Independent Presidential candidate General Henry Tumukunde has promised to empower local groups among the Karamojongs to safeguard them against cattle rustlers.
Tumukunde said during his campaigns in Olutekei and Kacheri areas in Kotido district, Karamoja sub-region. The former spymaster is in the sub-region to comb for votes ahead of the 2021 elections.
He argued that the disarmament exercise carried out by the current leadership of President Yoweri Museveni has rendered the Karamojong cattle farmers defenseless when attacked by cattle rustlers.
Large scale cattle rustling has since stopped however there are often some cattle rustling in areas bordering Teso. The prominent conflict now is on the borders of Katakwi district, in Teso and Napak district of Karamoja.
“I will introduce a local content law to ensure that local people benefit from the mineral riches in their respective areas than individuals from nowhere taking advantage of absence of laws,” he said.
Over the years, the government has been carrying out disarmament exercise in the region in a bid to curb the then cattle rustling vice which engulfed the region. Daily Monitor reported that between 2001 and 2002, the government disarmed Karimojong of firearms used in raiding cattle from the neighbouring regions such as Teso and where the army managed to collect about 50,000 guns.
