Dr. Ayub Mukisa: To be honest, Karamoja needs to be compensated for the  colonial mistakes 

Though rarely documented, evidence shows that the Karamoja sub-region may have  been one of the most economically lucrative regions before the colonial government. However, British East African colonial rule left Karamoja in a sorry state. This is  manifested to day with the sub region facing a multitude of problems, including  poverty, environmental degradation, border conflicts, livestock diseases and  illiteracy. To begin with, the colonial census of Karamoja in 1959 revealed that there  were only 171,945 people in the subregion (Mirzeler & Crawford 2000). This might  make one to wonder how such a small population, under British rule could continue  to be described as poor by 1962 when the British were handing over power. In fact,  Mamdan in Kabiito (2021) elaborates that, instead of economically empowering the  Karimojong’s, British administrators began with the “forcible acquisition of land,”  denying the Karamojong’s almost 15 percent of their land that could have been  used for grazing and agricultural productivity. Part of this land, measuring between  1,500 to 2,000 square miles, was transferred to the Kenyan colonial administration,  while large chunks were gazetted as game reserves and game parks like Kidepo. The  people of Karamoja were left in the drier part of the land, making it difficult for them  to survive with their livestock (Ocan, 1993,). The question arises: did they  compensate the people whom they forcefully pushed out of their productive land? Another issue is that some of the colonial policies, like restricted movement  introduced in 1921, incapacitated and constrained pastoral activities, leading to  countless problems for the Karimojong’s. One concern is, as British administrators,  could they not analyze the effect of their policies on the livestock keepers of  Karamoja? Or was it intentional? My argument in this article is not against the  colonial administration, but rather against some of the intentional mistakes they 

committed, worsened by their silence or limited funding to Karamoja Some may  argue that the colonialists introduced formal education, which is somewhat true.  However, it is surprising that in 1959-60, there was only one Karamojong student  out of 280 enrolled in Makerere University College. Even in terms of religion, which  could have been one of their agendas, only 1% of the people in Karamoja were 

Christians by 1962 (Kasfir, 1976). My appeal to Karamoja’s former colonial masters  is to at least have some discussions and support for Karamoja, rather than  continued silence. 

Ayub Mukisa (PhD). Executive Director-Karamoja Anti Corruption Coalition (KACC) Email.ayubmukisa@gmail.com