Hoima police have stopped people from catching grasshoppers in the municipality at the urging of the Omukama of Bunyoro Kitara, Solomon Gafabusa Iguru.

Grasshopper trapping has been a booming business in the town, as the popular insects are sold in places as far as Kampala. It is said that the King Iguru complained of noise and excessive glare of the lights that are hoisted as high as 50 metres. According to the mid-western regional police spokesperson, Lydia Katusabe, the Omukama's sleep was affected by the excessive lights close to the palace.

The lights are intended to attract grasshoppers into the traps. The police recently nabbed 12 dealers and confiscated 10 generators and more than 100 iron sheets used in the business. However, those arrested were released on police bond the following day.

Katusabe said the Omukama had threatened to use his bodyguards to dislodge all the grasshopper tapping points near his palace if police in Hoima hesitated to do so. But to the dealers, shifting the tapping centres means heavy losses in that business, which is carried out twice a year - May-July, and November-January.