used in the cattle raids are from outside the country.
“The guns the raiders are using are from somewhere else, not even Uganda, possibly from South Sudan and Kenya,” he said.

Brig Joseph Balikuddembe, the UPDF 3rd Division commander, said there is political interference in the disarmament exercise in Karamoja, something he said is frustrating their effort in combating cattle raids.

He added that he is going to hold a regional meeting between the top leadership of the Sebei and Karamoja to find a solution to the political interference.

Brig Balikuddembe revealed that in a period of one year (2021), they were able to recover 1,567 rounds of ammunition and more than 2,000 cows.