Acholi MPs angry with UWA over killing of civilian
UWA has since declined any involvement in the alleged murder.
By Christopher Nyeko
Nwoya: A section of members of parliament under the Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG), led by Okot John Amos, have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) for what they term the continued murdering of civilians in the neighboring game park with impunity.
Okot John Amos, the new chairperson for the Acholi parliamentary group, described the incident as punitive and assured that his office is summoning the executive director of UWA to explain to them why UWA continued to kill civilians neighboring the park.
Tony Awany, the Nwoya County MP, says the unbearable killing of civilians by rangers from UWA is frustrating the leader’s effort toward sensitizing the people neighboring the park to coexist with the wild animals.
Hon. Gilbert Olanya, the Kilak south member of parliament, alleged that the government is not doing enough to address the cases of human-wildlife conflict in Acholi, noticing that people neighboring the park area are persistently being killed by wild animals while their crops and properties are also destroyed.
Local leaders in the Purongo sub-county Nwoya district reveal that from 2023 until now, at least four people were purportedly murdered by a ranger from UWA in claims that they were involved in illegal poaching inside the game park.
The recent attack was on Saturday, when a man identified as Charles Kinyera, aged 41, a resident of Wipolo Pabali in Purongo sub-county Nwoya district, was purportedly shot dead 10 kilometers away from Murchison Game Park.
Local authorities reported to APG that Kinyera was on Sunday afternoon at around 7 p.m. shot by a group of unidentified armed men wearing plain clothes and traveling in a white pickup land cruiser vehicle 10 kilometers away from Murchison National Park while returning from a hunting pitch inside Murchison National Park.
Police in Nwoya have opened a case of murder by shooting under the reference general inquiries file 004/2024.
UWA has since declined any involvement in the alleged murder.
Hangi Bashir, the communication manager of UWA, says their personnel are not encouraged to shoot, but when they are confronted with poachers, they can retaliate.
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