Morulinga, Uganda — President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is vowing to use high-tech surveillance and specialized police units, including K-9s, to completely crush cattle rustling in the Karamoja subregion, declaring that criminals there have been “permanently defeated.”
Speaking to reporters at Morulinga State Lodge in Napak District on Wednesday, Museveni made his declaration amid an ongoing campaign tour ahead of the 2026 general elections. He said the National Resistance Movement government would utilize every available means to ensure that rustlers and other criminals will “never be a problem again.”
The president stressed that modern technology makes it impossible for criminals to hide, especially in the vast Karamoja plains.
“It’s not really difficult to deal with these criminals, especially now that we have a good network of telephones,” Museveni said. He explained that if a rustler uses a mobile device, “that telephone becomes a death trap for them” because the security forces can easily locate the signal.
Technology and Policing Plan
Museveni outlined a plan for a robust, intelligence-led security operation centered on advanced capabilities and swift police response:
- Air Surveillance: The government will deploy unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft capable of flying day or night. “We have surveillance equipment like UAVs and aircraft that can fly by day or night. There’s no way criminals can manage,” he stated.
- K-9 Units: The police must be equipped with police dogs to track criminals who have fled the scene. “If the criminal has already left, the police dog can follow,” the president noted.
- Rapid Response: He emphasized the need for police to be equipped with motorcycles and pickup vehicles to ensure swift response to incidents.
- Community Policing: Museveni called for effective community policing, expressing concern that some subcounties still lack a sufficient police presence despite a standing directive for each to have at least 18 officers. He directed that every subcounty must have security centered on a police station with a well-known emergency telephone number, urging the public to “ring immediately” if anything happens.
The president maintained that his direct intervention restored order after previous systemic failures and “corruption in the army,” which included the failure to pay vigilantes. He stated the Uganda People’s Defence Forces had neutralized the rustlers who had destabilized the region.
“They learnt a lesson, and anybody who tries will be defeated as long as the NRM is in charge,” Museveni firmly stated.
Economic Transformation
Beyond security, the president linked the long-term stability of Karamoja to the NRM’s political philosophy, built on patriotism, Pan-Africanism, socio-economic transformation and democracy.
He outlined his economic vision, anchored on household wealth creation, particularly the “four-acre model” for commercial agriculture:
- First acre: coffee
- Second acre: fruits
- Third acre: pasture for zero-grazing cows
- Fourth acre: food crops
He also highlighted the need for industrialization, driven by agro-processing, as well as developing the region’s mineral wealth and its high potential for tourism.
