With a Bible and the cane Janet enters Karamoja
Apr 03, 2009
ARMED with the Bible, imbued with faith that change can happen, confident that frugal use of resources will lead to growth, the First Lady Janet Kataha Museveni embarked on her job as minister for Karamoja affairs on March 22. Mrs Museveni is the Member o
By Henry Mukasa
ARMED with the Bible, imbued with faith that change can happen, confident that frugal use of resources will lead to growth, the First Lady Janet Kataha Museveni embarked on her job as minister for Karamoja affairs on March 22. Mrs Museveni is the Member of Parliament for Ruhaama in Ntungamo district.
The goodwill shown by the leaders in the five districts of the sub-region provided a soft landing for Mrs Museveni at a familiarisation tour of Kotido, Moroto, Abim, Kaabong and Nakapiripirit districts.
Nestled in north eastern Uganda, residents of the region have lived under many years of anarchy caused by armed cattle rustling.
With AK47 rifles slung over their shoulders, hostile warriors would scare or kill aid workers, missionaries and government officials seeking to help them.Â
Consequently, in 2001 President Yoweri Museveni mooted the disarmament programme, which began in 2004. It was done in two phases; voluntary surrender of guns and forceful disarmament when the former failed. Over 26,723 guns have been collected since the operation begun although many more are still held by the Karachunas (militant youth) and warriors.
“We are getting what we set out for: our mission was to collect illegal guns to pave way for development,†Lt. Col. Patrick Lokech, the commander of the Moroto-based third division.
The army has also set up army units in cattle corridors to fight armed rustling. The main clans among the Karimojong; the Jie, Matheniko, Bokora, Toposa, Pokot and Pian raid each other for cattle, which are used among other things as bride price.
The persistence of raids, although on a smaller scale, has forced aid agencies in Karamoja to resort to armed escorts of the army or Police. But besides security, there are many other issues Mrs Museveni has to tackle.
Statistics
Almost all national indicators are negative in the region. Latrine coverage is at 4%, implying that 96% of the Karimojong ease themselves in the bush. Out of every 100,000 births, 750 die of pregnancy or childbirth-related complications. Out of every 1,000 babies, 105 die before they are one-year old and 174 do not reach the age of five.
Only one out of 10 can read and write. Three out of 10 have access to safe water. And 82% karimojong live below the poverty line.
Dr Martin Eyura, the Moroto district health inspector says low latrine coverage is a major cause of diarrhoeal diseases. He says the Karimojong argue that they are too poor to build a house for excreta. It’s also a taboo for a woman to share a pit latrine with her father-in-laws, so they use the bush to avoid sharing. In some places the soil is so loose that when they sink a latrine pit, it caves in.
Regina Teko, a village health team member, says the girls have been taught that if they used a latrine they would never conceive.
Apart from being barred from using latrines, girls are married off early for their parents to get bride price. They produce children from an early age continuously because they do not use contraceptives. Some, fearing perceived side effects of contraceptives, swallow aspirin to prevent pregnancy.
Famine
Due to its aridity, Karamoja experiences famine frequently. The region, which gets more dust than rain storms, has only one rain season. Worse still, usually, the rain delays and the crops wilt. However, many times the rains also cause flooding.
Most people use ox-ploughs and hoes, but floods drive them to rely on relief food. World Food Programme distributes 7kg of food per family, however, leaders want it increased to 12kg.
Education
Literacy is at 11%, far below the national average of 67%. The distractions for children are many: the region suffers poor transport and communication means.
There’s no public transport apart from Teso Coach and Gateway bus which ply from Kampala to Kotido and Moroto early morning and late evening. Some schools are far from their manyatta (homesteads).
However, even where the schools are accessible, boys as young as five years are obliged to tend to the family herd, walking tens of kilometres in search of water and pasture. Some pupils only go to school when there is no food at home and as soon as harvesting starts, they leave school.
Mrs Museveni
However, Mrs Museveni is not intimidated by these challenges. She has listed stamping out of corruption, provision of water through drilling of boreholes and building valley dams in every parish, food production through early planting and improved sanitation as her priorities.
Mrs Museveni is unhappy that billions of shillings sent to Karamoja in projects like NUSAF, KIDDP, NUREP, NAADS and the ministry of finance disbursements have not yielded expected results. She is pushing for accountability for every shilling sent to Karamoja. In Kotido for example, she was bothered that there was little to show for the sh27b that the district had received this fiscal year. “You hear all this money that has come to Kotido, but what is there to show?†She asked: “Prosperity doesn’t come from grabbing what is meant for others and take it for yourself.â€
The minister is also demanding 100% latrine coverage. She rejected anti-latrine taboos and advised the Karimojong to use local materials to build latrines. “You need latrines as badly as you need a home. The more you don’t have latrines, the more diseases in the area,†Janet stated.
She wants to review the situation at the end of one year and reward best-performing sub-counties.
Optimistic minister
She is optimistic that the problems of Karamoja can be overcome with prayers and human efforts. On March 22, she began her tour of Karamoja with prayers at St Phillips Church in Moroto. While there she said: “People have poured out their hearts and they believe I can solve all their problems. I am not an angel, I am another human being,†Mrs Museveni clarified.
“I have not come here to provide miracles. I am here in the hope that people are willing to work with me, so that I hold hands with your leaders and we build a safety-net for the people of Karamoja,†she added.
The First Lady cautioned that solutions would not come from abroad, but it was up to the leaders to end their corrupt ways and serve their people to end the NGO-aid agencies dependency syndrome.
And the possibility of attaining such could be the yardstick with which her efforts, during here tenure, will be measured.
----------------------------
NATURAL RESOURCES
----------------------------
Karamoja sub-region has minerals and tourism sites which of well-exploited can bring in trillions of shillings.
Minerals
- Copper has been noted in Bobong, Lokapeliethe and Loyolo.
- Gold occurrences in alluvial rocks.
- Pyrochlore occurrences at Napak and Toror.
- Diamond: In 1965 – 1974 small diamonds were discovered in southern Karamoja, although there has been no recent exploration.
- Limestone: Mining is on-going by Tororo limestone factory in Loroo sub-county in Nakapiripirit district and at Katikekile in Rupa sub-county.
- Showings of marble, zinc, platinum and gemstones.
Livestock
- The Karimojong rear large herds of cattle as pride and for paying bride price.
- They also rear goats and sheep.
Tourism
There are two game reserves; Pian-Upe in Nakapiripirit district and Matheniko-Bokora in Moroto and Kotido districts; and Kidepo national park in Kaabong. There are 465 species of game, of which 100 are not found elsewhere in Uganda, like the ostrich and the Kori bustard (large bird).
ARMED with the Bible, imbued with faith that change can happen, confident that frugal use of resources will lead to growth, the First Lady Janet Kataha Museveni embarked on her job as minister for Karamoja affairs on March 22. Mrs Museveni is the Member of Parliament for Ruhaama in Ntungamo district.
The goodwill shown by the leaders in the five districts of the sub-region provided a soft landing for Mrs Museveni at a familiarisation tour of Kotido, Moroto, Abim, Kaabong and Nakapiripirit districts.
Nestled in north eastern Uganda, residents of the region have lived under many years of anarchy caused by armed cattle rustling.
With AK47 rifles slung over their shoulders, hostile warriors would scare or kill aid workers, missionaries and government officials seeking to help them.Â
Consequently, in 2001 President Yoweri Museveni mooted the disarmament programme, which began in 2004. It was done in two phases; voluntary surrender of guns and forceful disarmament when the former failed. Over 26,723 guns have been collected since the operation begun although many more are still held by the Karachunas (militant youth) and warriors.
“We are getting what we set out for: our mission was to collect illegal guns to pave way for development,†Lt. Col. Patrick Lokech, the commander of the Moroto-based third division.
The army has also set up army units in cattle corridors to fight armed rustling. The main clans among the Karimojong; the Jie, Matheniko, Bokora, Toposa, Pokot and Pian raid each other for cattle, which are used among other things as bride price.
The persistence of raids, although on a smaller scale, has forced aid agencies in Karamoja to resort to armed escorts of the army or Police. But besides security, there are many other issues Mrs Museveni has to tackle.
Statistics
Almost all national indicators are negative in the region. Latrine coverage is at 4%, implying that 96% of the Karimojong ease themselves in the bush. Out of every 100,000 births, 750 die of pregnancy or childbirth-related complications. Out of every 1,000 babies, 105 die before they are one-year old and 174 do not reach the age of five.
Only one out of 10 can read and write. Three out of 10 have access to safe water. And 82% karimojong live below the poverty line.
Dr Martin Eyura, the Moroto district health inspector says low latrine coverage is a major cause of diarrhoeal diseases. He says the Karimojong argue that they are too poor to build a house for excreta. It’s also a taboo for a woman to share a pit latrine with her father-in-laws, so they use the bush to avoid sharing. In some places the soil is so loose that when they sink a latrine pit, it caves in.
Regina Teko, a village health team member, says the girls have been taught that if they used a latrine they would never conceive.
Apart from being barred from using latrines, girls are married off early for their parents to get bride price. They produce children from an early age continuously because they do not use contraceptives. Some, fearing perceived side effects of contraceptives, swallow aspirin to prevent pregnancy.
Famine
Due to its aridity, Karamoja experiences famine frequently. The region, which gets more dust than rain storms, has only one rain season. Worse still, usually, the rain delays and the crops wilt. However, many times the rains also cause flooding.
Most people use ox-ploughs and hoes, but floods drive them to rely on relief food. World Food Programme distributes 7kg of food per family, however, leaders want it increased to 12kg.
Education
Literacy is at 11%, far below the national average of 67%. The distractions for children are many: the region suffers poor transport and communication means.
There’s no public transport apart from Teso Coach and Gateway bus which ply from Kampala to Kotido and Moroto early morning and late evening. Some schools are far from their manyatta (homesteads).
However, even where the schools are accessible, boys as young as five years are obliged to tend to the family herd, walking tens of kilometres in search of water and pasture. Some pupils only go to school when there is no food at home and as soon as harvesting starts, they leave school.
Mrs Museveni
However, Mrs Museveni is not intimidated by these challenges. She has listed stamping out of corruption, provision of water through drilling of boreholes and building valley dams in every parish, food production through early planting and improved sanitation as her priorities.
Mrs Museveni is unhappy that billions of shillings sent to Karamoja in projects like NUSAF, KIDDP, NUREP, NAADS and the ministry of finance disbursements have not yielded expected results. She is pushing for accountability for every shilling sent to Karamoja. In Kotido for example, she was bothered that there was little to show for the sh27b that the district had received this fiscal year. “You hear all this money that has come to Kotido, but what is there to show?†She asked: “Prosperity doesn’t come from grabbing what is meant for others and take it for yourself.â€
The minister is also demanding 100% latrine coverage. She rejected anti-latrine taboos and advised the Karimojong to use local materials to build latrines. “You need latrines as badly as you need a home. The more you don’t have latrines, the more diseases in the area,†Janet stated.
She wants to review the situation at the end of one year and reward best-performing sub-counties.
Optimistic minister
She is optimistic that the problems of Karamoja can be overcome with prayers and human efforts. On March 22, she began her tour of Karamoja with prayers at St Phillips Church in Moroto. While there she said: “People have poured out their hearts and they believe I can solve all their problems. I am not an angel, I am another human being,†Mrs Museveni clarified.
“I have not come here to provide miracles. I am here in the hope that people are willing to work with me, so that I hold hands with your leaders and we build a safety-net for the people of Karamoja,†she added.
The First Lady cautioned that solutions would not come from abroad, but it was up to the leaders to end their corrupt ways and serve their people to end the NGO-aid agencies dependency syndrome.
And the possibility of attaining such could be the yardstick with which her efforts, during here tenure, will be measured.
----------------------------
NATURAL RESOURCES
----------------------------
Karamoja sub-region has minerals and tourism sites which of well-exploited can bring in trillions of shillings.
Minerals
- Copper has been noted in Bobong, Lokapeliethe and Loyolo.
- Gold occurrences in alluvial rocks.
- Pyrochlore occurrences at Napak and Toror.
- Diamond: In 1965 – 1974 small diamonds were discovered in southern Karamoja, although there has been no recent exploration.
- Limestone: Mining is on-going by Tororo limestone factory in Loroo sub-county in Nakapiripirit district and at Katikekile in Rupa sub-county.
- Showings of marble, zinc, platinum and gemstones.
Livestock
- The Karimojong rear large herds of cattle as pride and for paying bride price.
- They also rear goats and sheep.
Tourism
There are two game reserves; Pian-Upe in Nakapiripirit district and Matheniko-Bokora in Moroto and Kotido districts; and Kidepo national park in Kaabong. There are 465 species of game, of which 100 are not found elsewhere in Uganda, like the ostrich and the Kori bustard (large bird).