KARAMOJA: The Uganda People’s Defense Forces have told Turkana pastoral communities not to give guns to the Karamojong, who use them to do bad things.
The warning was given on Friday when two guns that suspected Turkana cattle rustlers took from two UPDF soldiers killed along with three officials from the Ministry of Energy were handed over. The guns were taken from the soldiers in Lotisan sub-county, in the Moroto district.
People who live near Kenya and other countries like Tanzania have had a lot of contact with Turkana pastoralists, which has made it easier for them to re-arm and escape military operations by fleeing into Kenya with their guns. Brig. Joseph Balikudembe, the commander of the UPDF’s 3rd division, says this.
Balikudembe says that the Turkana have refused to stop renting their guns to their Karamojong friends. He tells them to stop the coalition because the guns could be used to make illegal attacks that could hurt their grazing in Karamoja.
“We have established that many weapons used for raiding in Karamoja are from Turkana, and this frustrates our effort to disarm because there’s a continuous influx of guns in the region,” said Balikudembe.
He also said that new alliances between groups are a threat to peace and security in the region.
Jeremiah Ekamais Lomorukai, a member of the Kenyan parliament representing the Loima constituency, said that they will need to come up with some strategic plans to make sure that security and small arms control work well while still being responsive to the needs and priorities of the community.
Lomorukai said there’s reluctance in their Kenyan security system, but they will have to do much to re-organize in order to address the issue of insecurity.
Bernard Lokong, a youth councillor in Rupa sub county, said there is a need to renew commitment from the Uganda, Kenya, and Sudan governments to implement existing agreements to address cross-border small arms tracing and insecurity.
Lokong says that the Turkana pastoral communities should be given the condition of first surrendering their guns to the government before allowing them to graze in Karamoja.
He stated that, as Karamojong, they understand the crisis that pastoralists face, which allows them to accept any person stranded with animals, but they will not entertain those who are armed.
However, Mana Lopor, a Turkana pastoralist grazing in Naput village in Rupa sub-county in Moroto, says that they don’t use their guns for looting but instead for protecting their animals.
Mzee Ekeno Lopuko Zakary, a Turkana kraal leader in the same area, says if the situation worsens, they will be forced to take back their guns to bury them in Turkana before handing them over to the Ugandan government.
The Turkana are Kenya’s second largest pastoral group and regularly cross into Uganda, mostly in the areas of Kobebe dam in Rupa sub-county, Moroto district, in search of water and pastures for their animals following a persistent drought in their areas of Kenya.