The Karamoja region of north-eastern Uganda has long experienced severe conflict and insecurity, fuelled by poverty and a lack of proper communications infrastructure.
And the proliferation of small arms and light weapons didn’t help. Together with neighbouring Turkana in Kenya, and Eastern Equatorial State of South Sudan; they formed a deadly triangle of violent raids.
Government officials started to take note at the turn of the millennium. President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, for example, deployed Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) in 2000, to carry out military-led disarmament exercise.
By 2011, Uganda reported mopping up some 30,000 illegal guns representing 80 percent of the estimated number of firearms illegally owned by the Karamojong community.
Most of the weapons had been acquired in 1979, when Karamojong warriors descended on the nearby Moroto barracks and stole thousands of guns after the army of former leader Idi Amin fled, from the advancing Tanzanian army and Ugandan exiles.
Uganda and South Sudan, it seems, suffered proliferation during the era of war. In South Sudan, the weapons in wrong hands have spread far and wide, during the era of civil war.
But there was something else. This ‘triangle’ is inhabited by nomadic pastoralists who have been involved in cycles of livestock raids and counter-raids between Karamojong, the Turkana communities from Kenya and South Sudan's Didinga and Toposa.
Uganda’s increasing disarmament also attracted more government attention including a dedicated ministry for the area. But those efforts, including resolving conflicts and increasing development opportunities for the people of Karamoja, however, has been hit by lack of unmatched progress across the borders.
In Uganda, the UPDF presence along the Karamoja border has meant herders who don't heed to calls by authorities not to cross the border with firearms, are dealt with instantly. It hasn’t stopped raids totally.
In April 2023, some 32 Turkana herders were netted in Uganda during a cordon-and-search operation on Turkana Kraals at Lokiryaout village.
The security personnel seized 27 AK 47 rifles, one self-loading rifle, 751 rounds of ammunition, 32 magazines, three sets of UPDF uniform, 19 bows and arrows from the 32 after the operation on April 8, 2023.
They were prosecuted and jailed for 20 years each, over possession of illegal firearms and ammunition.
It took efforts of the two governments, military chiefs and political leaders from Turkana including Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai, and Loima MP Protus Akuja to have the 32 released.
"If you don't want to follow the rules, we will not protect you. On several occasions, we have been like beggars in Uganda because once our people cross there, a month cannot end before leadership is called to resolve some conflicts resulting from illegal firearms," Mr Akuja said after the intervention.
What he didn’t say was that a disarmament in Karamoja should have been followed by one in Kenya and everywhere else in the triangle. He was also subtly indicating there has been insufficient awareness campaign about disarmament and the rules.
Mr Akuja said local communities must be informed of all the regulations as well as told to respect the laws of the host nation. “If they don't respect the rules, let the Uganda government take precedence.”
Kenya has also had attempts to disarm Turkana and Pokot communities that border Uganda, with the latest being the ongoing Operation Maliza Uhalifu, a multi-agency security framework by National Police Service and Kenya Defence Forces at the border of Turkana and West Pokot Counties.
The Interior ministry has since labeled these areas as disturbed and dangerous due to bandit attacks on villagers and motorists plying Lodwar - Kitale highway.
These interventions include disarmament, an active dusk-to-dawn curfew, coordinated patrols along the highway and unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance.
There have also been attempts for voluntary disarmament with the most notable one being when youth at Kaakong in Turkana South Constituency, voluntarily handed over 20 firearms to the authorities at a public baraza organised by political leaders and top county security team, saying they wanted peace before government rolled out security operation in the area.
A herder carries a rifle as he looks after cattle in Lokichogio,Turkana County, Kenya.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Turkana Senator James Lomenen, however, argues that Kenya is yet to have a successful disarmament programme.
“North Eastern Uganda especially Karamoja is a peaceful region and any genuine herder must not cross the border while armed, as you cannot travel more than 50 kilometres without meeting with UPDF,” said the senator this week.
He acknowledged Uganda authorities who since the operation was launched, have heightened security at the border to ensure that those running away from disarmament don't sneak with guns.
Eastern Equatorial State of South Sudan also has been met with similar challenges of conducting a successful disarmament exercise, because Kenyan pastoralists were still armed.
The illegal guns at the border interrupted the ongoing construction of a road between Nadapal and Nakodok on the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (Lapsset) Corridor project.
Elected leaders from the triangle last month held a high level meeting organised by East African Community (EAC), the African Union Commission and German organisation GIZ, in Uganda.
At Moroto Uganda, they agreed to hold subsequent community sensitisation forums on peaceful coexistence. These leaders also included Rebecca Kadaga, 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda and Minister for EAC Affairs and Kenya's EAC Arid and Semi-Arid Areas and Regional Development Cabinet Secretary Beatrice Askul.
They later signed a joint report resolving to foster peaceful coexistence and amicably addressing the situation, by agreeing to support respective governments' efforts to mobilise border residents to participate in a simultaneous disarmament process.
Ms Kadaga said Uganda was committed to tackle illegal firearms in Karamoja region, where during drought more than 30,000 pastoralists from Kenya cross over to for pasture and water.
"To get rid of illegal firearms in the region, the government of Uganda is implementing a fingerprinting system for both police and civilian- owned firearms," Ms Kadaga said.
Ms Askul said that despite deliberate attempts by governments to disarm communities, there are those who have always refused to surrender guns.
"We support the simultaneous disarmament and propose that corridors where people have embraced peace and surrendered firearms should be prioritised for development," the Kenyan minister said.
She said the government of Kenya had constructed three dams at the border to address conflicts related to scarcity of water.
"We have constructed dams at Naku'etum in Turkana, Kases in West Pokot and Forore-Aldere in Marsabit. We have also installed the Nasal solarised borehole in West Pokot and constructed Urum water distribution system in Turkana. There is also ongoing research on conflict dynamics and adaptation mechanisms among Turkana, Pokot and Karamojong communities," said Ms Askul.
Governor Lomorukai said local leaders will back the plan. “It is time for our Presidents to take the lead and initiate the disarmament process.”
Andrea Malueth, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Infrastructure, Productive, Social and Political Sectors said such a programme should have timelines, which have lacked in the past. But he also said infrastructure development in the area will ease coordination.
"Border residents should allow governments and partners to implement infrastructure development initiatives to enhance the economic and social development of the region," Mr Malueth said.
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