While pastoralism has long been featured in the livelihoods of a number of ethnic groups in Uganda, it is increasingly under pressure. Nowhere is this clearer than in Karamoja. Policies implemented by successive regimes have left Karamoja politically and culturally at the margins of a predominantly sedentary “mainstream” Uganda.

The Karimojong - a pastoralist group in north eastern Uganda - have, on the basis of decades of marginalisation and a near cultural annihilation, responded in a manner that has been interpreted by some etic viewers as an indication of inherent violence, and by others as an intractable attempt to retain a culture that is said to have been “overtaken” by the times. 

The Karimojong reaction could be interpreted in many other ways, and their response to variables in their immediate environment could be an indicator of bad or weak governance. In addition, important parts of their ancestral lands have been designated as national parks and game reserves, and they were until very recently surrounded by various long-standing conflicts, both within Uganda and across the border in southern Sudan.

Responses to the “problems” of Karamoja have tended to require the Karimojong to adapt to the mainstream, without necessarily appreciating their justified protection concerns (as would be suggested by a more rights-based approach) or the specific needs of a pastoralist community. These responses often come with the use of military force and attempt to encourage sedentary livelihoods, without a clear understanding of how these approaches reproduce violence or further contribute to a national governance deficit.

This component of the Beyond Juba project, using the case of Karamoja as its entry point, will explore the multiple ways in which the tensions between pastoralist and sedentary livelihoods are being played out in Uganda, and the extent to which this should be factored into our thinking about transitional justice processes. The root cause of the northern Uganda conflict is entwined with a history of divisive national politics. The dynamics were kept going by the use of armed force. Could it be that the apparent state of anarchy in Karamoja has a root cause similar to the national political dynamic? Are there similarities between the approach to northern Uganda and that taken in the Karamoja sub-region? Why has violence persisted in this sub-region, and what are the implications for gender identities, the psychological state of the population, traditional institutions and decentralisation?

We shall attempt to assess how these transitional issues embedded in Karamoja relate to the regional and national processes, and will consider how interventions in Karamoja and other areas with pastoralist groups could deal with such issues.