Karamoja: Are we planning to fail or failing to plan? Looking at Govt and NGOs from 2019 to date

Written by Karamoja Youth Agenda Secretariat and Published on Karamoja Trumpet Newsite

Background

On June 15th the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), under the auspices of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), published a worrying report detailing the status of food insecurity in Karamoja sub-region.

The report noted with alarm the fact that at least 582,000 people in Karamoja are in a food crisis and over 1.18 million of Karamoja’s 1.4m people are food stressed or worse. This must have been a grim reading for food security planners within these critical aid organizations as well as within the Office of the Prime Minister.

Karamoja in the past 20 years has received over 500 Million US dollars in aid donations, donor-funded programs, relief food, and government initiatives that seem to have yielded mixed results. (Karamoja Donor Mapping Report)

As Karamoja develops on the road to Uganda’s Vision 2040 and the discovery of large mineral deposits in the region are exploited, the ordinary Karimojong, who for lack of employable skills, low literacy levels, and limited access to credit find themselves unable to afford life or fit into the modern Karamoja.

Coupled with a resurgence in Insecurity over the last 5 years, cycles of crop failures, unreliable rains, and little access to inputs, this is a dangerous cocktail of trouble. While it is true that malnutrition, infant mortality, and stuntinstuntingn on the decline in the past 20 years due to successes in government and Donor interventions the situation is far from fair. Maternal Mortality remains unnecessarily high, and the numband er of children that reach 5 years of age is also staggeringly low.

GOVERNMENT AND NGO APPROACH TO FOOD SECURITY

Government of Uganda

For a long time, the government's approach to Karamoja Food security was that of emergency response to famine with little attention to mechaniz,government'sation of agriculture, large scthe large-scaleoduction or irrigation. Despite the government investing hundreds of billions of shillings in pro-growth and Marshall plan like activities spanning post conflict regions across northern Uganda such as PRDP (Peace Reconstruction and Development Plan), NUSAF (Northern Uganda Social Action Fund), DINU (Development Initiative for Northern Uganda), Operation Wealth Creation, Youth Livelihood Fund, Women’s Entreprenuership Fund, there has been little input from ordinary Karimojong in centralized planning and a genuine lack of integration of Karamoja into national development planning and frameworks.

Given the fact that most parts of Karamoja survive on 1 season a of rain per year there is also a sad occurrence of inputs arriving late making planting difficult. This is further compounded by the lack of dissemination of accurate meteorological data to the populace. Government officials budget for billions of shillings in seconds with little regard for tax payers value for money.

Corruption and theft of funds is also an aggravating factor which we shall touch on later in this report.

NGOs and donors

Karamoja has a multitude of NGOs, CSOs, Faith Based Organisations, Aid Agencies and UN bodies. While many do vitally needed work such as scholarships for students, water supply, support to healthcare systems, livelihoods and food relief, there is a portion of NGOs that are not genuinely interested in helping Karamoja or transforming it for the better.

Majority of Non-government activities for the past ten years in Karamoja have revolved around sensitization of communities, research and capacity building of civil servants. In Karamoja today there is a thriving workshop economy with hotels reaping big from lunches, teas, venue hire and NGO staff benefiting from bloated per-diems we call this phenomenon ‘Workshopism’. Sadly the NGO officials travel in shockabsorbed, air conditioned vehicles and tour the manyattas for activities then return to their urban enclaves where they patronize drinking and eating establishments.

Marching parades, printed t-shirts and flyer printing and endless awareness campaigns are favourites, while construction of schools, dormitories, healthcenters, livelihoods support direct to beneficiaries is less favoured.

In order to be fair to NGOs sadly this is partly due to donor agencies having their own 5 year country plans and frameworks when launching calls for proposals which make it difficult for long term impact projects to be supported. Some of those duties are also a preserve of the government and in some cases are budgeted for however there is corruption.

NGOs and the Government have created a dependency syndrome in Karamoja over the last 40 years. For example the 2019 Food Poisoning scandal in Napak district where dozens were hospitalized over tainted relief. In some parts of Karamoja mothers feed their children OMO to maintain them as malnourished such that they can sell the relief items for the child and feed their families.

In other areas there is diversion of relief items. It is not uncommon for children of elites in Karamoja to enjoy donated food supplements intended for child survival. They usually obtain such items under the table by middlemen who buy from mothers of undernourished children or steal from relief stores.

Cases of corruption and ghost projects are also common in NGOs falsifying reports and embezzlement of funds are difficult to track for donors who are thousands of kilometers away.

Government approach to Karamoja since 2021 January

Immeadiately after swearing in as legislators Karamoja sub-regions 26 MPs must be commended for choosing to skip the state of the nation address of President Museveni and instead tour the entire sub-region in order to discuss the problems that had been dogging the sub-region as well as generate consensus on Key issues. The MPs Peace Caravan yielded a report which was shared in several meetings between Karamoja Parliamentary Group (KPG) and the President, First Lady, UPDF High Command and OPM team.

While MPs from Central Uganda chose to go to the media to publicise the killings in Masaka the MPs of Karamoja took a strategic decision to lobby for support from the centers of power in country. One challenge MPs raised was that there was little follow up of resolutions based on their many meetings with the executive.

MBUYA RESOLUTION

This approach culminated in an 8th October meeting at CMI headquarters between Karamoja leadership, UPDF Command and a team from the Office of the President(Through OWC). Of the 30 resolutions made 18 have been implemented or have been budgeted for while the rest are at various stages of implementation.

The resolutions range from deploying more judges and magistrates to Karamoja, to water security, livelihoods, peace and security among others and we at Karamoja tracker are closely monitoring their implementation.

The Office of the President instructed a special Karamoja Taskforce to come up with long term sustainable solutions for peace. Codenamed: “Karamoja Taskforce” and chaired by the Minister for Karamoja Affairs it developed a concept note and supplementary budget request for solving Karamoja’s ills for good. The idea was to have a one government response to Karamoja’s problems with money for mega dams, security roads, a primary school (boarding) per parish and a secondary school per parish (boarding), peace and disarmament and livelihoods/resettlement for Karachuna and marginalized groups (goats and iron sheets).

BREAKDOWN OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN MOKA-OPM, Security Services and Karamoja Leadership

Shortly after the disbursement of the first tranche of 39 billion shillings to the ministry of Karamoja Affairs, there was a flurry of activities at the Ministry. Various peace meetings were held across Karamoja and several other disbursements to various government MDAs and security organs had also been made.

Karimojong Members of Parliament and LC Vs, who believed they had lobbied for the funds and worked hand in hand with the Ministry of Karamoja Affairs on the promise that they would receive resources with which they could carry out peacebuilding activities alongside the above mentioned goats and iron sheets disbursements based on lists they developed, suddenly found themselves being sidelined and black-balled.

All the while the security situation continued to rapidly deteriorate. As the President was scheduled to visit in March 2022, accusations, counter accusations and political mud-slinging began to be hurled by all sides with each blaming the other for the failure to curb cattle Rustling. Leaders blamed security personnel and commanders for;

1. Not following stolen cows

2. Releasing suspects that are handed to them by accepting bribes

3. Forcefully impounding livestock of innocent familiesand communities tantamount to communal punishment under the previous colonial administration

4. Selling impounded livestock and claiming they died

5. Selling guns, uniforms and ammunition to cattle rustlers

6. Implementing disarmament harshly and unilaterally without the support of the leadership or community

While the security on the other hand blamed the leaders for;

1. Aiding and abetting cattle rustlers

2. Hiding criminals who may be related to them

3. Acting as middlemen for cattle rustlers

4. Buying firearms for Cattle Rustlers

5. Not cooperating with security services

What is certain from these accusations is that both sides were not entirely clean and the best way forward was to find level ground and isolate wrong elements operating amongst them.

This all came to a head during the Karamoja Regional Council meeting held in March 2022 that included all elected leaders (MPs, LC V Chairmen, Mayors and Councillors alongside the Regional Security Team inclusive of Intelligence, Police and UPDF Commanders) as well as the Ministers for Karamoja Affairs and other Ministers and high level government officials.

The leaders used it as an opportunity to paint a narrative that the blame for Karamoja’s ills lies solely on the military. While the military used it as an opportunity to paint the narrative of a weak Karamoja leadership that is sympathetic to raiding elements.

Due to the optics of this standoff and other commitments elsewhere. President Museveni postponed his trip to Karamoja until later in the year.

The Geologists deaths

In March 2022 Ugandan Government Geologists and their security team on a field visit to Lotisan sub-county, near Kobebe dam, encountered Armed Turkana, who mistaking them and their machines for a Military reconnaissance team engaged them. There are conflicting reports on who fired first with some Turkana Elders claiming UPDF fired first however this does not change the fact that the 3 unarmed Geologists and 2 UPDF soldiers were outgunned by a larger force believed to be a full squad of Turkana (4-12 warriors). The geologists were stripped naked, robbed and some were partly set on fire. In the aftermath UPDF 3rd Division seized the opportunity and basically sidelined Karamoja’s leadership for the above mentioned reasons and this led to an even worse security situation on ground

Looming Famine: UNICEF AND WFP SOUND ALARM BELLS

While Karamoja’s Leaders and OPM were struggling for the now infamous 39 billion, a further proposed supplementary of 70 billion to the Ministry of Karamoja and the Security Services fumbled through disarmament, the food security situation begun to rapidly deteriorate. NGOs such as UNICEF Uganda and WFP begun warning of a looming famine as early as June 2022. Sadly these warnings fell on deaf ears among the policy community within the Ministry of Karamoja, OPM and even among donor nations and fellow NGOs.

By mid to late July 2022 the situation was catastrophic with atleast 900 recorded deaths and thousands more unrecorded deaths on account of starvation and malnutrition. To their credit the Government showed that it cared for Karamoja by approving a supplementary budget of 135 billion and the donor community and embassies raised tens of millions of dollars to support relief but sadly it would be a long time before anything tangible would reach the ground.

Of the 135 billion only about 20 billion shilling was released and was later shared with other regions. There was also a diversion made by the Prime Minister to send some relief to victims of the Mbale flood.

It must also be noted that some relief food was stolen by officials tasked with their distribution for example the relief food discovered by Police in a store in Moroto.

‘Mabatigate’

As all this was going on, members of the cabinet and connected elites were helping themselves to items meant for Reformed warriors who hand over their guns to the government and other vulnerable groups.

The aftermath of this scandal has been well documented in the media and we shall not touch on it.

A Paradigm Shift President Museveni deploys his Special Presidential Advisor on Defense and Security to Karamoja

By mid february 2023, with a scandal engulfing senior members of Cabinet and crippling the capacity of the Ministry of Karamoja Affairs to perform its role, the President called upon his most trusted advisor, General Caleb Akandwanaho(aka Salim Saleh), the Chief Coordinator of

Operation Wealth Creation to Karamoja. With the military struggle for Uganda completed after the infamous LRA rebels were chased out of Uganda, General Akandwanaho decided to focus on the economic struggle. His approach of spending significant amount of time camped in a particular sub-region, understanding the socio-political-development context and then bringing forward strategic solutions seemed to work in Rwenzori and Acholi sub-regions where he had previously been.

He begun this by holding talks with a high level delegation dispatched by President William Ruto to revive the Kenya-Uganda 2019 MoU signed by President Museveni and then President Kenyatta.

Weeks of activity, meetings and discussion followed with significant impact on the situation on ground. Leaders, security heads, Civil Society, Elites, community members and elders all had opportunities to voice their frustrations, air out grievances, share their views, but also be corrected. It ws a time of much learning and concentration.

Security Services arguably begun operating more cohesively and responsibly as a unit. Brig Gen. Balikuddembe was replaced by Brig. Gen. Don Nabasa. Security forces begun tackling illegal alchohol shipments, illegal cattle trading and arms smuggling operations. Though there are notable issues with the Modus Operandi of the security forces mainly in regards to civilian casualties, incidents of extortion, torture and extra judicial killings by rogue personnel dropped significantly. This can be proven by taking a look at UNHCR and civil society reports

In addition incidents of civil servants and elected officials using their offices for corruption or working alongside raiding cartels also dropped.

The government launched a modest tractor hire scheme and deployed a team from the National Planning Authority. Specifically with the purpose of developing a regional development plan for Karamoja and also ensure that it is not left out of National Development Planning Frameworks such as the upcoming National Development Plan 4.

Distribution seeds to communities took place, though they arrived a bit late and some farmers where not able to catch the sporadic rains during this planting season.

Karamoja’s donors through their working group alongside OWC have had valuable discussions in regards to the long term development needs of the region.

There are however accusations from members of the public on social media that his presence was solely or predominantly to find ways of ‘looting Karamoja’s mineral wealth through proxies. As of the time of writing this we are yet to substantiate these claims and are open to be corrected by receiving any evidence in that regard, however it is safe to say most observers in the donor community, Civil Society, and Public Service are pleased with the recent developments as it shows a level of seriousness with which the Government is taking Karamoja issues and leaves hope for the future of this region that has suffered and remained underdeveloped for centuries.

Karamoja today

Currently as it stands Karamoja is on the cusp of another failed harvest and potential faminelike situation. With the Office of the Prime Minister and Ministry of Karamoja Affairs embroiled in a protracted scandal that has crippled its ability to provide substantive help to Karamoja, there is a lot that needs to be done. There is however some hope

Of the 100,000 iron sheets currently 75,000 are in OPM stores waiting to be delivered to Ngikarachuna(youth) who returned their arms to the government.

Possible ways Forward

1. Government of Uganda expedite the disbursement of the 75,000 iron sheets to reformed warriors as a peace measure while tracking down and recovering the remaining iron sheets totaling 95,000

2. The issue of human trafficking of Karimojong children and young women be taken seriously as a matter of national importance.

3. The Mbuya resolutions and any other resultant resolutions from follow-up meetings be implemented entirely by the Government of Uganda.

4. The grassroots peace actors i.e. kraal and Manyatta youth, women and elders who are not recognized by Government structures be engaged more thoroughly through community barazas to establish their concerns and views on government and NGO initiatives

5. The State House Anti-Corruption Commission establish a permanent office in Karamoja where citizens can report corruption and illicit dealings on a macro and micro level.