The Karamojong are a pastoral nomadic ethnic community living in northeastern Uganda, at the border with Kenya and South Sudan. They are neighbours with other pastoral communities that were, however, separated by the establishment of national borders in 1921. Since the Karamojong’s livelihood depends on their cattle, they train their young men to become warriors and carry weapons to protect their cows from raids by the neighbouring communities. Traditionally, cattle raiding was a regulated and acceptable social practice of resource allocation. However, this practice causes insecurity and development challenges for the ruling governments that have tried to develop and disarm the region since 1921, when Uganda was still under colonial rule. Attempts to disarm the Karamojong have been marred by discrimination, violence, and human rights abuses, leading to social lethargy, loss of livestock, lack of infrastructure, and social service delivery. This study aims at developing a theoretical critique of the narratives embedded in the disarmament and analysing the ways in which these narratives shape attitudes towards development. Since theory guides practice, the ultimate vision of this research project is to inform reparative policies and strategies to address the challenges the Karamojong face and promote healing among their community.
DR. TABITHA NAISIKO
CURRICULUM VITAE
Tabitha Naisiko is specialized in cultural anthropology and African studies. She has been a lecturer in the Department of Development studies at Makerere University in Uganda since 2012. Prior to that, she held teaching positions in Queen of Apostles Philosophy Centre, Jinja and at Uganda Martyrs University. She worked as a research coordinator of the African Research and Documentation Centre at Uganda Martyrs University from 2003 to 2011 and research officer in the Cultural Research Centre, Jinja. In the years 2009–2011, she was a researcher on the Promoting Pluralism Knowledge Programme, a tri-continental project that was concurrently run in the Netherlands, Uganda, and Indonesia. She teaches a module about “Managing Diversity in Uganda” at the Young Leaders Forum, sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
