Olandason Wanyama
1 July 2009
Kampala — The UPDF 3rd Division operations and training officer has urged Kenyan militias to gun down any armed Karimojong who enters their territory. Col. Mike Ondoga said this would curb cross-border cattle raids.
The Jie warriors from Kotido district have of late increased cattle raids against neighbouring districts and the Turkana in north-western Kenya.
Speaking on Sunday at a peace dialogue among the Turkana, Tepeth and Matheniko pastoral communities at Nakiloro in Moroto district, Ondoga said the Jie were unruly.
"Whereas the raids have reduced drastically in Karamoja, the Jie are now terrorising other pastoral communities at home and in Kenya," he said.
"You have guns at your disposal to finish them off if they cannot behave," Ondoga told the Kenyans. "If you spare them, disarm them and that is why we have to do this work regionally," he added.
He said without killing or disarming them, the Jie would continue terrorising them. "There may be weaknesses in the army but this will be solved," he promised.
He appealed to the Turkana who wish to trade inside Uganda to alert leaders of districts which share a common border with Kenya.
"Your entry into the country should be systematic in the areas where we are carrying out the disarmament exercise," Ondoga advised.
He said this would ensure that they are protected. Ondoga warned the three communities against hosting wrongdoers in their villages.
"These wrong elements have contributed to your suffering in the past weeks," he said. Loima district officer in Kenya Daniel Ouma, who accompanied the Turkana pastoralists to the meeting, said their investigations indicated that despite the heavy deployment of security personnel along the Uganda-Kenya border, the armed Jie continued to deprive the Kenyan pastoralists of their property and animals.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
