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Karamoja disarmament "needs re-think"

AK-47s are commonplace in Karamoja www.karamoja.eu
Efforts to recover illegal arms in the northeast Uganda region of Karamoja may not succeed unless disarmed communities can protect themselves, say officials.

"Originally we supported the disarmament... but the surrender of the gun has instead exposed us to more danger..." Jackson Angella, a resident of Kotido District in Karamoja, told IRIN. "We have sought... protection for our lives and our cows, but it won’t come, so the gun in one’s manyatta [kraal] is security."

According to a July report, Changing Roles, Shifting Risks: Livelihood Impacts of Disarmament in Karamoja, by the Feinstein International Center, disarmament is increasing poverty as people cannot protect their assets.

The report argues that complete disarmament in Karamoja may not be possible.

"First, more weapons will continue to flow into Karamoja; second, hard-core criminals will never give up their guns; third, the lack of protection for those who have disarmed will ultimately lead to a loss of faith in the state. People will eventually re-arm in order to protect themselves, furthering the flow of weapons," it said.

A lack of concurrent disarmament in neighbouring northwest Kenya and Southern Sudan has ensured a relatively unimpeded flow of weapons and ammunition back to the region.

"Kenya and Sudan must be brought on board. Otherwise the pull-factors of the gun will remain and this will create a vicious cycle of [rearmament]," Francis Kiyonga, a Karamoja legislator, told IRIN. "Disarming the Karamojong and [leaving] them at the mercy of the armed communities in Kenya and Sudan is a cruel joke.”

Cross-border livestock rustling is rampant along the border, influenced by periods of repeated and prolonged drought, among other factors.

The Ugandan government started the Karamoja disarmament in 2001 in response to an upsurge in internal livestock raids.

Since 2006 though, noted the Feinstein report, "… disarmament has centred on the removal of weapons from communities in Karamoja… largely through forceful means with negative consequences for communities as well as for civil-military relations".

The report quotes a man in Rengen Sub-County, Kotido: "If you turn in a gun, then both you and your gun are detained!", while a woman in Panyangara Sub-County commented that "people are very fearful about turning in guns", and felt that whether you kept your gun or took it to the barracks, "either way you are in trouble".

But the military has denied this. Army spokesman, Maj. Felix Kulaigye, said the "window for voluntary disarmament is still open, and those who bring in guns are given certificates.

"At first, we were even offering money for guns surrendered but these people were using the money to buy more guns and surrender them to us. We stopped the money offer because it was becoming a trade. But detaining people who voluntarily bring in their guns would be counter-productive for us," Kulaigye added.

Policemen serving in the Anti-Stock Theft Unit: Returnees in Kitgum are living in fear of cattle rustlers
Photo: Charles Akena/IRIN
Policemen serving in Uganda's Anti-Stock Theft Unit (file photo): Communities in Karamoja are reluctant to surrender their guns due to insecurity
Livelihoods threatened

The disarmament has also affected livelihoods. It has led to the transfer of animal management responsibilities and the collapse of essential migratory systems.

The livestock are confined in kraals at barracks under military guard, yet "the military has little interest in or aptitude for animal management and guarding livestock from criminal attack is not within the normal realm of duties for a national army", said the report.

This has also made it difficult for households to sell their animals to meet other needs.

The report recommends that communities and their livestock return to traditional systems as soon as possible once an effective and tested system of civilian protection is in place.

"If the kraals are dismantled before this time, there will be a rapid descent into the levels of insecurity experienced in the past and a quick re-arming as communities seek to protect their assets," it said, adding that poverty and marginalization also need to be addressed.

Echoing this, Kiyonga said there was a need for more socio-economic investment in the region. "... If all... children are taken to school and this is maintained for about 15 years, we would have cut the cycle and we shall not be able to recruit warriors," he said.

However, despite negative individual experiences of disarmament, the Feinstein report found that generally local communities supported complete disarmament to enable peace and development.

"...The attractiveness of disarmament as a policy to the problems in Karamoja and neighbouring areas is obvious – without guns, people cannot perpetrate gun violence, therefore the guns should be removed."

vm/aw/mw

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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