Hundreds of youth who confessed to be cattle rustlers from Moroto district have
joined the peace building program in a move
to reduce cattle thefts.
This comes after most youth involved in cattle thefts and raids have been
killed in battles with the UPDF and other security forces. Last week at least 18 suspected raiders mainly youth were shot
dead in Kanyikikong in Moroto district.
The reformed youths have come together under their umbrella Moroto
Youth Former Raiders to lead a peace campaign in the region.
John Robert Adupa, the leader of the youth says they will extend the message of
peace to all the districts in Karamoja where cattle theft is still common and
encourage the youth to handover any illegal guns to authorities.
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John Longora, the Chairperson Moroto District Peace Committee is
optimistic that the involvement of the youth in community peace building is
paramount. He notes that the youth are often the ones involved in cattle
theft for commercial gain. He lauded them for becoming part of the peace building
process.
“We are using all approaches to ensure there are no raids and we disarm
peacefully. We have brought the youth now on the forefront because they are the
ones going for theft and dying in the battles,” said Logira.
Until now, the issue of peace has been dominated by elders and members of the
peace committee while the youth and women were sidelined. But the trend is
slowly changing with more youth including women coming forward to take part in
discussing and building peace at the community level.
In December, the UPDF conducted an operation across Karamoja aimed
at recovering stolen cattle and according to the Maj. Peter Mugisa, the Third Division Spokesperson, the exercise was successfully conducted in most
districts.
