Turkana Pastoralists Return Raided Animals

The Turkana county government in Kenya has returned 99 cows that were raided from the Jie community in Kotido district in Karamoja sub region. The 99 are cows are part of the thousands of cattle allegedly raided from Karamoja over the past three months. 

 

Thirty of the recovered animals are meant to compensate the family of a minor who was killed Kaabong during one of the raids in October. During the regional security meeting on December 15th, 2017 at Moroto chamber hall, Peter Eripete, the Turkana County Secretary revealed that his team mobilised for the animals from the pastoralists for compensation while others were recovered from thieves. 

Eripete noted that his team was committed to ensuring that all animals stolen into Turkana County are recovered. On Thursday, the 3rd Division leadership led by the Deputy Commander, Col. Moses Kwikiriza handed over 126 recovered cattle from both Karamoja and Turkana County in Kenya.  The handover conducted at Losile village in Rupa Sub County saw 99 heads of cattle recovered from Turkana go to the Jie in Kotido while 27 others recovered from Jie were handed over to Turkana.

Col. Kwikiriza reiterated the army's commitment to recover the stolen animals driven into Karamoja. He appreciated the Turkana delegation from Kenya for the gains made so far in the recoveries and called for cooperation to get rid of animal thefts and raids. 

However, Noah Tonui the Deputy Commissioner Loima Sub County in Turkana County says his team will deliver another batch of recovered animals in the next ten days. He notes that concerted efforts by both security and local leadership including pastoralists have been heightened to address impasse. 

On December 15th, both Turkana and Karamoja delegates undertook a task to recover and handover animals within five days. The team has again resolved on a ten days ultimatum to recover and handover more cattle. 

Statistics from 3rd Infantry Division in Moroto shows that more than 2,493 heads of cattle have been raided from January to November this year where 1,756 have been recovered. The records also show that 52 guns have been recovered from the civilians with 3,380 rounds of ammunition and six bombs within the same period.