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

SALW AMONG PASTORAL GROUPS 51
undergoing the advanced public administration six-month course at the
Kenya Institute of Administration (KIA), to be completed by officers in
their own time. 19 From a total of 200 administrative officers, 180 were
completed; not all the officers are based in the field, and their comments
were excluded. 20 The Kenya National Archives (KNA) provided information
on the background of the problem and the social structure of the communities.
They also provided data on colonial policies towards cattle raids.
Prominent authors in the area were also contacted 21 and NGO reports and
books consulted. 22
Sources of arms
Data revealed that firearms in the area date at least to the colonial era
when small numbers entered Turkana in exchange for ivory. 23 European
explorers and colonial agents used guns and trained soldiers and frequently
stole from the Turkana, which incited further acquisition for selfpreservation
and raiding of other communities to replenish their stock. 24
Arms originally introduced to protect the colonial regimes found their
way into Turkana hands. The Italo-Abyssinian war was a later source.
Like Turkana, Karamoja traded ivory for arms and by 1910 was exporting
arms and ammunition to other parts of Uganda. 25 From the early
1950s onwards, the Karimojong were frequently raided by the Turkana,
Toposa and Didinga (the last two from Sudan). The state’s failure to
provide security provided an incentive to the Karimojong to acquire
more guns. 26 At this point, the state attempted to curb production, disarm
and ‘modernize’ the Karimojong. In Bokora county in 1973, a
number of Karimojong were murdered in one such clampdown. 27
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, arms were used as a tool of superpower
diplomacy, especially in the Horn, and more weapons diffused through
19. KIA is the senior institution for training upper level policy makers in Kenya. I worked
there from 1997 to 2005 (colleagues administered the questionnaire whilst I was on
sabbatical).
20. This consisted of officers based in finance, home affairs, transport, the judiciary and foreign
affairs.
21. Communications with Philip Gulliver, Ton Dietz, Michael Bollig, Ben Knighton and
John Lamphear.
22. Interviews in Karamoja, 2001–4.
23. Kenya National Archive, Turkana history, Turkana political records, miscellaneous,
1921–45 TURK 159, DC/TURK3/1, p. 90.
24. Awoundo Odegi, Life in the Balance: Ecological sociology of Turkana nomads (ACTS,
Nairobi, 1990); James Barber, Imperial Frontier (East African Publishing House, Nairobi,
1968), pp. 91–106; Augusto Pazzaglia, The Karimojong.
25. Barber, Imperial Frontier.
26. Interview with Ael Ark Lodou, Member of Parliament for Dodoth in Moroto, Uganda,
12 November 2004.
27. Interview with James Chere, former raider and Chief of Rupa in Moroto, 3 January
2003 and October 2004.