Climate change brings death, violence to Uganda’s Karamoja

FRANCE 24 English

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00:00 In Kavamoja, Uganda's poorest region,

00:03 water points used for livestock have become conflict zones

00:06 between herding tribes since 2018.

00:09 In the past two years, the Ugandan army has been deployed

00:12 to put an end to the fighting.

00:14 Once rains disappear, water becomes a problem.

00:18 You may find they keep on stealing each other,

00:20 even at that watering point.

00:22 And that's already insecurity, which spills over to other areas.

00:26 According to several reports, climate change is causing droughts here.

00:30 In the past five years, the fight over water has killed 3,000 people.

00:35 The village of Nakapelimuru experienced this violence.

00:39 The army says it restored order this year,

00:41 but bitter memories of conflict persist.

00:44 We want to see that everybody in Kavamoja enjoys a peaceful life.

00:49 John Lukure says he lost 30 cows during an attack by the Turkana people,

00:54 Kenyan herders who crossed the border in search of water for their herds.

00:59 Death was everywhere.

01:00 Our enemies used to come to steal our cows.

01:03 I used to kill some of them, and they killed some of us.

01:05 Now it's calmer.

01:06 There are fewer deaths, and we can finally sleep.

01:10 The military has been encouraging the warring sides

01:12 to hand over their rifles,

01:14 in an attempt to curb the large-scale arms trafficking.

01:18 They've also been preventing Turkana herders from entering Uganda.

01:21 But Kavamojongs would prefer a less drastic approach.

01:25 The solution lies in the hands of the government.

01:30 The army should allow our tribes in Kavamoja

01:32 to engage in peace negotiations with the Turkana.

01:36 We would like to tell them that they should not kill herders in Uganda.

01:40 With the onset of the dry season in November,

01:44 the government is preparing for a resurgence of hostilities,

01:48 and has already dispatched reinforcements.

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