The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Nwoya, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Three suspected poachers, who fled into the Murchison Falls National Game Park, are yet to be traced.
They have been identified as Vincent Opio, 35, Levy Odong 39, and Innocent Komakech, 35, all residents of Lapii Cell, Tangi Ward in Purongo Town Council, Nwoya district.
The three and one other person identified as Charles Komakech Otto reportedly went to the park on November 19, 2024, to poach when they were intercepted by game rangers.
Otto managed to escape while Opio, Odong and Komakech were reportedly arrested by the game rangers, according to John Ben Okot, the LCIII Chairperson of Purongo Town Council.
Okot says that according to Otto, they were attacked by game rangers, but he managed to escape and informed family members of the three missing people.
“Family members of the three people waited for five days expecting that the three would return but they did not. They then reported the case to the police. Even Otto handed himself to police for fear of being attacked by the families of his missing colleagues,” says Okot.
Richard Anyama, the Nwoya District Police Commander confirmed the report but said they are working to establish the facts surrounding the incident.
Anyama says “We have got the report. We are planning to go to the park to verify the information. We have in custody at Nwoya Central Police station one of those who went with the missing people.”
However, Wilson Kagoro, the Uganda Wildlife Authority Conservation Warden at Murchison Falls National Park says it is a challenge to account for people who enter the park illegally.
He adds that Otto, the person who was with the missing people is the first suspect who should help with investigations.
“We have had incidences of people who go kill each other inside the park because they have land wrangles or their differences and at the end of the day, they start tasking us to account for them,” Kagoro says.
Cases of people going missing inside Murchison Falls National Park are not uncommon.
In 2022, four suspected poachers were reported to have gone missing inside the park.
Meanwhile, John Ben Okot, the LCIII Chairperson Purongo Town Council in Nwoya district has blamed poaching on the persistent straying of elephants from Murchison Falls National Park into community farmlands.
“Every year, communities are affected by elephants. Today alone, five to six acres of crops of rice, maize and soybeans have been destroyed by elephants. The youth go to poach because they want to get game meat to sell and be able to buy food,” Okot says.
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