Police in Mbarara has in its coolers a suspected cattle thief who has been on the run for the last six years.
Ivan Nganyira, 26, a resident of Bwizibwera in Rwanyamahembe Sub County, is said to have been behind several acts of cattle theft in Mbarara and the neighboring districts but had managed to elude arrest for the last six years.
Nganyira, is suspected to have masterminded the theft of over 400 cows and an unknown number of goats in six years, having contacts in abattoirs in different towns among them Mbarara, Masaka and Kampala where he would sell them.
Mbarara district police commander Jaffar Magyezi told Howwe that Nganyira's arrest is a relief to security and farmers, adding that the suspect was arrested alongside six others whose names have been withheld for purposes of conducting further investigations.
He says that the fight against animal theft will not succeed if the farmers do not help police in cracking down on the vice. According to police over 100 heads of cattle are stolen from Mbarara and Kiruhura districts every two weeks.
Some are recovered while others are never traced
