Suspected Karamojong warriors kill LCI chairperson in Kitgum

Kitgum, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Suspected Karamojong cattle rustlers have killed Charles Okello Jinamoi, LCI chairperson Akelem village, Okuti parish, Orom East sub county, Kitgum district.

The cattle rustlers suspected to be four in number reportedly invaded Kaminto in Dala village on Wednesday.

Preliminary investigations indicate that while Jinamoi was returning from his garden on Wednesday evening, he was waylaid and stabbed to death by the suspected cattle rustlers.

Grace Auma, the female councilor Orom East says it is not known what time the rustlers sneaked down from the hills and killed Okello. She says that Okello’s body was found at around 7 pm by his colleagues who were searching for him.

Auma says the Karamojong are becoming aggressive, and are stealing people’s food. She says the available security personnel are not enough to counter the cattle rustlers.

Bruno Nelson, the LCIII chairperson of Orom East reveals that the Karamojong have so far killed three people in the greater Orom sub-county since the year began. He says that one of the victims was a child who died after a hut he and his siblings were sleeping in was set ablaze. The parents of the children had reportedly gone for a marriage ceremony.

Nelson says the Karamojong warriors have looted over 100 cattle and more than 500 goats in the sub-county in the past three months. He called for heightened security in the area.

There has been an increased attack by Karamojong raiders on livestock farmers in East Acholi since the end of last year.

Early last month, the situation forced leaders of Kitgum and Agago districts, who suffer most from these attacks, to recruit arrow boys to guard the locals and their animals from the attackers.

The security committees in both districts had planned that the recruits would be trained for a week or at most three weeks and deployed immediately. However, Nelson says they are yet to see the deployment of the arrow boys.

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