Uganda has set out conditions for the entry of Kenyan pastoralists from drought-hit Turkana County seeking access to pasture and water in its Karamoja sub-region.
The Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) issued the conditions on Thursday during a ceremony to burn more than 100 illegal firearms, marking the African Union’s annual amnesty month.
During the ceremony, Maj Sirag Bruhan Yassin, intelligence officer for the UPDF’s 3rd Division, said the army would allow Turkana pastoralists to cross into Karamoja on humanitarian grounds due to the worsening drought in northern Kenya “but only under strict security conditions.”
“They must leave their firearms in Kenya and enter Uganda purposely to graze until when they are safe to return back to their country,” Yassin emphasised.
Turkana herders were barred from accessing Ugandan water and pasture in 2023 following a presidential order after the killing of Ugandan geologists in Rupa Sub-county, Moroto District.
Yassin said access would only be permitted if kraal leaders guarantee that no armed groups enter Karamoja.
“They will be allowed to go as deep as the districts of Kotido, Napak and Nabilatuk, if their kraal leaders only offer assurances that they are not migrating into Karamoja with firearms to destabilize the peace,” he said.
“The security situation in Karamoja is calm, with a few isolated cases of cattle theft,” he added, noting that the Uganda-Kenya border area remained peaceful.
Local leaders observed that peace was key to long-term development.
Karamoja Affairs Minister Peter Lokeris, who presided over the ceremony, urged communities to abandon armed violence and embrace coexistence.
“We should let go of the guns, so that during the times of water and pasture stress in Karamoja, we can go to graze in Teso, Lango, Acholi,” Lokeris said.
He added that the government remains open to receiving more illegal firearms, with those who disarm eligible for amnesty certificates, reintegration into communities and access to government programmes such as Emyooga and the Parish Development Model (PDM).
Reports from Kenya indicate that hundreds of livestock have already died in Turkana due to drought, with growing food insecurity, increasing pressure on cross-border migration into Ugandas fragile Karamoja region.
MG/as/APA