The Uganda Army High Command is set to discipline UPDF commanders accused of sleeping on the job during the ongoing security operation against cattle rustlers in the Karamoja region.
Last week, while addressing the NRM parliamentary caucus held at Kololo Independence Grounds, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni listed laxity as one of the problems faced by a section of commanders in Karamoja and the reason cattle rustling has continued to be rampant.
The president said he would meet some UPDF commanders over the issue.
On Monday, it emerged that the Army High Command has vowed to take tough measures against commanders believed to be sleeping on the job in the ongoing operations against cattle rustling in the Karamoja region.
Brigadier General Felix Kulayigye, the UPDF Spokesperson, said it’s alleged that some commanders do not pursue the cattle raiders at night when alerted by the locals.
“I am surprised why some security officers on duty have become reluctant during the night and then become very active during the day, yet security is paramount and should be provided all the time,” Kulayigye said.
He also revealed that pursuing thieves is the army’s responsibility because keeping people’s lives and property safe is one of the UPDF’s main duties.
“Certainly the pursuit of cattle thieves in the Karamoja sub-region is our responsibility in security,” he said.
According to Kulayigye, the UPDF has received several complaints from the locals concerning the reluctance of men in uniform in the region; however, the army is checking internally where such weaknesses are and will soon take action to rectify the issue.
“As an institution (UPDF), we are on the ground in Lango, Acholi, and Karamoja.However, the commander in chief also pointed out that there are weaknesses on grounds that are being rectified,” he said.
He also argued that the locals should revamp their coordination with the UPDF operating officers to enhance the pursuit of cattle thieves in the region.
This has come when there has been a wave of cattle rustling in the Otuke district, which has forced the locals to move their animals to established kraals guarded by the UPDF and anti-stock theft unit.
UPDF mouthpiece Kulayigye revealed that Kenya has for the first time started dealing with cattle rustlers, stating that it’s now familiar that during April something always comes out of Karamoja.
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