Elders in the Kotido Elders Council are disenchanted by President Yoweri Museveni’s move to reward the Karachuna Peace Movement for restoring peace in Karamoja, saying their role has been ignored.
Kotido was the epicentre of insecurity, with Jie warriors terrorizing all districts in the region and neighbouring districts in Teso and Acholi. The elders say their immediate intervention saved the situation when they began engaging the warriors directly through different approaches.
According to the elders, after they provided the lead in peace recovery, some individuals started forming groups in the name of fighting for peace, a move that was used to obtain money.
The elders claim the purported peace movement led by Caroline Angolere, the Presidential Advisor on Karamoja, picked the same warriors they had initially engaged to embrace peace and took them to the President as part of its achievement, while the elders were not recognized.
Now, they are asking the government to recognize their efforts for the restoration of peace in the Karamoja sub-region, and not only a few individuals they accuse of seeking self-gain. Gabriel Igira, an elder, said they fought hard to ensure all Karamojong clusters embrace peace without bloodshed.
”We talked to the warriors; some listened to our messages and agreed to surrender their guns. It hurts to learn some groups are claiming to be behind the peace while neglecting the elders,” he said.
Igira said he was among those who went with reformed warriors to meet the President, but when they reached the President’s office, he was never allowed to say a word.
”The team leader was the one talking and no contribution from the elders was made to the President; instead, the person who took us claimed to have worked harder to convince the warriors,” he said.
He said later the President promised to support the reformed warriors and to offer more support to the group formed for peace, while the elders were left empty-handed. He also recalled that President Museveni had promised elders in Karamoja a bus to enable them to move around the region to rally for peace, but ten years down the road, it has never been delivered.
Robert Abura, another elder, urged the President to be careful with information he gets from leaders in the region. “We know them; they have been meeting the President with very good proposals for Karamoja, and when they are funded, they deliver little for accountability, but swallow a lot,” he said.
He stressed that peace restoration was a collective effort from all stakeholders, including communities, and it is wrong for an individual to stand before the President to own the success for awards.
John Bosco Akore, the Secretary of Kotido Elders Council, noted that in 2021, when warriors started killing local leaders and security personnel, elders came together to draw strategies for dealing with lawless warriors.
Akore said he convened a meeting with selected community leaders in Kotido District. Out of 70 people who turned up for the dialogue, 37 voted to fight for peace while the rest said they wanted insecurity to continue so they could also take revenge.
He said they continued dialogues with all 14 clans in Kotido, which all declared war against peace spoilers. With the help of former Kotido Resident District Commissioner Ambrose Onoria, they secured appointments with armed warriors and followed them for peace talks in the wilderness.
”Our engagement yielded fruits because at least the warriors listened to us and some agreed to surrender their guns,” Akore said, adding that during that time he survived 21 assassination attempts by armed warriors and three from soldiers who suspected him of working with warriors.
Akore said they borrowed radio airtime at Etoil FM in Kotido and formed a radio show named “Etem Ekisil” every Wednesday evening to discuss security and peace. He claimed to have personally collected 80 guns from warriors and kept records.
Matayo Lochoro, the Chairperson of Kotido Elders Council, said they played a pivotal role in the restoration of peace, but their contribution has not been appreciated.
He said there was a time warriors started targeting them, and they had to seek safety from security forces, but they never gave up.
Lochoro recalled that a pastor hired a tipper lorry for them, which they used for moving around to rally warriors to embrace peace, and in the process one elder fell from the truck and broke his waist, but to date no treatment has been given to the victim. ”Despite all this struggle, leaders in the region have never recognized our efforts and have not even connected us to the President,” Lochoro said.
“The Karachuna Peace Movement leaders mobilized the reformed warriors, whom we persuaded to surrender guns and paraded them before the President as their achievement, yet they did nothing.” While officially opening the Karamoja Cultural Festival on 9th September, President Museveni commended the Karachuna Peace Movement for supporting the disarmament exercise.
The movement brings together reformed Karachunas who have surrendered illegal guns, conducts community dialogues for other warriors to surrender, and was mobilized to meet the President. The team behind the movement includes Caroline Angolere as team leader, who also serves as Presidential Advisor on Karamoja issues, Judith Natuk, a community mobilizer, and Fr. Raphael Lobere, the Coordinator of Karachuna.
Museveni said he got reports from the team about what he described as coordinated cattle commercial raids involving local leaders, security forces and community members. Following the concerns, he considered changes in UPDF leadership that saw some reduction in cattle theft.
Angolere says cattle rustling had intensified until she intervened to investigate, finding intelligence that some local leaders and security forces were conniving with warriors to raid cattle, which were quickly transported out of the region through security checkpoints.
With peace now prevailing, President Museveni praised the Karachuna Peace Movement leadership for restoring peace. He directed that Fr. Raphael Lobere be awarded a medal for his contribution and promised to add more capital to the Karachuna SACCO to support livelihoods after disarmament. This followed a request by Lobere that reformed warriors be given more capital to run businesses that can keep them busy instead of returning to the bush-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
