UGANDA: Behind Museveni's hypocrisy on killings in national parks

BEHIND MUSEVENI'S HYPOCRISY ON KILLINGS IN NATIONAL PARKS

"I got annoyed to hear that park officials killed four people.
Those who go for poachers, you are doing wrong. A thief is not supposed to be killed, rather is supposed to be arrested and imprisoned. That is how NRM works,”

The four people from Kicwamba and Magambo Sub-counties had gone to Queen Elizabeth National Park on June 25 to poach animals before they were reportedly shot dead by game rangers.
Their relatives disclosed that their loved ones had gone to the park to inspect their traps. Other reports indicate that the four people were shot as they skinned a buffalo.

In 2014, Museveni directed the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and Game Rangers to shoot on sight any armed poacher found in game parks. He issued the decree in Kidepo National Park during the ceremony to mark 50 years of that park. At the time, his army had taken over security in the national parks and since then incidents of arbitrary killing of poachers and other wildlife related crime have been on the rise to correspond with the army's doubled presence.

However, Museveni's hypocritical condemnation was as usual meant to hoodwink the aggrieved locals but more so to counter his Chief Justice's condemnation of the same matter when he publicly addressed the locals on 30th August 2018 thus;
“I fought poaching when I was still the Member of Parliament up to now people from here still go to hunt in the national park; it is against the law to go and poach.” He said. “But to arrest someone and even kill them that is totally unacceptable.”
Chief Justice Katurebe hails from the same area.

Otherwise, Museveni's 2014 decree still stands because for him it's not about community conservation where local communities have a stake in national parks or promotion of the tourism sector but his regime security. He fears that some Ugandans may opt to take up arms and establish bases in the park to fight his military dictatorship. During his Bush War, Semuliki and Rwenzori National Parks were the training bases for his guerrilla army.

His approach is not driven by the dominant perceptions of poaching and wildlife trafficking as threats to human security, as drivers of conflict, as funders of terrorism and as revenue streams for organised crime. He is not looking
to respond to the global threat posed not only to endangered species, but also to the security and wellbeing of human beings. On the contrary, it is his security officers who have been facilitating direct theft of ivory from government strongrooms, aiding of wildlife and products trafficking, armed robbery, theft and physical harm on foreign tourists. Let alone the mismanagement of public security hence undermining the tourism sector.

If his security officers can maim and shoot Ugandans on camera in the middle of the capital, Kampala, what would you expect if you come face to face with them inside the park!!!

INFORMATION IS POWER AND THE PROBLEM OF UGANDA IS MUSEVENISM