Karamoja’s uniqueness could cause economic development

In 2020, 21 percent of the population in Karamoja was food insecure. This shot to 41 percent in 2021 and today, nearly 90 percent are starving. Some trusted reports indicate 91,600 children and 9,500 pregnant or breastfeeding women are appallingly malnourished.

 Some fingers point at the prevalent insecurity but it is also no secret that Karamoja is grappling with adverse effects of climate change which have affected food production and animal husbandry.

 The region has suffered an unusually long dry spell of nearly two years which has left households bereft of sustenance. There has also been unprecedented nomadism in search of pasture and water for livestock. Some or a combination of these disasters could have triggered the current cattle raids.

 This calls for an ecologically balanced approach to tackling the challenges that have blighted the prospects of Karamoja’s potential. As is the trend elsewhere, investment in climate change adaptation and resilience is an inexorable current of taming nature.

 For now, the region is in dire need of immediate food relief for children, the elderly and persons living with HIV/Aids. Commendably, governmental and non-governmental entities have taken swift response in this regard.  The exigencies of emergency medical response, provision of clean and safe water to tackle opportunistic illnesses and potential outbreaks of cholera and associated epidemics are also inescapable.

 In the medium-term, the guarantee of a safe and secure environment stands out as a necessary impetus for the natives to get back to their farmland. Besides, practices of illegal armament and alcohol abuse which predisposes locals to waste need to be stemmed through a multi-pronged approach to mindset change.

Modernisation of agriculture remains an economic imperative for transforming Karamoja in the long term. Restyling service delivery, skilling of the youth and sustaining peace could go a long way in consolidating the incremental gains of stability and guarantee a secure atmosphere for production and commerce to thrive. To curb the unfortunate initiation of young men into warriorhood, it could pay for the government to consider affirmative action for Karimojong learners through compulsory and free education for the next 15 years.

School time for them would not only dwell on the formal curriculum but also integrate mindset change sessions. The learners would then be schooled to become not only literate and numerate but also champions of positive change in their respective localities.

Not least of all, there is a need for justice for the people of Karamoja. When one loses their property and little is done to ensure that fairness and due process prevail to make good for the loss, we could only be sowing seeds of injustice. Similarly, if someone is killed and the offenders are not brought to book, we are merely oiling the very trigger that drove natives to take the law into their hands, perpetuating a cycle of violence.

Like its motherland Uganda, Karamoja is uniquely gifted by nature. We have all heard the trumpet sound before and here again, it sounds. Chart out a harmonious direction for tapping the rich vein of nature in Karamoja for the good of Karamoja and our nation, Uganda. If we work at it, concertedly and successfully, then Karamoja will no longer be described as ‘Uganda’s richest poor region’ but rather, ‘Uganda’s rich region’.

Mr Crispin Kaheru, Member, Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC)