pastoralist conflict, governance and small arms in north rift, north east africa

493 Pages·2017·31.06 MB·English

by  Kennedy Agade Mkutu

PASTORALIST CONFLICT, GOVERNANCE AND
SMALL ARMS IN NORTH RIFT, NORTH EAST
AFRICA:
Kennedy Agade Mkutu
To cite this version:
Kennedy Agade Mkutu. PASTORALIST CONFLICT, GOVERNANCE AND SMALL ARMS
IN NORTH RIFT, NORTH EAST AFRICA: : The cases of Karamoja, Uganda; West Pokot;
Dol Dot, Laikipia; and Baragoi, Samburu, Kenya. Political science. University of Bradford,
2005. English. <tel-01266773>
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PASTORALIST CONFLICT, GOVERNANCE AND
SMALL ARMS IN NORTH RIFT, NORTH EAST
AFRICA.
The cases of Karamoja, Uganda; West Pokot; Dol Dot, Laikipia;
and Baragoi, Samburu, Kenya
Kennedy Agade Mkutu
Submitted for the Degree
of Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Peace Studies
University of Bradford
2005
r
ABSTRACT
Kennedy Agade Mkutu
Title: Pastoralist Conflict, Governance and Small Arms in North Rift, North East
Africa.
Key words: Pastoralists, conflict, governance, small arms, security, disarmament,
vigilante, gender, public health, Kenya, Uganda.
3 0-40 million people in and areas depend entirely on animals for their livelihood. Of
these 50-60% are found in Africa with largest number found in the North Eastern
region. Pastoralism depends largely on the availability and access to water and
pasture. However, pastoralism is under threat. This is due to a range of factors
including weak governance; inadequate land and resource management policies;
political and economic marginalization of pastoral groups. These have been initiated
by the colonial regimes and continued by postcolonial governments. Increasingly
cattle raids have resulted in insecurity fuelled by the proliferation of small arms and
light weapons in pastoral communities.
The thesis identifies several factors contributing to pastoral conflicts in North Rift,
Northeast Africa (Karamoja, West Pokot, Baragoi, and Do! Dol Mukogodo) These
include communal resource conflict at the local, district, national and regional levels. --
The increase in drought has drastically reduced the amount of water and pasture ,
available, thus escalating the vicious circle of cattle raids and counter raids. The C
drought has provoked greater need for movement and made clashes more likely. The
situation is made worse by the weak governance or no governance in some areas.
Official government structures or institutions of justice are conspicuous by their
absence. The deficit has been substituted by a proliferation of vigilante groups of
armed youth created either by the government or ad-hoc by the community. In recent - z
years the areas have seen the emergence of local businessmen and warlords, whose ; . C.,
economic activities span cattle raiding, small arms sales, drugs and who are at the -
centre of incipient regional criminal networks linked to national networks.
Small arms are not the cause of the pastoral conflict; they have simply intensified the
conflict. Since 2001 until now small arms have drastically dropped in cost. But the
ammunition prices have tripled due to their scarcity. Small arms in the pastoral areas
have since the 19 8n0esg atively impacted the communities. Small arms injuries can
be counted like the incidence of any disease, and from the figures it is clear that a
public health crisis is mounting as the violence continues. The 5000 victims of gun
wounds over 18 months in Nakapiripirit area alone should be viewed as a major
problem.
No common policy on intervention by the states ia, available. Attempts at
interventions have been poorly coordinated and executed, too often taking a narrow
definition of security that has focused on more or less coercive disarmament without
focusing sufficiently on providing viable economic alternatives to those whose
livelihoods have become dependent on the gun. Finally, traditional structures of
authority within communities have been gravely weakened, as have some of the
cultural restraints upon violence that operated in the past.
Acknowledgements . i
Figures, Maps and Photos .......................................................................................... ii
Figures..........................................................................................................................ii
Maps............................................................................................................................ iii
Photos .......................................................................................................................... iii
Listof Acronyms ........................................................................................................ iv
Chapter1....................................................................................................................... 2
1.1 Introduction.................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Statement of the Problem............................................................................... 3
1.2.1 Distinctiveness and Rationale for Choice of Study Areas. .................... 8
1.3 Genesis of the Research. .............................................................................. 12
1.4 Study Methodology...................................................................................... 14
1.4.1 Archival Data....................................................................................... 15
1.4.2 Participant Observation........................................................................ 15
1.4.3 In-depth Interviews .............................................................................. 16
1.4.4 Questionnaire....................................................................................... 18
1.4.5 Police Occurrence Book Records......................................................... 19
1.4.6 Medical Data........................................................................................ 21
1.4.7 Focus Group Discussions..................................................................... 21
1.5 Limitations and Challenges.......................................................................... 24
1.6 Study Areas and Their Locations................................................................. 26
1.6.1 Dol Dol, Laikipia ................................................................................. 27
1.6.2 Baragoi, Samburu................................................................................. 29
1.6.3 West Pokot and the Kenya-Uganda Border Area ................................ 32
1.6.4 Karamoja Northern Uganda................................................................. 36
1.7 Thesis Outline and Summary....................................................................... 41
Chapter2..................................................................................................................... 46
2.1 Introduction.................................................................................................. 46
2.2 Pastoralism................................................................................................... 46
2.2.1 Definitions and Geographical Distribution.......................................... 47
2.2.2 Pressures and Coping Mechanisms...................................................... 50
2.2.3 Pressure Due to Climatic Variability. .................................................. 50
2.2.4 Human Population Pressure................................................................. 52
2.2.5 Internal Relationships........................................................................... 53
2.2.6 Impact on Pastoralism of Centralising States....................................... 60
2.2.7 hnpact on Pastoralism of Capitalist Relations of Production . ............. 64
2.2.8 Impact of New Kinds of Weaponry..................................................... 69
2.2.9 Conclusion............................................................................................ 73
2.3 Governance and Security............................................................................. 74
2.3.1 Introduction.......................................................................................... 74
2.3.2 Concepts of Governance and Security................................................. 75
2.4 Violence, Weapons and Society................................................................... 80
2.4.1 Introduction.......................................................................................... 80
2.4.2 Debate on Guns. ................................................................................... 81
2.4.3 Banditry, Violence and Arms (Warlordism)........................................ 83
2.4.4 Transnational Crime............................................................................. 88
2.4.5 The State as a Source of Violence........................................................ 90
2.4.6 Feuding................................................................................................. 93
2.4.7 Social Violence .................................................................................... 95
2.4.8 Conclusion on the Role of Weapons in Societal Violence ..................96
2.5 Weapons as a Cause of War......................................................................... 97
2.5.1 Arms Transfers..................................................................................... 98
2.5.2 Richardson's Action Reaction Model ................................................ 99
-
2.5.3 Wallace vs. Diehl debate 1979 to Date.............................................. 101
2.5.4 Sample's Work on Dispute Escalation............................................... 103
2.5.5 Expenditure as a Measure of Arms Racing........................................ 106
2.5.6 Third World Arms Races................................................................... 107
2.5.7 Weapons and War in the Horn of Africa ........................................... 109
2.5.8 Meaning.............................................................................................. 110
2.6 Conclusion.................................................................................................. 111
Chapter3................................................................................................................... 115
3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 115
3.2 Customary Conflict.................................................................................... 116
3.2.1 Pastoralism as a Mode of Livelihood in the North Rift..................... 116
3.2.2 Scarcity of Water and Pasture............................................................ 118
3.2.3 Livestock Raiding.............................................................................. 123
3.2.4 Fission and fusion of pastoralist conflict ........................................... 127
3.2.5 Conflict and Pastoral Intergenerational Systems ............................... 132
3.2.6 Gender Relations in Pastoral Conflict................................................ 139
3.3 Changes and Challenges in Pastoral Areas in the North............................ 141
3.3.1 Colonial Incursion.............................................................................. 142
3.3.2 Divisive Borders................................................................................. 143
3.3.3 Marginalization and Land Alienation................................................ 148
3.3.4 Agriculture- Pastoralism Interface..................................................... 156
3.3.5 Changes in Intergenerational System................................................. 159
3.3.6 Gender Relations Under Growing Tension........................................ 165
3.4 Escalation of the Pastoral Conflict............................................................. 167
3.4.1 Internal conflicts................................................................................. 168
3.4.2 District Level Conflicts between Pastoralists and Other Communities
Including "Non Pastoralists", Kenya and Uganda. ............................................ 169
3.4.3 Larger Scale Conflicts Transnational/International Borders.............. 174
3.4.4 Recent factors Intensifying Pastoral Conflicts................................... 174
3.5 Conclusion.................................................................................................. 185
Chapter4................................................................................................................... 191
4.1 Introduction................................................................................................191
4.2 Pastoral Governance, Security and Safety in the Colonial Period 1920-mid
1960s 194
4.2.1 Governance and the Recovery of Rustled Animals in Kenya............197
4.2.2 Governance and the Recovery of Rustled Animals in Karamoja,
ColonialUganda.................................................................................................200
4.3 Postcolonial Uganda: Governance and Cattle Recovery ........................... 203
4.4 Post-Colonial Kenya: Governance and Cattle Recovery........................... 211
4.5 Security and Governance in Pastoral Areas............................................... 217
4.5.1 The Vigilante Concept in North Rift.................................................. 217
4.5.2 Security and Governance in Karamoja, Uganda. ............................... 222
4.5.3 Security and Governance in Pastoral Areas of Kenya....................... 231
4.6 Implications of Using KPR and Vigilantes (LDUs) for Security .............. 238
4.7 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 24O
Chapter5................................................................................................................... 242
5.1 Introduction (SALW dynamics) .242
5.2 Background to SALW Accumulation and Flows Among Pastoralists in the
NorthRift. .............................................................................................................. 244
5.2.1 Cold war, and post cold war civil conflicts and arms accumulation and
flows in the Horn of Africa. ............................................................................... 245
5.2.2 Accumulation of Arms in the North Rift...........................................254
5.3 SALW accumulation in Karamoja Northern Uganda................................ 257
5.4 SALW Accumulation in Kenya.................................................................264
5.4.1 Case Study: West Pokot.....................................................................264
5.4.2 Case Study: Laikipia (Dol Dol-Mukogodo).......................................268
5.4.3 Case Study: Samburu ......................................................................... 270
5.5 Weapons Flows..........................................................................................272
5.6 Routes and Personnel involved in Movement of Arms (Trans border Sudan,
Kenya-Uganda)......................................................................................................275
5.7 Small Arms flows and routes: the Kenya Dynamics .................................286
5.7.1 Primary Routes...................................................................................289
5.7.2 Minor Routes......................................................................................291
5.7.3 Arms Flow Dynamics: Baragoi and Mukogodo ................................292
5.8 The cost of SALW and ammunition..........................................................296
5.8.1 Cost of Arms and Ammunition in Karamoja, Uganda.......................296
5.8.2 Cost of Arms and Ammunition on the Kenya-Uganda Border..........301
5.8.3 Cost of Arms and Ammunition in Kenya (Baragoi)..........................304
5.9 Conclusion..................................................................................................306
Chapter6...................................................................................................................312
6.1 SALW and Public Health...........................................................................314
6.1 .1 The Cases of Moroto District Hospital, Amudat Mission hospital and
Matany Mission Hospital in Northeast Uganda.................................................317
6.1.2 The Cases of Amukuriate Mission Health Centre (Alale), Kapenguria
District Hospital in West Pokot, and Baragoi Health Clinic in Samburu, Kenya
322
6.1.3 Conclusions on Medical Data............................................................327
6.2 SALW Impact: The Police Evidence on Human and Economic Costs .....329
6.2.1 The case of Laikipia ........................................................................... 330
6.2.2 Baragoi...............................................................................................332
6.2.3 West Pokot.........................................................................................340
6.2.4 Conclusion on Police Data.................................................................343
6.3 Indirect Impacts..........................................................................................345
6.3.1 Inequitable Distribution of Livestock (Karamoja).............................345
6.3.2 Out-Migration and Internal Displacement in Uganda........................347
6.3.3 Impact of Small Arms on Women of Karamoja and Pokot...............348
6.3.4 Abolition of the "Friendship System .................................................. 351
6.3.5 Interruption of Economic, Development and Administrative Activities
in Karamoja (Uganda) and Samburu (Kenya) ...................................................352
6.3.6 Changing Patterns of Leadership in Pastoral Areas........................... 355
6.4 Conclusion..................................................................................................359
Chapter 7...................................................................................................................362
7.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 362
7.2 Evolution of Government Strategy for A4lressing Armed Violence
involving pastoralists .............................................................................................363
7.3 Government Polices And Responses In Kenya..........................................364
7.3.1 Efforts to Promote Disarmament between the Kenyan Pokot borders
andSamburu....................................................................................................... 366
7.4 The Case of Northern Uganda.................................................................... 372
7.4.1 The Weapons Collection Exercise from 1999 to 2nd December 2001
........................................................................................................ 376
7.4.2 Voluntary Weapons Collection Phase................................................ 381
7.4.3 Challenges of Weapons Collection in Uganda and Kenya. ............... 384
7.5 Co-operation Between the Two Governments........................................... 390
7.6 Protocols and Agreements.......................................................................... 392
7.7 Conclusion.................................................................................................. 395
Chapter8................................................................................................................... 401
Conclusion................................................................................................................. 401
8.1 Customary Pastoral Conflict...................................................................... 401
8.2 Governance ................................................................................................ 403
8.3 Small arms Dynamics ................................................................................ 407
8.4 Small Arms, Governance and Pastoral Conflict: Inter-relationships......... 409
8.5 Impacts of the Small Arms Conflict........................................................... 415
8.6 State Armament and Disarmament............................................................ 417
8.7 Good Governance as a Solution................................................................. 421
8.7.1 Good Security..................................................................................... 421
8.7.2 Good Administration.......................................................................... 422
8.8 Conclusion.................................................................................................. 424
8.9 Future Research.......................................................................................... 433
Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 436
UNDocuments....................................................................................................... 463
WHO (2002) World Report on Violence and Health..................................... 463
OAUDocuments..................................................................................................... 463
-Government Documents......................................................................................... 464
Kenya National Archive Documents ..................................................................... 465
Newspapers............................................................................................................ 466
OtherWorks Consulted ............................................................................................ 471
Appendix 1: Workshops and Conferences Attended OO1-2004 .......................... 472
Appendix 2: General Question Guide for ajl Respondents.................................. 473
Appendix 3: Quest4eiakes to Administrative and Senior Officers in Kenya ..475
Appendix4: Glossary of Vernacular Terminology............................................... 477
Acknowledgements
My PhD commenced in 2001. A number of people supported me in a variety
of ways that I would like to acknowledge and thank. Although it is not
possible to thank each and every one, a few people warrant special mention:
Thanks go to my supervisors Owen Greene and Janet Bujra for their valuable
comments and encouragement.
Thankyou to Lawrence and Delpha Steelman for financial support in 2001-
2004, to Saferworid for financial support in 200 1-2002 and IFRA Nairobi for
a field research grant in 2002
I also thank Kenya Institute of Administration and Office of the President,
Republic of Kenya for granting me the study leave and research permit No.
MOEST 13/001/30C 106.
Thanks go to the University of Bradford Department of Peace Studies, for
offering me a place and the stuff and secretaries of the peace studies
department, especially Elaine Smith.
My great appreciation and thanks also goes to all my respondents named and
anonymous in Kenya and Uganda, especially to the communities, all the men
and women, warriors, kraal leaders, administrators, chiefs, members of
parliament and security officers who agreed to be interviewed. Thanks to the
drivers who risked their lives who took me safely on very insecure roads.
Thankyou to KPIU, KAPED, MADFO, and KISP in Moroto, KOPE1N in
Kotido, and Martin Mureeza and Gerald Neuewe at SNV Uganda, Kampala,
Kapenguria documentary centre. I also thank the District Commissioners and
District Officers of Kapenguria, Nanynki Laikipia, Trans Nzoia, Samburu, and
Kiwawe Baptist Church, Alale.
Thankyou to Dr. Primrose, former missionary and Dean of Daystar University
who took his time to go through the work and give me valuable comments
without any pay. Thank you to Mrs Helen Durrant for reading my work and
giving suggestions and to my father-in-law Tony Rhodes, Jonathan Marshall,
Alan Stone and Sue Jackson for proof reading and editing.
Thankyou to Tessa Mkutu Agade, for being my friend since I came to
Bradford, and later my companion and wife. Your love and support while at
the same time finishing your GP training was immeasurable.
I am indebted to Deipha and Lawrence Steelman for all your prayers and
funding support and understanding and being there for me to cry and complain
to.
Figures, Maps and Photos
Figures
1.1 The People Of The Karamojong Cluster 8
1.2 Timeline Of Events In Kenya And Uganda 1960 To 2004 44
1.3 Currency Exchange Rates 2001-2004 45
2.1 Geographical Distribution Of The Worlds' Main Pastoral Groups 49
2.2 Illustration Of Where Warlords Appear In The Security Sector In
Sub-Saharan Africa 85
2.3 Triggers And Effects Of Pastoral Conflicts 114
3.1 Ethnic/Tribal Patterns Of Relationships As Of November 2002 129
3.2 Alliances Ethnic/Tribal Patterns Of Relationships October 2004 130
3.3 Bride Wealth In Terms Of Livestock In The Study Areas 166
3.4 Selected District Levels Conflict In The North Rift 170
3.5 The Different Tiers Of Security In The Horn 183
4.1 Security Actors In The North Rift 220
4.2 Metamorphosis Of Vigilante To Current Status In Uganda 226
5.1 U.S. Military Assistance To Ethiopia 1971-1976 247
5.2 General Picture Of Arms Movement As Of Feb 2003 In North
Rift 256
5.3 Arms Trafficking Across Border Of Sudan, Kenya And Uganda
Feb2003 274
5.4 Cost Of Small Arms In Terms Of Cattle In Karamoja 298
5.5 Costs Of Ammunition In Karamoja 300
5.6 Cost Of Guns In Upe Pokot, Uganda 197 1-2001 301
5.7 Costs Of Gun Alale Pokot, Kenya 1970-2002 301
5.8 Cost Of Gun On The Kenya-Uganda Border 1979-200 1 302
5.9 Arms Prices In Baragoi 1990-August 2002 304
5.10 Cost Of Ammunition In Samburu 1990-2002 305
6.1 Statistics Of Gun Related Injury In All Hospitals And Health
Centres Visited 2001-2003 316
6.2 Areas Of Origin Of Moroto Patients 316
6.3 Gunshot Injuries In Matany: January-August 2003 317
6.4 Causes Of Trauma In 13 Health Clinics In Nakapiripirit District:
July 2000-December 2002 321
6.5 Ages Of Gunshot Wound Patients In Amukuriate 324
6.6 Distance And Number Of Patients Travelling To Baragoi Health
Clinic From Surrounding Areas 325
6.7 Site Of Gunshot Injury For Baragoi Victims 326
6.8 Cattle Raids In Laikipia: Arms Used, Injuries And Deaths 331
6.9 Cattle Lost By Samburu In Baragoi To Turkana Raiders 1991-
2000 333
6.10 Cattle Lost By Turkana To Samburu 199 1-2000 334
6.11 Frequency Of Raids In Baragoi 338
6.12 Cost Of Stock Lost From Samburu By Turkana 338
6.13 From Turkana To Samburu Raiders 1991-2000 338
6.14 People Injured And Killed In Cattle Rustling In Baragoi 339
6.15 Number Of Cattle Stolen Less Cattle Recovered: Monetary Total 341
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