Uganda’s wildlife conservation agency is facing a growing storm over the conduct of some of its armed rangers, with a string of shootings and fresh allegations of serious abuse raising uncomfortable questions about command, supervision and accountability under Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) Executive Director Dr James Musinguzi.
Musinguzi officially took office as UWA Executive Director on April 3, 2025, inheriting an agency whose frontline officers operate in some of the country’s most difficult and volatile environments.
But barely 18 months into his tenure, a disturbing pattern of incidents involving communities living around protected areas is putting the UWA leadership under increasing scrutiny.
The latest incident occurred in Ajai Game Reserve in West Nile, where police are investigating the shooting and death of 32-year-old Santina Afakoru, a resident of Loli Village in Madi Okollo District.
Santina reportedly entered the reserve on Saturday at about 4:30pm with her co-wife, Anteza Amviko, to collect firewood.
According to accounts surrounding the incident, the two women encountered a male and female UWA ranger, both reportedly armed.
The women allegedly fled when they saw the rangers, before one of the officers opened fire.
A bullet reportedly struck Santina in the back.
She died inside the reserve while her companion escaped without apparently realizing that Santina had been shot.
Her family reportedly waited for her to return home before launching a search the following day after she failed to appear.
The search, which involved police, eventually led to the discovery of her body inside the reserve.
West Nile Police spokesperson Josephine Angucia confirmed the incident, saying the body was found lying on its face in a pool of blood and covered with a black polythene bag.
Bullet wounds were reportedly found on her back.
Police registered the matter as a murder case under Madi Okollo CRB 148/2026, with investigations continuing.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting, including whether the rangers were acting within their lawful mandate and whether the force used was necessary and proportionate, are now matters for investigators to establish.
But the incident has nevertheless reopened a much bigger question for UWA: what exactly happens when an armed ranger encounters an unarmed civilian inside a protected area?
That question cannot be answered by simply telling communities not to enter parks.
UWA has a legitimate mandate to protect wildlife and enforce the law. Communities also have a responsibility to respect protected-area boundaries.
But conservation enforcement cannot become a licence for arbitrary use of firearms.
The law must determine when an officer can draw, threaten, fire or pursue a suspect, and every discharge of a firearm should automatically trigger a documented review.
The Ajai shooting is not occurring in isolation.
In June 2025, 26-year-old Emmanuel Kibet was shot near Mt Elgon National Park in Kween District while reportedly grazing animals.
UWA spokesperson Bashir Hangi confirmed that Kibet had been shot by a ranger but described it as a stray bullet, while investigations were reportedly launched to establish whether the victim was inside or outside the park.
In January this year, two more civilians, Dismas Kabati, 30, and Paul Mungech, were reportedly shot in the legs by UWA rangers in Bukwo District after allegedly entering Mt Elgon National Park with livestock.
Local leaders condemned the shootings and argued that suspected offenders should be arrested rather than shot.
Then came another explosive allegation in July 2026, when two girls aged 13 and 17 were allegedly raped by UWA rangers inside Mt Elgon National Park after reportedly entering the forest to collect firewood.
Police opened investigations, while UWA said it does not condone criminal conduct and that action would be taken if the officers involved were identified.
The allegations remain subject to investigation and due process.
But taken together, the incidents expose an institutional challenge that UWA management under Musinguzi can no longer treat simply as isolated encounters between rangers and trespassers.
The real question is whether the authority’s internal systems are strong enough to detect misconduct, stop repeat offenders and hold officers accountable when the rules are breached.
WHO WATCHES THE RANGERS?
A wildlife ranger is not merely a man or woman carrying a gun in the bush.
A ranger represents the Ugandan state.
That means the authority entrusted with conservation must also ensure that its officers understand the limits of state power.
When a civilian is suspected of trespassing, poaching or illegal activity, the default objective should be lawful enforcement—identification, pursuit where justified, arrest, evidence gathering and prosecution.
Deadly force should remain the exceptional measure dictated by law and circumstances, not an automatic response to the presence of an alleged offender.
UWA therefore needs to publicly clarify its rules of engagement and the circumstances under which its rangers are permitted to use firearms.
Every shooting should be independently investigated, with the officer’s identity, weapon, ammunition issued, ammunition expended, location, witnesses and circumstances recorded.
There should also be a mandatory chain-of-command review after every firearm discharge.
Where a civilian is injured or killed, the matter should immediately be handed to police and, where appropriate, other independent oversight institutions—not left entirely to an internal UWA inquiry.
This is not about weakening rangers.
It is about protecting them too.
A ranger operating under clear rules, proper supervision, body-worn cameras or other reliable recording systems, incident logs and strong command structures is less likely to be falsely accused—and more likely to have evidence supporting lawful action.
THE BOUNDARY PROBLEM
Mt Elgon demonstrates another major weakness in the conservation model: communities and UWA continue to fight over boundaries and access.
Officials have said approximately 1,500 acres have been encroached upon around Mt Elgon.
UWA administrator Godfrey Matanda has also acknowledged reports that some boundary pillars have been removed, displaced or shifted, creating uncertainty that requires verification.
That is precisely where confrontation becomes dangerous.
If residents genuinely do not know where a protected-area boundary begins, sending armed personnel into disputed areas without sustained sensitisation and clear demarcation can turn a conservation exercise into a confrontation.
UWA must therefore invest much more heavily in boundary marking, community sensitisation and local grievance mechanisms.
A person who deliberately enters a protected area to poach is one thing.
A woman entering an area she has traditionally used to collect firewood, or a farmer whose family has lived beside a disputed boundary for years, presents a different enforcement challenge.
Both situations require the law—but they do not necessarily require the gun.
MUSINGUZI’S TEST
The growing controversy now presents Dr Musinguzi with a major leadership test.
The solution cannot simply be more arrests of villagers or repeated warnings that protected areas are out of bounds.
UWA must demonstrate that it can enforce conservation laws while respecting the lives and rights of the people living around its estates.
That means establishing a clear zero-tolerance position on unlawful shootings, torture, sexual violence, extortion and other forms of abuse by personnel.
It means ensuring that allegations against rangers are investigated promptly and independently.
It means tracking officers repeatedly implicated in complaints instead of allowing them to move from one volatile station to another.
It means stronger supervision of armed patrol teams, proper firearm accountability, regular retraining in human rights and use-of-force standards, and functioning mechanisms through which communities can safely report misconduct.
It also means publishing enough information about concluded investigations to restore public confidence without compromising criminal proceedings.
UWA’s rangers operate under enormous pressure. They confront armed poachers, protect wildlife and work in difficult terrain.
They deserve better equipment, training, welfare and institutional protection.
But communities deserve protection too.
Conservation cannot succeed if the people living beside parks view the conservation authority as an occupying force.
And UWA cannot build lasting support for wildlife protection if allegations of unlawful shootings and other abuses continue to accumulate without visible accountability.
The Ajai shooting must therefore be allowed to run its full investigative course.
If the ranger or rangers involved acted unlawfully, they must face the law.
If the shooting was justified, the evidence should establish that too.
Either way, the public deserves answers.
For Musinguzi, the challenge is no longer simply protecting Uganda’s wildlife.
It is proving that the people entrusted with protecting that wildlife are themselves operating under the law.
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