Herdsmen kill Ugandan soldiers

Kenyan pastoralists killed four Ugandan soldiers following a fierce gun battle in Achorchor sub-county in Uganda. The Uganda People’s Defence Force soldiers were killed when they clashed with armed Pokot herdsmen who were on their way back to Kiwawa location in Pokot North district, which borders Achorchor.

Illegal guns

Pokot North DC Joseph Motari said the herdsmen had crossed into Uganda in search of water and pasture for their animals following the severe drought in the district. However, when they were stopped by the soldiers who were on patrol, and found with illegal guns, they began to shoot indiscriminately to escape arrest and killed four men.

The DC said the pastoralists grabbed two guns from the slain soldiers before fleeing. Mr Motari said the Resident District Commissioner of Nakapiripirit – where Achorchor is located – Mr John Napaja, called him to protest at the attack and demanded the arrest of the suspects and recovery of the stolen weapons.

“We have deployed police officers at the border to prevent the suspects from escaping arrest and we are appealing to the villagers to cooperate with police by volunteering information that will help to arrest the killers,’’ Mr Motari said. Mr Lomkuto Lokales, a Pokot elder who spoke to the Sunday Nation, said tension was high at the border due to the heavy presence of UPDF soldiers who have launched a massive hunt for the suspects thought to be headed to Pokot North.

Mr Lokales claimed the soldiers were arbitrarily arresting Kenyan Pokots. “Pastoralists are fleeing the border area and Ugandan soldiers have resorted to confiscating their animals to force the owners to look for them,’’ the elder said. The killings come at a time when there is tension between Kenya and Uganda over the ownership of Migingo Island in Lake Victoria.

Migingo Island

In the latest development, Ugandan security forces on the island have introduced yet another levy on Kenyan fishermen. They now want fishermen to pay Sh5,000 twice a month for fishing in the waters around the island. Migingo Beach Management Unit Chairman Juma Ombori said the Ugandan soldiers had threatened to bar those who did not pay up from fishing in the waters near the island.

Mr Ombori said fishermen had lost thousands of shillings worth of income for failing to pay the new charges. The charges were introduced even as Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula restated Kenya’s determination to safeguard its territorial integrity. “The island is Kenya’s and it is not an issue to be negotiated,” he said, speaking in Kisumu.

Mr Wetang’ula, however, added that the government was waiting for the joint team of Kenyan and Ugandan surveyors to complete its work. “We shall then follow that by installing beacons so that we forestall future altercations with our neighbours.”

And, in a related incident, Uganda seized 12 sacks of rice that were being transported by Tanzanian traders to the Kenyan mainland. The traders were intercepted in Lake Victoria and accused of passing through Ugandan waters before the requisite levies were paid.