By Brian Okoth
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has demanded the extradition of Kenyans suspected of killing five people in northeastern Uganda in March 2022.
The president said firearms linked to the fatal attacks were recovered, but the killers, who he claims are Kenyan nationals, were not brought to book.
Those killed in the suspected cattle rustling in Karamoja region were three geologists and two security officers.
Kenyan northern county of Turkana borders Uganda to the west.
Museveni warned he will banish Kenyans living in the volatile Karamoja region if the neighbouring country’s authorities fail to arrest and extradite the suspects within six months, from May 24.
The Head of State made the announcement on Wednesday in Executive Order Number 3 of 2023.
“The killers of the geologists must be handed back to us for murder trial. The guns were handed back to the Government of Uganda, but not the killers,” Museveni said in the Executive Order.
The president termed the repeated cattle rustling in northeastern Uganda “another destabilising factor” in his efforts to disarm Karamojong warriors.
“If the issue of the guns illegally entering Uganda, the handover of criminals who killed our geologists, or the use of traditional justice and return of the stolen cattle are not solved, I have no alternative but to expel all the Kenyan Turkanas and their cattle, and they will never be allowed to re-enter Uganda with their cows,” Museveni said.
The Head of State said the cattle rustlers had “imposed great suffering” on the Ugandan people, “especially members of the Bokora clan of Napak”.
TRT Afrika has reached Kenyan government officials, including State House spokesperson Hussein Mohamed and the Interior ministry, for comment.
