Mrs. Museveni (centre) receives documents from an official of Save the Children, Rose Oy

By Olandason Wanyama
and Steven Candia

THE state minister for Karamoja affairs, Janet Museveni, has urged elders in the region to discourage the rearming of the youth and to show them alternative means of survival.

“Whoever has the region at heart should rejoice and support the exercise,” she said while commissioning the civil-military cooperation (CIMIC) disarmament programme by the UPDF in Moroto district last week.

The programme is funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the army, the Police, Save The Children in Uganda, African Leadership Institute and the Karimojong people.
It aims at mobilising the communities to work with the UPDF towards a successful peaceful disarmament process.

Mrs Museveni said disarmament must continue to enable the region to consolidate the peace that had allowed development to take root. She said the peace had made it possible to provide education for children and adults.

“This is the right time to have everything moving in Karamoja,” she said.
She observed that through the UPDF, the ordinary person in Karamoja has been brought on board.

The EU also donated five vehicles, office equipment and computers for the implementation of the programme.
Handing over the items, the EU ambassador to Uganda Vincent De Visscher, encouraged the Karimojong to work with the army.

He called for dialogue and restraint from key players in the disarmament exercise. “Lasting peace and sustainable development will only come from such dialogue and mutual understanding,” the envoy said and warned that force may not provide a lasting remedy to the region’s problems.

His remarks come after a recent incident in which up to 80 warriors are said to have been killed in Kaabong district in an exchange with the UPDF.

De Visscher added that the EU was committed towards peace in the region.