How Karimojong warriors laid hands on guns

The Karimojong were not prepared for this. The spears, bow and arrow attack weapons served their cattle-rustling needs well. As the Uganda National Liberation Army/Front fighters pushed out late President Idi Amin, cracks of opportunity opened in the path of fleeing solders.

In Moroto Barracks, the Uganda Army left a huge cache and daring Karimojong warriors served themselves at will from the armoury. That was some 32 years when Amin was toppled.

Where the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels bullied the north, and later eastern Uganda, Karamoja turned out to be their waterloo. Local warriors from rival communities, in an odd and unprecedented togetherness, united and beat the advancing LRA insurgents in three major fights and collected all their arms.

And with guns smuggled by traffickers through porous borders from across then lawless southern Sudan as well as Kenya, inter-clan fights in Karamoja region became more deadly and expanded. Local thefts also enriched the gun stock. Today, the UPDF that have been struggling to disarm the warriors since 2001 are grappling with a strange challenge; their own deserting with guns they either sell or hire to the warriors.

More than 27,000 guns have been picked from the warriors, often after bloody confrontations in which many, including civilians, have perished. Some political leaders allegedly dissuade their constituents from turning in their guns on grounds they will be weakened and become vulnerable to nomadic pastoralists in neighbouring countries. The army says illicit arms in Karamoja have drastically reduced and even when the last AK-47 rifle in illegal hands is not collected, prevailing peace in northern part of the region is “irreversible”.

Compiled by Tabu Butagira