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Ignitious Ndyamuhaki, the Ruzonga village chairperson explained that the elephant invasion is pushing locals into poverty
“People here think that the government does not care about them. No compensation efforts are in place and on top of that, they are fraudulently charged by the police around before registering their damage,” says Benon Karyeija, the Mitooma District chairperson.
On Easter Monday, an emergency meeting was convened. Thomas Tayebwa, the deputy Speaker of Parliament Martin Bahinduka Mugarra, the State Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, officials from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and communities neighbouring the park were in attendance.
The meeting sought to resolve tensions between communities and park authorities over wildlife raids.
Elephants have for many years been destroying gardens and human lives. Residents who depend on farming have since turned to other sources of livelihood.
This includeds charcoal burning, which also threatens the environment.
According to residents, elephants come as early as 5pm and feed on people’s crops till morning. Children who are supposed to be in school now spend hours guarding crops against elephants. This also puts these children in harm’s way.
Uganda Wildlife Authority has now announced that armed rangers will soon be deployed to Queen Elizabeth National Park as a measure to reduce wildlife raids.
According to the head of operations at UWA, Charles Tumwesigye, 180 rangers from the batch that has been training at Kaweweta will be deployed by the end of April.
“The park is very big with many problems in each corner. Once the rangers are passed out, they will be assigned work in the park,” he says.
Tumwesigye adds that UWA has contacted the Uganda People’s Defence Forces(UPDF) for the additional workforce of about 12 soldiers. Their deployment in the Kiyanga post is in final stages by relevant offices.
Aside from enforcement by rangers, UWA has pledged to install more than 200 bee hives. This will serve as a short term intervention to facilitate co-existence.
“Bees sting elephants in the snout, the ears, around the eyes and other areas. They target the soft areas of the elephant’s body. Bees do not kill the elephants, they only scare them away and they retreat back into the protected area,” George Owoyesigire, the acting commissioner wildlife conservation in the Ministry of Tourism said.
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