Yasiin Mugerwa
2 November 2008
Over 400 families in Lango sub-region have been displaced by marauding rhinos and elephants.
Sunday Monitor has learnt that due to increased rhino and elephant attacks, some MPs whose constituents were displaced by stray wild animals have threatened to mobilise residents to defend themselves against the animals.
Mr Isha Otto (UPC, Oyam) told reporters on Friday that he has reported the matter to Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Ministry of Tourism but nothing has been done to arrest the situation. "If the UWA fails to protect my people and their properties from these wild animals the community is waiting for instructions to start killing these animals as a last resort," he said.
Mr Otto said several villages in his constituency have been affected, with rhinos and elephants now attacking returnees in some extreme cases. "As we talk now, at least 400 families are homeless with their gardens destroyed and others physically attached by these wild animals," Mr Otto said.
He said the returnees who have lived in Internally Peoples Displaced camps for over 15 years are getting frustrated by the failure of UWA to respond to their cries. The most affected villages include Amukugungu, Te-tochi, Amaji, Dicunyi Nora, Bumbay, Ober Wangenwey, and Akurifidea among others, all in Lira district.
This is not the first time wild animals are displacing the returnees. Last week, in Amuru District, hundreds of families were also forced to seek refugee in the neghbouring districts. In August this year, an estimated 150 elephants from the national park roamed villages in Gulu and Amuru, ravaging crops and interrupting the reintegration of IDPs.
According to Mr Otto, marauding rhinos and elephants have added to the problems faced by returnees who are trying to rebuild their lives in the wake of a two-decade civil war, by destroying their crops and prompting some to return to IDP camps they had only recently left to rebuild their lives.
In response, Uganda Wildlife Authority's Senior Conservation Officer, Stonewall Kato told IRIN news agency that in recent years there has been an explosion in the population of elephants in the park, forcing some to stray out in search of water and pasture. "We have started digging trenches at the elephants' crossing point, supporting community bee-keeping projects because the buzzing sound of bees drives elephants away, and we have set up ranger stations for scare-shooting in the villages around," Mr Kato said.
Although area MPs have met with UWA officials, their recommendations have only remained on paper as wild animals compete for the same land with the displaced persons in Amuru and Lango.
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