President William Ruto’s government has been put on the spot over the fate of some 41 Turkana herders who were court marshalled in Uganda.
Appearing before the National Assembly Public Petitions Committee, Hon. Protus Kuja said the family of the 41 are yet to see their loved ones.
“We have had many villagers go in unison to Uganda, looking for their loved ones who were court marshalled. Is this really fair to the people of Turkana?” Posed Hon. Kuja.
Daniel Epuyo Nanok, MP for Turkana West lamented the silence of the Foreign Affairs Ministry for ignoring the plight of the arrested Kenyans.
“It is like we are on our own. Where is the Ambassador to Uganda? Where are the liaison officers? No one from Kenya is negotiating for their freedom.”
The herders were arrested shortly after three geologists and two Ugandan People Defense Forces were killed last year, while on a mineral mapping assignment. The murdered soldiers’ guns were taken.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni then ordered a police exercise which led to the arrest of 9 herders.
Uganda then gave Kenyans an ultimatum to negotiate their release, including a plan to share resources to which the Kenyan government, according to Hon. Kuja, did not resolve.
The Ugandan government later in an executive order, banned Turkana herdsmen from crossing over into Uganda with their guns.
“The Turkana must never come to Uganda with guns,” Museveni said in an executive order.
“Anybody who does so must be arrested and charged with terrorism by a court martial.”
Despite the fact that the guns were returned to Uganda, Museveni has demanded that “the killers be handed over to us for trial for murder.” If not, Museveni says the killers should compensate the victims’ families with the help of the Kenyan government and Uganda.
“The price of the kukaraba [blood-settlement – mato-oput] cannot be the traditional one, of a few cows,” Museveni said. “It must be adjusted to the full value of what the deceased would have contributed in his/her life, which life was cut short by those criminals.”
The Karamojong share a border with the Turkana people of Kenya, the Pokot, and the armed cattle herding and rustling communities of South Sudan.
This movement into Uganda has made them the scapegoat for the theft of cattle herds from Ugandan communities. Several ngiTurkana found with guns have also been apprehended.
