Uganda disarms tribal warriors
2006-04-04 08:53
Kampala - Ugandan authorities on Monday began a forceful disarmament of tribal warriors who had engaged in cattle rustling, blamed for the loss of several lives in the country's northeast.
Army spokesperson Major Felix Kulaije said: "Today we are starting the forceful disarmament in Karamoja."
Kulaije said they were changing strategy from merely appealing for weapons surrender and rewarding those who complied as it had failed to deter conflict.
Kulaije said: "We have been urging them to surrender the guns, arresting and charging those found on the roads or in neighbouring areas carrying guns, but they have instead intensified attacks."
Voluntary disarmament
About 10 000 of an estimated 50 000 guns in circulation have been recovered, but a new round of voluntary disarmament has yielded little results while violence continued, according to the army.
Kulaije said: "Commitment in northern Uganda has gone down so we are able to recommit some resources to Karamoja to resume forceful disarmament."
The age-old cattle raids had became more sophisticated and murderous with the acquisition of modern weapons.
In Karamoja, deadly weapons got into the hands of local herdsmen following the ouster of former president Idi Amin in 1979 after the tribesmen looted an abandoned government armory, triggering rounds of bloody raids in the region.
Guns 'kept for self defence'
According to observers of the region, at least 150 people were killed in a span of four months.
In the early 1990s, President Yoweri Museveni allowed pastoralists to keep their guns for self-defence, but this sparked a thriving weapons trade with bullets being sold in market stalls in addition to stoking bloody raids.
However, the first round of forceful disarmament was criticised by relief agencies and religious organisations for its high-handed nature and was abandoned in 2002.
Troops were relocated to northern Uganda, where a war against the Lord's Resistance Army rebels had intensified.