The limited options of cattle rustlers.

last updated 8 January 2015

Uganda

Ben Simon

Uganda’s nomadic cattle herders have become a real nuisance, said Ben Simon in the Kampala Monitor. The Karimojong, whose land makes up one-tenth of Uganda, seem to have more AK-47s than they have people. The tribe has caused plenty of trouble for the government by conducting cattle raids across national borders, in Kenya and Sudan. The Ugandan army has been sweeping the Karimoja area for months trying to confiscate guns, but the Karimojong are a formidable enemy. “Soldiers can be chasing 15 or 16 cattle rustlers and suddenly be met by as many as 600 armed warriors,” said army spokesman Lt. Henry Obbo. Some people argue that stealing cattle is simply part of Karimojong culture; after all, the tribal myth holds that all cattle in the world were originally stolen from Karimoja and are the rightful property of the tribe. But a more practical explanation is that the Karimojong rustle cattle because they have no other way to make a living. “If the Karimojong were offered factory jobs” with guaranteed salaries, they would probably “race to turn in their guns.”