Over 100 People Flee Homes in Kapelebyong Over Karimojong Insurgence

More than 100 people have fled their homes in Okungur Sub County, Kapelebyong district following the persistent attacks by the suspected Karimojong cattle rustlers.  

This follows the escalation of attacks by the warriors, which have since claimed the lives of three people, leaving 20 others with injuries and more than 600 head of cattle stolen from Kapelebyong in the last three months, according to Emmanuel Opio, the District Communications Officer.

Opio says that residents started fleeing their homes after the death of Daniel Otai, an elder who was killed by suspected rustlers last week. Otai was on his way home in Obulin Village when he met the assailants who shot him. This instilled fear among the residents forcing them to flee to the nearby trading centres and institutions.

The situation was worsened on Saturday when two other people were injured in Omokori Village. As security agencies and the Kapelebyong district leadership evacuated the injured to Soroti Regional Referral Hospital, several people fled their homes. 

Joyce Akareut, one of the residents who sleep at Airabet CoU, says that it’s better to suffer coldness when there is life. Akareut, who moves with her three children, says that she had not slept for days until she opted to relocate to the church.

Francis Akorikin, the Kapelebyong LC V Chairperson, says that the security situation in the district worsened in the last six days when the warriors raided various households in the district. “Over the last five days, our security situation in the district has been getting worse by the day. The community is under tension as people continue to lose lives and property. We continue to call upon the government to immediately step up deployment in border communities”, Akorikin said in a text.

According to Opio, most of the residents with cattle have relocated to trading centres for their safety. “The men no longer sleep in houses as they keep watch over their animals at night. For others especially in Okungur Sub County, they have moved to other sub-counties like Kapelebyong to try to secure the cows”, he said. 

The security situation at the border districts of Kapelebyong and Katakwi has remained tense over the months following the renewed cattle theft by suspected Karimojong warriors. The Katakwi District LC V Chairperson, Geoffrey Omolo says he spends more than 90 per cent of his time handling security matters.