Simon Naulele
2 September 2008
Kampala — THE UPDF 3rd Division commander, Brig. Patrick Kankiriho, has urged the army to observe the values and norms of the Karimojong to lure them into surrendering illegal guns.
He said this approach would make the warriors gain confidence in the army. "The problem in Karamoja is not rebellion. It is all about showing them direction by observing their cultures and this can only be done when you remember the do's and don'ts when conducting the disarmament exercise," he said.
Kankiriho made the remarks at the closure of a five-day seminar on child protection for the UPDF, the Police and human rights activists.
The seminar, which was organised by Save the Children in Uganda, a charity, was held at the East African Civil Aviation Academy in Soroti.
Kankiriho noted that Karamoja sub-region needed water, health and food to develop. "In order to pacify Karamoja, we need to disarm them mentally by giving them education, water, health services, infrastructure and empower them with agriculture and skills to protect the environment," he said.
He added that few expectant mothers in the area attend antenatal care and the majority resort to herbs.
Kankiriho said there was need to preserve the environment in the region.
"Environment degradation and HIV/Aids are the most dangerous disasters in Karamoja. The few trees are being cut down."
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
There are simply no buts here; you are still going back to the barracks where soldiers like you should rightly belong. The army serves the Karamojong, not the other way around. Let other institutions like the parliamentaria and schools educate the people, if they need education. Even with your stars you are still a servant to the Karamojong, believe you me. Whatever chakumchaka pseodo-socialist brainwashing you got in Kyankwansi or North Korea doesn't wash. I know this because my uncle was the Sandhurst trained first Ugandan Army Commander. Most of problems in Karamoja should have been solved now, if there weren't people like Vice President Specioza Kazibwe stealing money meant to build water collection earth dams that would allow the Karamojong to water their cattle, or soldiers like you who instead of defending and protecting Karamojong and their cattle end up stealing their livestock and murdering them. The UPDF service in Karamojong has been disgraceful. The NRM/UPDF is going about transforming Uganda the wrong way; you cannot build Uganda from the top to bottom. The only way one will succeed is by building from the bottom up by focusing on what has worked for generations, which is a lot and discarding what isn't working which isn't a lot. With its scorched earth guerilla warefare the NRM/UPDF destroyed the rural structures that were working and had not and still do not have anything to replace it with. Development isn't exercise in psuedo-political theorising, it is practical hard work rooted in and based on the realities of peoples lives.