David Mafabi
10 October 2009
Mbale — Encroachers on the Mt. Elgon Forest Reserve have resorted to the usage of witchcraft as a means of chasing away the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) warders.
This was revealed by Mr Michael Okiring, a law enforcement officer at Uganda Wildlife Authority in an interview recently. Describing one of the latest incidents, he said: "On Thursday September 4, they slaughtered a dog, skinned it and walked through the boundaries before hanging it at the fence of our gates. Then later they came with chicken, slaughtered it and abandoned it in our compound."
According to him, the witchcraft comes at a time UWA has intensified operations to forcefully rid the park of encroachers who have gone beyond the bamboo zone, signalling great danger to the ecological functions of Mt. Elgon and its environs.
However, he says, this will not deter them from achieving their intentions of protecting the reserve. According to the Mt Elgon national park chief warden, Mr Adonia Bintorwa, five warders have been killed and eleven cut with machetes, mimed and incapacitated by the encroachers.
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