Residents of Kitgum District whose crops, property and relatives have been affected by elephant attacks have raised concern over what they describe as lengthy, costly and cumbersome procedures for accessing compensation from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).
The concerns come amid continued human-wildlife conflict in parts of the district, where elephants frequently stray from protected areas, destroying crops, damaging property and threatening communities.
Victims say the compensation process requires them to obtain letters from local council leaders, police reports and assessments of damaged property by wildlife officials, as well as fill out compensation forms and make repeated trips to government offices, including UWA offices in Kampala and courts.
Alfred Okema, the LC III chairperson of Kiteny Sub-county, says victims have also faced delays in the assessment and processing of claims, often without receiving feedback.
He says wildlife officials sometimes take so long to assess damage caused by elephants that evidence of destruction is lost.
David Musingo, the UWA Commissioner for Community Conservation and Ex-situ Services, acknowledges the challenges and pledges to speed up compensation for victims of human-wildlife conflict.
Musingo says UWA has collected about 1,000 compensation files from affected residents and was processing them for payment.
Musingo attributes some of the delays to inadequate funding.
By URN
Leave a Reply