Local leaders in the eastern Uganda district of Bukwo want government to withdraw the Anti-Stock Theft Unit personnel from the area.
The Anti-Stock Theft Unit was deployed to Bukwo last year to stop the cattle rustling between the Sabiny in Uganda and the Pokot of Kenya. But Paul Chelimo, the Bukwo LC5 chairperson, says the unit is instead causing widespread insecurity in the district.
Chelimo says the Anti-Stock Theft Unit personnel have been arrested for selling guns to Kenyan militias and robbing and killing innocent civilians. He discloses that fed up with the actions of the personnel, some residents last week lynched one of them for opening fire on a group of people who were attending a traditional marriage ceremony.
The Anti-Stock Theft Unit officer was accused of opening fire on the crowd after he was thrown out of the ceremony for gate crashing. One person was killed in the incident.
Chelimo blames lawlessness of the officer on poor training and inadequate pay. He says officers who were deployed in Bukow in 2006 have never been pad.
Makmot Okello, the Eastern Uganda Anti-Stock Theft Unit Commandant, says the police disciplinary committee is addressing the cases against the officers. He says 140 officers have been dismissed for indiscipline and eight others are being held in Bukwo for various crimes.
