Museveni calls for establishment of Ministerial Committee to end Karamoja cattle rustling

By Francis Lubega

3^rd April 2023

President Yoweri Museveni has directed the Ministry of Defense to set up a Ministerial Committee that will find a lasting solution against cattle rustling in Karamoja.

This has been revealed by the State Minister for Defense Vincent Ssempijja at Parliament on Monday saying that Karamoja instability is no longer a security matter alone but needs a collective effort from all stakeholders.

He says Museveni has directed that a committee composed of the Ministry of Defense, Water, Local Government, Police, Agriculture and others be formed to discuss conclusively how to end cattle rustling in Karamoja and its related insecurity matters.

Ssempijja adds that the army is also training the former Local Defense Unit (LDUs) personnel so that they are integrated in the UPDF to boost the plan to deal with cattle rustlers in Karamoja region once and for all.

Last year, President Yoweri Museveni directed UPDF to redeploy troops in Karamoja in order to solve the security crisis in the area.

This was intended to boost the several UPDF detaches that have been established along the Karamoja borderlines to curb the rampant cattle rustling in the region that has hit new heights last year.

Members of Parliament from the northern and eastern regions also called for a fresh disarmament process in Karamoja in order to reduce the number of guns in civilian hands.

It is estimated that there are about 500 illegal guns being kept by the suspected rustlers.

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