Govt urged to interest itself in Karamoja

PIC: The Post-doctoral fellow of Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR), Dr Matteo Caravani (left) listens to chairperson of Shalom Evangelical and Prisons Outreach ministry in Abim, Napak and Kotido, the Rev. Shalom Muwanguzi  Nyenye during a paper presentation on the political economy of failing aid in Karamonja at MISR conference on March 7 2018. (Credit: Ronnie Kijjambu)

CULTURE

KAMPALA - Development partners have been advised to interest themselves with the cultural values of the Karimojong.

Abdul Kasozi, a former executive director for the National Council for Higher Education, suggested that this should be the entry point for all interventions aimed at developing Karamonja.

Kasozi made the remarks during a seminar intended to receive and discuss a concept paper titled the political economy of failing aid in Karamonja at Makerere University on Wednesday.

Kasozi is also a research associate at Makerere Institute of Social Research College of Humanities and Social Sciences (MISR).

He disclosed that most initiatives towards transforming Karamonja had failed since the 1980s because both the Government and implementing agencies had not appreciated the question of who are the Karimajong.

The concept paper was authored by Dr Matteo Caravani, a post-doctorate fellow at MISR.

Kasozi said because some of the projects do not appreciate the Karimojong cultural heritages, some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) invest money in essential projects, yet the locals either never use them or under-utilise them.

"For instance, a lot of efforts were invested into the disarmament exercise, but were the issues of the Karimojongs being prone to cattle raids from the Tipesi, the Turukana addressed?" Kasozi wondered.

He suggested that the Karimojong needed valley tanks to preserve water for their animals and policies for effective cattle protection, before anything else.

Caravani, in the paper illustrates how the entry of international aid industry in Karamoja in the 1980s was as a result of the State ignoring the needs of the region.

It is on this point that Kasozi advised the Government to fully take charge of developing Karamonja.