The security forces who were deployed in Napeikoroi grounds received intelligence about the suspected warriors possessing illegal firearms. They responded swiftly and recovered two submachine guns number K53 (01 rounds) and NK6899 (09 rounds) from Peter Lomojong and John Lokori respectively.
The operations were led following the intelligence that suspected ten South Sudanese National were spotted entering the park through the porous borders to hunt wild animals.
Longoli admitted to coordinating attacks in Karenga, Kotido, and Kaabong districts and disclosed sharing the gun with colleagues who are still at large, all from Kaabong district.
Felix Lochale, the LC5 chairperson of Karenga district, highlighted how insecurity, particularly in areas with limited security presence, has severely impacted the PDM program. Parish chiefs are hesitant to access isolated villages to implement the program due to the heightened insecurity.
The security team has established that all the armed warriors who used to terrorize the districts of kaabong and kotido have crossed to karenga district where they are hiding in the game park. The warriors are now stealing people’s food and feed on wild meat before going for cattle raids.
Early last month, the district security committee gave the armed warriors up to two weeks to come out of the jungle and use the amnesty window to surrender illegal firearms in their possession. However, the time has elapsed without any single gun recovered and the security situation is worsening despite several security peace dialogues.
Filbert Ocailap, the Karenga Resident District Commissioner said that the warriors have paid deaf ears to the amnesty program despite several calls. He observed that there has been a resurgence of insecurity for the last one month and this has frustrated service deliveries.
Michael Longole, the Mt Moroto Regional police spokesperson, says that the officers from the joint security forces came under attack while on their way to apprehend the suspected warriors. The injured officers are Jamri Mulondo, 27, and James Omara, 36, both attached to Sangar ASTU detachment and Sangar UPDF detachment respectively.
According to Longole, the suspect is believed to have transported the Ammunition from Karenga District to Lolelia Sub County where he has been doing the trade.
According to Michael Longole, the Mt Moroto Regional Police Spokesperson, the security patrol team encountered the warrior, who was wearing a bed sheet and a shirt resembling a UPDF uniform, around 8:30 pm.
Michael Longole, the Mt Moroto Regional Police Spokesperson told URN that the armed warrior properly camouflaged like a UPDF officer and the security team on patrol was so keen to identify him as a cattle rustler.
According to Abach, the deceased was in company of two colleagues who narrowly escaped the incident when they were attacked by the elephant that saw them in the wilderness where they had gone to fetch firewood.
The sophisticated collar technology is a lightweight belt that contains advanced GPS satellite tracking devices fixed on an elephant’s neck to allow the park authorities to monitor when and where individual animals are moving across the landscape in real-time.
The Chief Warden of Kidepo Valley National Park Samuel Amanya says that the App is an Open Data Kit; a free, open-source suite of tools that allows data collection using Android mobile devices and data submission to an online server, even without an Internet connection.
Peter Lomilo a resident of Karenga Town Council told URN during an interview that the methods for driving away the wild animals are not only risky to the people undertaking them but they no longer scare the straying wild animals.
A 13-year-old girl was among the people whose lives were lost to alcohol over the last two weeks, sparking public outcry about the dangers of alcohol consumption to the community in Karenga. The other incident involved a couple, suspected to have taken excessive alcohol leading to the death of the wife and the husband in one day.
The wildlife from the Kidepo Valley National Park strayed Wednesday and Thursday nights destroying the maize that was just ready for harvest. The destruction comes at a time when the region is struggling to cope with a threat of hunger and food insecurity where green belts such as Karenga, Kaabong, and parts of Kitido Nakapiripirit among others are the region’s food basket are also thrown into food loses due to prolonged drought and problem animal.
The Kidepo Regional Criminal Investigations Department Officer, Bosco Gume, says that they have opened inquiries to establish circumstances surrounding Nantongo’s death.
