NOTTHERN UGANDA: Kotido district authorities are considering a ban on community peace dialogues as they have failed to provide permanent solutions to insecurity in Karamoja.
A number of peace dialogues have been organised by different groups of peace lovers where bulls are slaughtered as a sign of peace and respect, a practise now blamed for the waste of resources, yet nothing is done to achieve the mission of peace.
Ambrose Onoria, the resident district commissioner for Kotido, stated that he has resolved to prohibit any form of security meeting within the Kotido district because they are used to defraud development partners.
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Onoria said the event’s organisers have kept demanding support from various organisations in the pretence of conducting peace dialogues, yet it is just for their own personal gains.
He said over two hundred bulls have been slaughtered since last year when the dialogue started and nothing has been achieved.
He noted that even when these meetings are organized, the karachuna, or youth, have never attended, and yet they are the trouble-makers behind insecurity in Karamoja.
“You find that most of these meetings are attended by elderly people who only want to eat meat, and yet the youth who are terrorising us are left in the bush to continue with the raids,” Onoria said.
Onoria observed that the elderly are just sent to pause as if they are really affected by the insecurity and yet they are using the situation for their own personal gains.
He said the gatherings are no longer relevant as people may think, and instead they want to eat meat rather than forge possible solutions to end insecurity.
However, the ban has not gone well with the elderly, who have been in the lead in organising community peace dialogues where bulls are slaughtered.
John Bosco Akore, the secretary of the Kotido elder’s council, says many of their proposals requesting support for their dialogues have been rejected due to an order from the RDC to ban any form of security dialogue.
Akore said that through the meetings, people’s hearts are softened so they can embrace peace, and banning these gatherings is an indication that the government does not want to see Karamoja at peace.
He wondered why the RDC would ban the gatherings and yet it is their constitutional right to gather together as elders to provide an important outlet for communities to come together to discuss what stable solutions will bring peace in the region.
Akore observed that the culture of dialogue is essential at both the traditional and national level to promote mutual understanding and peacebuilding.
“Bringing the elders and the general community together to talk about peace is important for us. It shows that there is a chance, there is hope to end insecurity and get Karamoja out of darkness,” says Akore.
Meanwhile, Paul Komol Lotee, the LCV chairperson of Kotido, confirmed that many bulls have been slaughtered during the peace dialogue meetings but said it is a part of their culture that connotes peace.
Komol noted that the dialogues need to take place not just within the government framework but at the community level too, where the impact of insecurity is felt harshly.
Komol said the meetings will have to continue because the slaughtering of bulls has got nothing to do with the current insecurity in the region.
“It’s our culture that after every meeting, we get a very healthy bull to slaughter for the elders to eat, and it has to be roasted. That is the sign of peace, so how does this affect the ongoing disarmament exercise?” Komol asked.
He added that peace in Karamoja cannot be achieved by individuals, and therefore, everyone who comes with a message of peace should be given a platform to reach the community and spread the gospel of harmony.
Recently, a group of peace activists in Karamoja asked the government to embark on a peace dialogue with the Karamojong instead of taking a confrontational approach, which they say will never yield any success.
