Five people have been arrested for allegedly conniving to sneak Tanzanian cattle into Uganda.

The arrested suspects include George William Ssenkubuge, the assistant veterinary officer for Rakai district in charge of Kabanda sub county. Ssenkubuge was arrested alongside four others following a security operation on unauthorized movement of animals in the districts of Kyotera and Rakai on Monday.

The other suspects are; David Kyomuhairwe, Wilson Namara, Claver Manavule, and Nathan Katende Sserunjogi, the chairperson of Kamuli village in Kibanda sub-county, Rakai district.

Ssenkubuge is accused of conniving with Katende and other village chairpersons located along the Uganda-Tanzanian porous border points, to stealthily sneak Tanzanian cattle into Uganda without following due inspection procedures. Greater Masaka deputy regional police commander Lameck Kigozi, says they have also seized five trucks of cattle allegedly smuggled from Tanzania with suspicious movement permits.

According to Kigozi, their intelligence established that the veterinary officer has been fraudulently issuing cattle movement permits to the traders after bribing village council chairpersons to claim that they were bought from within the localities.

The arrests comes shortly after ministry of Agriculture lifted a cattle quarantine in different parts of the country that had been struck by Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). The ministry accordingly, issued regulations to veterinary officers to strictly inspect all animals for Foot and Mouth Disease, before they are issued with movement permits as a way of averting similar outbreaks.

It is alleged that Ssenkubuge has been conniving with village council chairperson and traders to bypass the system. Stephen Ssebunya, the Mutukula town council chairperson complained to police about the continued unauthorized movement uninspected cattle in the area.

However, the arrests sparked off protests from other cattle traders who accuse police of using operations to selfishly harass and frustrate their business. These have now sought the intervention of Kakuuto county MP Christopher Kalemba and his Rakai district counterpart Juliet Ssuubi to ask government to reign over the situation and have their contemporaries released.

John Kalema, one of the aggrieved cattle traders alleges that some Ugandan farmers had moved with their cattle into Tanzania in search of pasture and water, wondering why they are being restricted from selling their livestock yet they had been vaccinated back home.