ELEPHANT TERROR! 70 Jumbos Rampage Through Kitgum, Wipe Out 35 Acres Of Crops As UWA Bosses Sleep on the Job
Dr. James Musinguzi, Executive Director of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), is now facing criticism for failing to adequately address the elephant incursions and protect affected communities, despite the Authority’s responsibility to manage wildlife conflicts and work with security agencies to prevent further harm
KITGUM — Farmers in Kitgum District are living in fear as about 70 elephants continue roaming communities, destroying crops and threatening to deepen hunger in an area already battling the effects of drought.
The elephants have been sighted in several parts of Chwa East and other areas of the district, despite ongoing efforts by security personnel and Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) rangers to drive the animals away from populated areas.
The continued invasion has left farmers asking how long they are expected to watch helplessly as their gardens are turned into elephant feeding grounds.
Dr. James Musinguzi, Executive Director of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), is now facing criticism for failing to adequately address the elephant incursions and protect affected communities, despite the Authority’s responsibility to manage wildlife conflicts and work with security agencies to prevent further harm.
Kitgum Assistant Resident District Commissioner Geoffrey Oguti said about 40 elephants were sighted on Tuesday in Namokora North, while another herd estimated at between 30 and 40 animals was reported in Palubolo Parish, Ogul Village and along the Ogul-Lunganyura stretch in Orom Sub-county.
“There are elephants still in Chua East. On Tuesday, there were about 40 elephants in Namokora North,” Oguti said.
Another group was reportedly spotted around Agoromin and Lujorongole, between Ogul and Lunganyura in Orom Sub-county.
Authorities also found between three and five fresh elephant footprints in Ladotonen, Kiteng Sub-county, suggesting that more animals could still be moving through the area.
Oguti said the footprints could belong to elephants that recently left Mucwini.
“We suspect those elephants are the ones that left Mucwini last week and they are patrolling that area,” he said.
Last week, six elephants were also sighted around Pugoda East, near Oriyabu Primary School in Namokora, although authorities could not establish whether they remained in the area or had joined another herd.
For farmers, the elephant invasion could not have come at a worse time.
The district is already experiencing drought, with families struggling to produce enough food. The destruction of crops by elephants is now threatening to wipe out what little farmers have managed to harvest.
Herbert Richard Odongo, the LCIII Chairperson of Mucwini East, said elephants destroyed about 35 acres of crops in the area last week.
The destroyed crops include bananas, cassava and simsim.
“By yesterday, we had assessed 35 acres of crops destroyed. And as I talk, the GISO is still doing more assessments,” Odongo said.
He said the biggest concern was hunger, particularly because the affected communities were already suffering from drought.
“The greatest worry is hunger because the little crops planted are being destroyed by elephants, yet there is drought,” Odongo said.
Odongo also accused authorities of failing to adequately support some communities affected by the elephant attacks.
He said government assistance had largely focused on Namokora and Orom, leaving residents in Greater Mucwini struggling to recover from their losses.
“The whole of Greater Mucwini doesn’t get support when elephants destroy crops. It is mostly Namokora and Orom. So, we have been struggling, and we are appealing to the government to consider our pleas that we are also victims of elephant invasion,” he said.
For some farmers, the elephants have destroyed more than crops.
They have destroyed plans for survival.
Justin Olweny, a simsim farmer in Ogwapoke Village, Mucwini East Sub-county, said elephants destroyed two acres of simsim that he had hoped would help his family recover after drought ruined crops during the previous season.
“We are already facing drought, so when elephants destroy the little food we have, it becomes very difficult for our families to survive,” Olweny said.
He appealed to Government to drive the elephants away and compensate or support farmers whose crops have been destroyed.
Another farmer, Pamela Akidi, said fear has now become part of everyday life.
Akidi lost an acre of cassava to the elephants last week.
“Sometimes we hear that they are nearby, and we cannot go to our farms to work. I lost the crop that I expected to earn and feed my children with, and now I am worried about where our next food will come from,” she said.
The situation has also created a dangerous dilemma.
Farmers want to protect their crops, but confronting an elephant can have deadly consequences.
Authorities are therefore warning residents against attempting to chase, trap or attack the animals themselves.
Oguti urged farmers to immediately alert security personnel and wildlife authorities whenever they see elephants or discover fresh footprints.
“We call upon the farmers to be careful. If they see any footprints of elephants or they see the elephants, they should report to the forces,” he said.
Security personnel and UWA rangers are continuing efforts to push the elephants away from populated areas.
However, with fresh sightings still being reported, questions remain over whether the current response is enough to protect communities and their crops.
The district is also waiting for feedback from a Parliamentary Committee on Tourism, which visited Tikao on Sunday to assess concerns from communities affected by human-wildlife conflict.
The Kitgum crisis highlights the growing challenge facing communities living close to wildlife corridors.
For residents, elephants may be protected wildlife, but when the animals repeatedly enter gardens and destroy food, the conservation battle quickly becomes a question of survival.
And with about 70 elephants still moving through parts of Kitgum, farmers are now asking a simple question:
Who will save their crops — before the elephants eat the little food they have left?
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