Armed bandits hid their guns from the Ugandan military by dressing as women to conceal them under their robes, but the deception was foiled when a soldier noticed one with a beard.
Ugandan soldiers stormed a town in the lawless northeastern Karamoja region on Wednesday as part of an ongoing “cordon and search” operation to disarm AK47-wielding cattle raiders.
Army spokesman for eastern Uganda, Henry Obbo, said an aerial survey of the town of Lokopo had revealed gun-toting Karamojong warriors, but when an army unit arrived to disarm them, they found only women.
“The men had disappeared. We got suspicious,” Mr Obbo said. “At the same time, our sources said demand for women's clothes at the local market had shot up.”
The army ordered all 20 “women” out of the thatched village on the outskirts of town but they were spared the indignity of being strip-searched after a soldier spotted that one had a beard, foiling the masquerade. All were men.
“It's not hard to distinguish women and men. Even if you put on a high-pitched voice, a beard is a giveaway,” Mr Obbo said.
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