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Stop Fleeing to Kenya, UPDF Tells Pokot Nomads

New Vision (Kampala)

NEWS
21 October 2007
Posted to the web 22 October 2007

By Nathan Etengu
Kampala
THE UPDF 3rd Division commander, Col. Patrick Kankiriho, has advised Ugandan
Pokot pastoralists to stop fleeing from the army.
He said several pastoralists and their families had fled to Kenya following the
deployment of the army in places previously occupied by armed pastoralists.
"UPDF soldiers are not your enemies. We are here to provide security to you and
your property," Kankiriho stressed.
He was recently addressing residents of Kariita trading centre, Nakapiripirit
district during a disarmament mobilisation meeting.
The meeting followed reports that some armed Pokot warriors had blocked the
Amudat-Kariita road with thorns to prevent the army from accessing the area.
"Some thorns were placed on the road in the village where the area MP, Francis
Kiyonga, comes from," Kankiriho said.
The pastoralists had also blocked the junction to Lemsui at the foot of Mt.
Kadam.
Some Pokot elders said they fled to Kenya after the UPDF carried out an
operation in which some cattle were killed and others injured. They added that
one of the parish chiefs extorted money from them for branding their cattle,
which was done by the army.
"We also had incidences where some of the boys arrested during the cordon and
search operation were forced to pay sh20,000 each before they were released,"
an elder lamented.
The elders also called for the rehabilitation of the Kariita-Amudat road and
the construction of the Chepsikunya-Giriki-Lokales-Kariita-Amudat road.

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