Panic as Mineral Police Hunt for Karamoja Mineral Inspector, Dead or Alive

Moses Lokiru, Moroto – The mineral inspector of Karamoja, Mr. Gerald Eneku, is currently facing intense threats to his life from police officers attached to the mineral unit in Karamoja.
On Sunday, Mr. Eneku narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by disgruntled mineral police officers who see him as an obstacle to their corrupt activities.
According to documents obtained by this publication, the mineral police in Moroto have been receiving bribes of 500,000 Ugandan shillings from each truck transporting raw materials out of Karamoja. These bribes are sent to various mobile money numbers of different police officers by stone dealers in exchange for not paying royalties to the government.
Mr. Eneku’s intervention to stop this illegal practice has angered the corrupt police officers, who are now hunting for him. Sources within the mineral department claim that the current mineral police deployed in Karamoja are even more corrupt than their predecessors.
A source, who wished to remain anonymous, told this publication that on Sunday, a well-wisher had to hide Mr. Eneku in the trunk of his car to drive him to Soroti, bypassing a roadblock mounted by mineral police who were searching for him at Nadunget junction in Moroto district.
Mr. Gerald Eneku confirmed the threats to his life but said he was determined to continue his work.
Three months ago, many stone dealers threatened to protest against the extortion of money from both mineral police and Rupa sub-county officials in the name of revenue tax, despite already paying royalties to the government.
“We are being charged 500,000 Ugandan shillings per truck by the mineral police and 200,000 Ugandan shillings per truck by Rupa sub-county officials, on top of the royalties we pay to the government. This is unfair and harmful to our businesses,” said one stone dealer.
Repeated attempts to get a comment from the mineral police were unsuccessful.