President Museveni Hails the Karimojong on Disarmament Program

By Kampala Post Reporter

President Yoweri Museveni has commended the people of Karamoja Sub-Region for embracing the NRM Government’s Disarmament Programme that helped get rid of guns in the area.

He noted that guns were the number one enemy of Karamoja Sub-Region because they promoted inter-clan cattle raids and conflicts that led to loss of lives and obstruction of development programmes on top of scaring away development partners.

The President made the remarks at Kobebe village in Rupa Sub-county, Matheniko County in Moroto District near the Uganda-Kenya border where he and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta visited and inspected a US$2.5 million water dam that serves thousands of Karimojong from Uganda and the Turkana communities from Kenya.

The 2.3 billion litre-water dam was constructed by the Government of Uganda with support from development partners. The facility serves a population of close to 100,000 people from both Uganda and Kenya and close to 2 million animals (cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys and camels). Mr. Museveni noted that Karamoja is a vast rich area with abundant natural resources but has largely lagged behind other regions of Uganda in terms of development because the population had tens of thousands of illegal guns that worked against development.

“The gun was your number one enemy and it was going to finish you through clan wars and cattle raids, lack of social services such as immunisation that made you vulnerable and lack of essential services such as water for people and animals in this largely arid region. I am happy you embraced disarmament,” he said. “I came here to campaign in 1980 and the entire Karamoja had a population of 190,000 people and the population was not growing because people were dying due to the guns, diseases and lack of essential services,” he added.

Mr. Museveni informed his visiting counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta, that the Government of Uganda removed 41,000 guns from Karimojong warriors – (two times the strength of Uganda Army under Idi Amin) – that had greatly terrorised the area making Karamoja unmanageable. He appealed to the population to make good use of the existing peace in their area, utilize the many water facilities, electricity and roads to get rid of poverty.

He pledged government commitment to providing the much needed education and health facilities in Karamoja Sub-Region in line with the NRM strategy of having a government aided primary school in every parish and a secondary school as well as a health centre in every sub-county throughout the country. Regarding the thousands of Kenyan nationals (the Turkana) who live in Uganda, President Museveni reiterated that colonial borders are artificial and Africans should be allowed to move freely across borders as long as they move legally, commit no crime and pose no security threat.

“Our borders are always open to all our African brothers. That’s why we are hosting 1.2 million South Sudanese, thousands of Congolese from DRC that have run away from insurgency and the many Kenyan Turkana that always migrate from the largely arid areas of North Western Kenya,” he said. Mr. Museveni used the occasion to laud Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, for his excellent leadership that has eased interstate trade and cooperation in the East African Region especially by guaranteeing Uganda’s easy access to the sea.

The Kenyan leader Uhuru Kenyatta, on his part, highly commended President Museveni for working to bring peace in Karamoja Sub-Region through the Disarmament Programme. He also thanked him for allowing Kenyans to cross into Uganda to enjoy the peace and the development facilities therein adding that this distinguished him as a great East African champion and Pan Africanist. He also referred to borders that exist between African countries as artificial creations meant to serve the interests of colonialists adding that Africans should ignore them.

“We should be moving freely, trading together, marrying from each other and sharing education and health infrastructure. What are the borders for among African brothers? We are the same people and our fathers lived together before,” President Uhuru said. He appealed to the border communities in Kenya and Uganda to always embrace peace and reminded them that peace is a great ingredient to prosperity and development. He advised that even if communities were faced with challenges it was wise for them to sit and resolve them through dialogue and not through conflict.