small arms and light weapons among pastoral groups in the kenya ...

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58 AFRICAN AFFAIRS Figure 1. Routes of arms’ flows on the Kenya–Uganda border [Source: Mkutu (2003, 2005); field interviews 2001–5] but may be variable with circumstances and the level of official security. This is particularly the case on the Kenyan side, where the security forces regularly mount checkpoints on routes and patrol randomly. Any sale of arms by soldiers on the Kenyan side is subject to heavy punishment, including dismissal. In Uganda, since the launch of the third phase of disarmament in Uganda 2004, the government has become stricter with the conduct of security, but because of lack of resources, the routes have become more established. 60 60. Interview in Karamoja, November 2004.
SALW AMONG PASTORAL GROUPS 59 There are four main routes for the movement of small arms into the border area. The first and the most commonly used route is into Karamoja from Sudan. The second is the Karenga–Lopoch–Kotido route which is a tributary from the first route, supplying Karamoja via the Jie peoples. The Acholi–Jie route is a new emerging source to the Jie and is considered in the same section. The third route considered is the route from Sudan into Lokichogio in Kenya. The fourth route is the ‘north-eastern route’ into Kenya from Somalia. There used to be a route originating in Ethiopia and connecting to Uganda via Sudan, but the eviction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) from Ethiopia led to its decline. Large quantities of small arms are brought across the Sudan border from Namule and Kopeta directly into Kotido town and surrounding villages. From there, some are taken on to Pokot and Samburu areas in Kenya. Others are taken on to Moroto and Nakapiripirit districts in Uganda. Interviews indicated that businessmen were involved in transporting arms and miraa (khat) from Kotido district in Uganda to Kachiliba town, West Pokot district, in Kenya. 61 Evidence from interviews with Sudanese refugees and high-placed sources have revealed that, during 1993–4, the SPLA laid off several hundred officers, giving them varying quantities of small arms as a kind of retirement package. The officers sold many of these to sustain themselves at gun markets on the Ugandan side of the border. The practice continues today: [The] SPLA come in to Uganda with donkey loads of ammunition and guns and they exchange them for grain and livestock. Livestock captured with the use of arms are sold or exchanged for arms, which actually increases the quantities of small arms in the hands of traders/warlords or warriors. The arms are then traded for more cattle. The SPLA army needs food, and that is how they are getting part of their food. 62 When interviewed, the SPLA personnel denied trading arms for food or cattle, arguing that they have no link to the arms traders moving into Uganda. 63 With the comprehensive peace agreement signed recently between the SPLA and the government of Sudan, this route may be coming to a close; although without investment in security and development, people would be looking for ways to capitalize on the huge number of arms still in the war-torn pastoral areas, and the arms flow may continue. The Karenga–Lopoch–Kotido route is a tributary from the above and a major route to the Jie who are believed to then sell them to the other Karimojong ethnic groups. 64 Interviews in Jie revealed other sources to the 61. Interviews in Karamoja, Uganda and in West Pokot, Kenya, 2001–4, and phone and e-mail communications, 2005. In Namalu and Kangole in Karamoja, warriors could be seen chewing miraa (Khat). 62. Interview with a SPLA soldier, name withheld, Moroto, 20 June 2001. 63. Ibid. 64. Interview with James Chere, former raider and now chief of Rupa in Rupa, 2003 and 2004.
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