MUSEVENI TURNS HEAT ON RUTO - " KENYA MUST PAY FOR THE BLOOD OF OUR EXPERTS AND SOLDIERS."

Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has issued a stern demand to Kenya, insisting that President William Ruto’s government must compensate Uganda for the deaths of Ugandan geologists and soldiers allegedly slain by Turkana warriors during a 2022 cross-border attack.

The long-simmering dispute, which traces back to a fatal ambush in March 2022, has resurfaced just days after Uganda’s general elections, reigniting tensions between the two neighboring nations.

Speaking at Kalas Girls Primary School grounds in Amudat District on Tuesday, Museveni revisited the matter accusing the Kenyan Turkana's of the onslaught.

“The Turkana still have a debt as they must compensate the lives of people they killed. I told President Ruto that if these criminals don’t have money, the Kenyan government must pay,” Museveni demanded .

The 80-year-old leader further announced plans for a symbolic reconciliation ceremony to be held jointly with President Ruto in Moroto District once Uganda concludes its election season.

“The Kenyan government will pay for the lives of those killed. After the elections, I will perform a ceremony with President Ruto in Moroto for the Kenyan government to pay for the lives of our people who died and elders to cleanse the blood of the people who died. The bishops and sheikhs will also come in and contribute,” he added.

Museveni maintained that Uganda would not let the tragedy fade into obscurity, emphasizing that justice—whether through financial compensation or traditional reconciliation—must prevail.

The incident in question occurred in March 2022, when a Ugandan government team conducting a mineral mapping exercise in Kubebe, Lotisan Subcounty, Moroto District, was ambushed by armed assailants believed to be Turkana warriors from Kenya.

The attack claimed the lives of three geologists from Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development and two Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers who had been assigned to provide protection.

Caught off guard, the team had little chance to defend themselves. Reports later confirmed that the attackers fled across the border, seizing two rifles from the fallen soldiers. The assault underscored the enduring security challenges along the volatile Uganda–Kenya border, where cattle rustling and cross-border incursions remain frequen

In the wake of the killings, Museveni moved swiftly to impose restrictions on Turkana herders entering Ugandan territory for grazing. He also ordered intensified disarmament and patrol operations across the Karamoja sub-region—a frontier long plagued by banditry and ethnic raids.

The Ugandan leader further demanded that Kenya either hand over the culprits or engage in what he termed a formal “blood settlement,” dismissing traditional cattle-based compensation as insufficient.

“You know, Banyankole believe a little bit in the law of Moses—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If you kill a member of our clan, we must also pay revenge. If you don’t want revenge, you come and we have blood settlement,” Museveni remarked .

Since then, Uganda’s security forces have maintained heightened surveillance in the border districts of Moroto and Amudat. Museveni claims that his government’s efforts have yielded tangible peace dividends.

“I couldn’t accept this impunity of criminality. We now have peace, not only in Karamoja but in West Nile, Northern Uganda, which borders South Sudan, the Rwenzori Mountains, and Kisoro, which borders DR Congo. There is peace everywhere,” he said in the presence of a charged crowd.

Museveni’s renewed demands for compensation come at a delicate moment for President Ruto, who faces mounting domestic and regional scrutiny ahead of his own political challenges.

The two nations have often found themselves locked in subtle rivalries and open disputes revolving from the long-standing Migingo Island sovereignty row in Lake Victoria—where both countries claim ownership of the tiny but resource-rich fishing hub—to the recent oil importation standoff, where Uganda accused Kenya of economic sabotage by blocking its petroleum access through Mombasa, the tensions have repeatedly exposed fragile undercurrents beneath their seemingly cordial relationship.