Sembabule district LCV Chairperson Dr. Elly Muhumuza, is in police custody here in Kampala after he allegedly defied a cattle quarantine imposed two years ago following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
The district chairman was arrested by officers from the Police's Directorate of Criminal Intelligence and Investigations headquarters in Kibuli-Kampala last evening and immediately driven to Kampala where he is being held.
The Sembabule Resident District Commissioner Henry Baguma accuses Muhumuza of conniving with cattle dealers to smuggle out livestock from his farm at night without obtaining movement permits from the veterinary authorities.
Mr. Baguma adds that the chairman was arrested together with the District CIID officer Geoffrey Nimanya, with whom they had connived to frustrate investigations into the matter.
A special team of police personnel recently deployed in the area to enforce the quarantine also arrested cattle dealers who were smuggling out unauthorized cattle and goats from Muhumuza's farm in Ntuusi Sub County.
It is said that Muhumuza had used his office to manipulate the CIID officer to hide the case file and frustrate prosecution which prompted the arresting officers to seek intervention of the Inspector General of Police.
The Ministry of Agriculture Animals Industry and Fisheries, for the past two years, put the districts of Sembabule, Lyantonde, Gomba and Kiruhura that boarder each other under quarantine over the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
Under the current guidelines, farmers are required to first seek clearance from the veterinary officers if they are transport their livestock, to prevent further spread of the disease.
