Marauding elephants have eaten 7.3 million Shillings belonging to a family inMasese village, Namokora sub-county in Kitgum District.
The incident happened in an attack by roaming elephants from Kidepo National Game Park in Kitgum district in the wee hours of Friday, December 3.
Albino Ocan, the head of the family that lost the money, told URN in an interview that they had kept the money in a granary together with food items. He says five million Shillings were savings made from the sale of products such as simsim, millet and sunflower, to pay the dowry of his daughter-in-law, while the 2.3 million Shillings belonged to one of his sons who had sold his sun flower harvest and requested his mother to keep the money.
Ocan says his wife then put the money together and saved it in a granary, but when the elephants invaded their home, they overturned the granary and ate all the foodstuff plus the money. He says that the money is kept home because the banks are located about 60 kilometres away.
Charles Oryem Olweny, the District Councilor V representing Namokora sub-county says, the Uganda Wildlife Authority needs to find ways of driving the elephants away from the community.
Sarah Aber, the Secretary for Production and Marketing in Kitgum District blamed the game rangers for the elephant invasions in the area. According to Aber, the game rangers spend more time in leisure than performing their duties.
William Komakech, the Kitgum Resident District Commissioner, revealed that he has received several complaints from the communities around Kidepo National Game Park about the persistent invasions of stray elephants. Komakech pledged to ensure that the family that lost money in the attack is compensated.
Reports indicate that for the past six months, an estimated 70 stray elephants from the conservation area have been roaming the district, destroying crop gardens, stored foodstuffs and causing scare and sleepless nights among the community. The most affected sub-counties include; Orom, Kiteny, Orom East, Namokora all in Chua East Constituency in Kitgum District.
Samuel Amanya, the Chief Warden at Kidepo National Game Park regretted the destruction made by the elephants and blamed it on the shortage of game rangers to effectively man the affected areas.
–URN
