The High Court sitting at Mbale, presided over by Hon Justice Lubega Farouq, has ordered the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to pay a civilian Emmanuel Arapmwoko, UGX 160,877,500 in damages after it’s game rangers were found guilty of shooting him.
In a judgement dated October 19th 2026, Justice Lubega ruled that UWA’s game rangers violated Arapmwoko’s human rights, as enshrined in Articles 24 and 44(a) of the constitution, by shooting him in the leg.
“It is declared that the Respondent is vicariously liable for the acts of its employees (Game Rangers), the Applicant is awarded UGX 10,877,500/= for special damages, UGX 50,000,000/= for general damages and UGX 100,000,000/= for punitive damages” he said.
Justice Lubega further ordered UWA to pay the costs of the application.
The judgement stems from an incident on October 27th 2021, at around 8 am when Arapmwoko’s father Mwako William instructed him to go and collect money from the his stepfather, Muwaka Stephen, in Kaeplyo village, Moyok Sub County, Kween district.
Court heard that when Arapmwoko reached the village where his stepfather lived, he found that he was not at home and waited until 3:00 PM.
When his stepfather came back home, the Arapmwoko informed him of the purpose of his visit, but the stepfather said he did not have the money and that Arapmwoko should go back home. Arapmwoko left Kapelyo village to return to his home; however, on his way, as he was passing by Mt. Elgon National Park, he saw five UWA game rangers dressed in green uniforms holding guns and sticks.
Though he was not able to recognize any of the game rangers, Arapmwoko saw them herding 20 cattle into the forest, presumably to impound them.
Court further heard that when Arapmwoko saw the UWA game rangers, he got scared and wanted to run but he was shot in the right leg by one of the Rangers, prompting Arapmwoko to scream, and the people whose cattle had been impounded and were following the game rangers came to where he was hiding.
He was then carried to Kapelyo, where a boda boda rider took him to Kaporon Health Center III for medical attention, where the doctor examined his leg, saw that it was completely broken, dressed it up and referred Arapmwoko to Kapchorwa Referral Hospital.
Arapmwoko stayed at Kapchorwa Referral Hospital for two days, after which he was referred to Kumi Orthopaedic Center for further treatment.
According to the medical report, Arapmwoko suffered several injuries, the effects of which he is still nursing and needs further medical care.
