Kasese: Two residents killed in separate elephant attacks

Kasese, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Two people have died in Kasese district in two separate elephant attacks.

Stray elephants from Queen Elizabeth National Park killed one person in Karusandara sub-county, and another in Kyakitale A cell in Katwe, Kabatooro rown council, Kasese district.

The acting Rwenzori East Regional Police Spokesperson, Ismail Kaawo has identified the dead as Tadeo Tumwesigye, a resident of Kabaka village in Karusandara parish.

He explains that Tumwesigye met his death while grazing goats in a farm adjacent to the National park. Kaawo says a team from the police and Uganda Wildlife Authority have visited the scene and launched inquiries into the matter.

He also confirmed the death of Patrick Jamal Thembo, a resident of Kyakitale A cell in Katwe, Kabatooro town council in Kasese district. He explained that the deceased who was mentally ill entered Queen Elizabeth National Park but moments later, residents heard an elephant making noise in the park.

This caused suspicion among concerned residents who went into the park on Sunday morning together with police and found Thembo lying lifelessly with a deep cut on the leg. They retrieved the body and took it to Bwera General Hospital for postmortem.

Christopher Macumu, the LC V Councilor for Karusandara sub-county, who also doubles as the District Social Services Secretary, says that the area has continued registering similar cases that sometimes leave the victims lifeless or without help.

He has since appealed to the Uganda Wildlife Authority-UWA to expedite the process of erecting an electric fence along the boundaries of the park so that such dangerous animals are curtailed from straying into the community where they cause a lot of damage.

Last month, the State Minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities visited the area with UWA officials and pledged to expedite the process of erecting an electric wire fence. The minister categorically stated hat the process would begin in June this year.

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