Why Has Karamoja Sub Region Turned into an Insecure Sub Region in Uganda?

By Paul Edotu

 

OPINION

 

The prevailing insecurity in Karamoja has naturally posed the above stated question to right thinking members of community throughout Uganda and the diaspora, including development partners and international friends of the Karamoja sub region.

 

In fact it’s a rude shock and a reminder of the undesirable past about the sub region right from the colonial period to the post-independence era where Karamoja was a relegated sub region in Uganda due to its ungovernability.

 

The colonialists granted Karamoja special emergency status due it’s inaccessibility from the rest of the country and at Independence, this legacy hanged on. The governments of the time made special laws for Karamoja from the rest of Uganda and even Ugandans with difficult characters would be arrested and transported to be tried and charged under the Karamoja laws and subsequently detained or imprisoned under special laws governing Karamoja.

 

However, that unpleasant past came to an end with the coming into power of the NRM government which emphasized, rule of law, social justice and social economic transformation. The NRM government crafted different policies and programmes for implementation in Karamoja and the rest of the country for example, Karamoja Development program, PRDP, ALREP, and NUSAF among others including NGO/CSO interventions all geared towards poverty alleviation and restoration of peace in Karamoja.

 

 

Above all to make the country more governable, the NRM government also adopted and enshrined decentralization into the 1995 Constitution and in 1997 the Local Government Act was passed as an enabling law for decentralization. The overall objective of decentralization policy was to deconcentrate and to transfer power from the central government to subnational or Local governments. This transfer of power was massive and every community felt its impact and it explains why people even today clamor for new districts and administrative units.

 

My analysis of the Karamoja insecurity is going to hinge around the two facets of social economic transformation programs implemented in Karamoja by government and other actors on one hand and the impact/ efficiency of decentralization policy which saw creation of new administrative units and attendant leadership structures.

The key questions for analysis are;

1. What went wrong with the social economic transformation programs which were designed to be implemented in Karamoja whose main objective was poverty alleviation and creation of sustainable peace and security in Karamoja?
2. Do we need fresh programs designed specifically for the Karamoja region henceforth for peace and economic transformation to return to Karamoja?
3. In the alternative and for the case of Karamoja, does the Parish Development model need to capture peace specific issues peculiar to certain regions for example Karamoja.
4. How strong and effective are local governments in Karamoja in ensuring effective governance.
5. Does the current insecurity in Karamoja indict the local leadership from local council one to the district Chairpersons as illegitimate?

The above key questions and issues of analysis should be able to provide government with a long lasting solution to the insecurity in Karamoja.

Going forward I have the following recommendations to make;

1. Leadership to leadership dialogue in which the central government engages with the local government leadership in Karamoja and the central government should not in the immediate fall short of directing, the local authorities within Karamoja to order stoppage of hostilities among the people under their charge.

One would ask, Why would for example government continue to facilitate the local government structures in Karamoja if they are not being listened to by their own people.

2. Once the Local leadership is at the forefront then the security forces role is reduced to maintenance of law, order and security which is already brokered. The strengths of this point is that, UPDF and any government forces ideally are a people’s army intended to defend citizens from external aggression not to fight citizens who are law abiding. But the question is have the local leaders explained to their people this reality or they are waiting for the iron fist to arrive then cry the victim just like the led. Leaders should learn to warn their people about impending danger associated with criminality and to respect rule of law and governance institutions.
3. It’s also recommended that an immediate review of all interventions whether by government or civil society organisations in Karamoja be conducted with a view to establishing what went wrong so that the envisaged transformation has not yielded the desired outcomes namely; poverty alleviation and long lasting peace.
4. Any other ongoing interventions should continue as long as they work to strengthen social economic transformation of Karamoja region and to strengthen local governance.

For now on, all facets of leadership within Karamoja, religious, civic, civil society, including media should relay messages of peace to the communities.

In conclusion, peace in Karamoja is worth a million dollars to the People of Karamoja and the neighbouring communities, no delay is warranted.

For God and my Country.

 

The author is a cadre, public administrator with 10 years’ experience working as peace focal point person for Teso and  Karamoja  Local Governments  under the umbrella Teso Karamoja Peaceful co-existance initiatives for Peace .TEKAPIP

Edotu Paul edotupaul21@gmail.com/0782191141