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

SALW AMONG PASTORAL GROUPS 55
they often used their guns in their own battles, not only to protect but also
to raid and sell arms and ammunition. 45
Teso and Lango have created their own vigilantes to defend themselves
against the Karimojong. These are known as Arrow boys and Amuka boys.
On 22 March 2000, an assortment of weapons was given by the government
to the people (youth) of Teso District to defend themselves against
Karimojong raiders. 46 It was also reported that each district had been
required to provide 700 youths for training by the army. At a workshop
held in Uganda, one participant commented: ‘When there is trouble the
government will come with guns and distribute them, also, government
administration and chiefs are involved, it is well known some get 10 per
cent of the loot, and so will not expose the culprits no matter how much
the community identifies them’. 47 In November 2004, a Karimojong
elder claimed that they were fearful of these vigilante groups, because
the government was planning to use them disguised as UPDF to disarm
the Karimojong. This caused a reactionary increase in small arms in
Karamoja. 48
There are other examples of the government arming warriors. After the
failed first disarmament 2001–3, 49 insecurity escalated as the Pian found
themselves victims. The Uganda government responded by re-arming the
Pian home guards. Interviews noted that nearly 650 guns were handed out.
This was done for the purpose of building confidence among the Pian
home guards who were considered vulnerable to attacks from neighbouring
ethnic groups. This is a worrying scenario given that the purpose of disarmament
was to remove the weapons from the society. Arming one
community triggers others to demand arms from the state and leads to
more diffusion and weaponization of the communities. Furthermore, any
arms collected should have been destroyed to avoid the same arms returning
to the community.
On the Kenyan side of the border, the government has provided arms to
the KPRs who are under the control of the police and district commissioners.
The KPRs were established in 1948 to augment the activities of the
regular police force and in pastoral areas of Kenya, and the force has been
45. Mkutu, Pastoral Conflict, Governance and Small Arms (chapter 4).
46. The Monitor, 22 March 2000.
47. Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (IBAR) and Organisation of African Unity
(OAU) pastoral community harmonization meeting held at Mount Elgon Hotel, Mbale,
Uganda, May 2001.
48. These were recognized by their language especially in Bokora: interviews in Lotome,
November 2004.
49. For more on the disarmaments, see Mkutu, ‘Guns and Governance’; Kennedy Mkutu,
‘Pastoralist conflict and small arms: the challenges of small arms and insecurity and attempts
at management in Karamoja, Uganda’ (Paper presented at the Northeast Africa Seminar,
Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford, 30 January 2004); From
2004 to January 2006, 1,068 arms have been recovered forcibly and voluntarily in the four
districts of Karamoja. See Daily Monitor, 9 January 2006.