Leadership of Mucwini East Sub-county in Kitgum district has launched an assessment to document the extent of damage caused by elephants that strayed from Kidepo Valley National Game Park last week, as part of efforts to push for compensation of affected farmers.
The exercise, being coordinated by the Sub-county Chairperson, Richard Odongo Herbert, involves gathering the number of households affected and the hectares of gardens destroyed by the herd, which reportedly wandered out of the park before being driven back by rangers from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).
According to Odongo, preliminary assessments indicate that more than 20 households were affected, with about 40 hectares of food crops destroyed by the elephants, which numbered over ten before rangers forced them back into the national game park.
The animals are said to have targeted staple food crops, with cassava gardens accounting for the bulk of the losses at over 15 hectares, followed by more than 10 hectares of bananas, alongside sorghum and maize gardens.
David Musingo, the Commissioner of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, on Sunday apologized to the Mucwini community during a fact-finding visit by the Parliamentary Committee on Tourism, Trade and Industry to Tikao village in Orom Sub-county, Kitgum District for the havoc caused by the animals.
Musingo apologized to the people directly affected by wildlife invasions and assured them that the Authority is going to speed up the compensation process. He says all affected persons will be compensated once their details are documented, in line with the required procedure.
By Denis Opoka
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