By Bonny Aridar
Leaders in Kaabong District have embarked on security dialogues with communities in an effort to restore peace following a fresh wave of cattle raids and killings targeting Turkana pastoralists who have been hosted in the district for the past four months.
The five-day peace and security meetings, involving Members of Parliament, the Resident District Commissioner’s office, the district chairperson and security agencies, are aimed at stopping revenge attacks, recovering stolen livestock and preventing further bloodshed between the Dodoth and Turkana communities.
The meetings, which started on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, have covered Kalapata, Loyoro, Lodiko, Lolelia, Kakamar and Kaabong West, with the latest engagement held at Kachikoli Primary School in Kaabong West.
The renewed insecurity comes after nearly two years of relative peace in Karamoja, with leaders attributing the latest tensions to hunger, prolonged dry spells and climate change, which have forced Turkana pastoralists to move into Kaabong, Kotido and Karenga in search of pasture and water.
Dodoth North Member of Parliament Joseph Komol Miidi said leaders have recorded three major incidents involving killings and livestock theft since the renewed tensions emerged.
The latest incident occurred on Friday, October 29, 2026, when an estimated 80 cattle and 24 donkeys belonging to Turkana pastoralists were reportedly raided by the suspected Dodoth rustlers.
“In another incident in Kaabong East a shepherd was reportedly was hacked to death with a machete by the suspected raiders who later stole his eight head of cattle stolen, while a ten-year-old child was also killed in a separate attack”, Miidi stated.
Miidi warns that failure to contain the situation could trigger revenge attacks, given the history of retaliation between the two communities.
Dodoth East Member of Parliament Peter Pex Paak condemned the attacks, accusing some members of the local community of turning against Turkana pastoralists despite the hospitality extended to them over the past four months.
Paak described the attacks as a betrayal of the spirit of hospitality and peaceful coexistence, warning that violence would only deepen tensions between the neighbouring communities.
He stressed that security is a collective responsibility, urging residents to work with security agencies to recover the stolen livestock instead of taking the law into their own hands.
“We cannot preach peace with one hand and promote violence with the other. If these people have been welcomed into our community for four months, we must not turn against them through attacks,” Paak said.
He further called on residents to abandon revenge attacks, cooperate with security agencies and embrace dialogue as the most sustainable way of resolving conflicts.
Meanwhile, Kaabong District LC5 Chairperson has warned against rumour-mongering, saying misinformation could escalate tensions and undermine the ongoing peace efforts.
The chairperson said the communities must work together to restore security, noting that continued insecurity restricts movement and disrupts livelihoods.
Kaabong District Woman Member of Parliament Cathy Achia has attributed the emerging insecurity to hunger and the effects of prolonged dry conditions, which she says have pushed some individuals into livestock theft.
Achia also raised concern over what she describes as inadequate security deployment in some areas, calling on the army to treat the situation with urgency and strengthen its presence in vulnerable communities.
Meanwhile, the Kaabong assistant Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Ruth Lokuwam Lokuruka observed that security personnel had been deployed on the ground to trace the stolen animals, although darkness disrupted the initial pursuit.
She added that the army had started impounding livestock from suspected kraals as pressure mounts on local communities to produce the stolen animals.
“Peaceful coexistence between the Dodoth and Turkana communities remains critical to restoring stability and protecting livelihoods in the wider Karamoja region”, Lokuwam remarked.
