President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni asked the Karachuna (reformed Karimojong warriors) to put an end to livestock rustling among Karimojong clans and in nearby areas so that the government can properly plan for the sub-region.
The request was made by the President on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, when meeting with a delegation of Karachuna at State House in Entebbe.
“When it comes to you, Karamoja, we need to put an end to insecurity so that we can begin planning; we can’t create wealth when there’s chaos.” Stop the livestock raiding, and I’ll be left to deal with the Turkana. “They will have to stop raiding or I will expel them from Uganda,” President Museveni warned.
“Once we’ve brought the chaos to a halt, we’ll have to deal with the issue of water for our animals.” “The money we are currently spending on fuel and security operations could be used to generate more water by constructing communal and individual dams, and third, we could stop burning grass,” he continued.
President Museveni reminded them of how he persuaded the Banyankore in the Livestock Corridor to move from nomadism to commercial dairy farming, which has since improved their standard of living.
“The Banyankore were still nomadic in the 1960s.” Why are you a nomad? During the dry season, the water evaporates and the grass withers. Third, they believe that if you stay in one spot for an extended period of time, the cows will become ill,” he explained.
“During our meeting, we told them to stay in one place, focus on storing enough water in large containers, stop destroying the cows’ food by burning the grass, and kill the ticks from there.” So, towards the end of the discussion, they realized that this youngster was perhaps speaking sense. That is how the Banyankore ended nomadism because they realized they were wasting their money and their lives.” He stated.
The President went on to say that when they took power in 1986, the Banyankore had halted nomadism, but they had not begun to earn enough money from farming.
“The issue now was how to create wealth through calculation – ekibaalo.” With ekibaalo, I proposed that they go for milk because milk can be earned on a daily basis, and that is how they listened to me and began going for these Friesian cows.”
The President also directed the Karachuna to engage in commercial farming, particularly milk production. He claims that this will enable them to produce daily revenue, so increasing their standard of living.
Among the model farms that the group visited was Mr. Richard Nyakana’s in Rwengaju- Kabarole, where the group benchmarked how a farm can produce a lot of money on a tiny area of land.
“The Cattle Corridor embraced dairy farming, which transformed the area, so Karamoja will not be difficult to transform,” he stated.
H.E Museveni also urged them to support government anti-poverty initiatives like as the Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga.
Prior to the meeting, the President led the Karachuna on a tour of the several model farms, with the goal of assisting them in learning new and modern farming practices that they could implement in their agricultural operations.
Among the model farms that the group visited was Mr. Richard Nyakana’s in Rwengaju- Kabarole, where the group benchmarked how a farm can produce a lot of money on a tiny area of land.
