Author: Administrator

By Counsel Twinobusingye Severino

The recent escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, following the February 28, 2026 military strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran, has once again underscored a familiar truth: where weapons dominate, instability follows. The reported killing of senior Iranian leadership, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggered swift retaliation, with Iran launching missiles across the Gulf targeting U.S. installations and allied interests in Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.

Since then, the region has descended into deeper crisis. Reports indicate extensive damage to critical infrastructure, including U.S. radar systems, alongside mounting civilian casualties and widespread destruction. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20 percent of the world’s crude oil passes, has disrupted global trade and heightened economic uncertainty. Civilians in both Iran and Israel now spend prolonged periods in bunkers, their lives reduced to survival, a reality not unfamiliar to communities in northern Uganda that have endured years in internally displaced persons’ camps.

While the United States and its ally maintain that their objective is to degrade Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, Iran’s response reflects a broader pattern, the projection of military power beyond its borders and the targeting of neighbouring states. It is this posture that invites comparison with a long-standing security challenge closer to home: the Karamoja sub-region.

Karamoja, which became part of present-day Uganda in 1926, remains one of the most marginalised regions despite its vast mineral potential. According to the latest Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) census and related national surveys, the sub-region has a population of approximately 1.5 million people, with nearly 60 percent constituting the youth. However, social indicators remain stark: about 86 percent of the population has never received formal education, while literacy levels stand at roughly 30.4 percent, far below the national average of 76.1 percent, as reported by UBOS.

Poverty remains deeply entrenched. UBOS data indicates that household poverty levels in Karamoja stand at approximately 72.4 percent, making it the poorest region in the country. Unemployment among the youth is equally alarming, with an estimated 40 percent out of work, many of whom are drawn into cattle rustling and armed violence.

At the heart of this insecurity lies the widespread availability of illegal firearms. Flowing through porous borders with South Sudan, Kenya, and Somalia, and sustained by past regional conflicts, these weapons have entrenched a culture of armed cattle raiding. Young men, commonly referred to as karacunas, often mobilised under the guidance of elders, carry out raids across neighbouring sub-regions of Teso, Lango, Acholi, and Sebei, leaving communities traumatised, displaced, and economically destabilised.

In Kotido District, places such as Napumpum have become synonymous with the planning of these raids, where elders reportedly meet to determine targets. The execution is then carried out by armed youth who traverse long distances, driven by the belief that cattle in neighbouring communities rightfully belong to them.

The parallels with Iran’s regional posture are striking. Just as Iran leverages its military strength and proxy networks to extend influence across Yemen, Lebanon, and Palestine, the possession of arms in Karamoja has emboldened local actors to assert dominance over neighbouring communities. In both contexts, the gun becomes not merely a tool of defence, but an instrument of expansion and control.

However, there is a critical difference, and it offers a pathway forward.

In East Africa, Uganda and Kenya have, since 2002, undertaken joint disarmament efforts aimed at curbing the proliferation of small arms in Karamoja and the North Rift. These initiatives, involving voluntary surrender, coordinated military operations, and cross-border collaboration, have registered measurable progress. Several illegal firearms have been recovered, armed warriors neutralised, and incidents of cattle raiding significantly reduced.

Though challenges remain, including slow implementation and the need for sustained engagement, the gains are beginning to reshape the region’s trajectory.

Karamoja is now witnessing the early signs of transformation. Investment is gradually taking root, particularly in Kotido District, long considered the epicentre of cattle rustling. Among the most notable initiatives is the proposed Karamoja Peace and Technology University (KAPATU), a multi-stakeholder project involving the Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI), the Kotido Catholic Diocese, and the Government of Uganda. Conceived in 2014 following extensive research, the initiative recognises education as the most viable pathway to long-term socio-economic transformation. Efforts are underway to secure a provisional licence from the National Council for Higher Education, marking a significant step towards reshaping the future of the region.

The lesson is clear.

Where weapons proliferate unchecked, whether in the Middle East or Karamoja, insecurity becomes cyclical, spilling across borders and generations. But where deliberate efforts are made to disarm, educate, and invest, the cycle can be broken.

As the world watches tensions escalate in the Gulf, Uganda’s experience offers an important reminder: sustainable peace is not built on military might alone, but on inclusive development, access to education, and the deliberate dismantling of the structures that sustain violence.

The gun may instil fear, but it is opportunity, grounded in knowledge and equity, that secures lasting peace.

The writer is Chairperson KAPATU-Council.

ABOUT KAPATU

KAPATU is a Nucleus National Public University established jointly by the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Kotido and Moroto, the Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI), headed by its president, Counsel Severino Twinobusingye, and the government of Uganda. Its main campus is situated at Losilang, Kotido municipality (Karamoja). The initiative aims to foster peace and sustainable development in the region through education.

It was conceived in 2014 but actualised on 29^th April, 2023, in a colourful ceremony at Nsambya presided over by the Vice President of Uganda, H.E. Maj. Jessica Rose Epel Alupo, who represented H.E. the President. The KAPATU project is being overseen by a Strategic Leadership Committee comprising President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (Chair/Founding Chancellor), Vice President Jessica Rose Epel Alupo (Founding Deputy Chancellor), and First Lady, also Minister for Education and Sports, Maama Janet Kataha Museveni.

The government has, in the FY2025/26, allocated Shs180bn for the university’s establishment following a special cabinet sitting on 16^th December 2024, chaired by H.E. the President and also attended by H.E. the Vice President.

Leaders of the Karamoja Peace and Technology University (KAPATU) project have presented a progress update and an independent financial audit report to Vice President Maj. Jessica Rose Epel Alupo on funds advanced by the government to kick-start the institution.

The meeting, held at the Vice President’s office, focused on the utilisation of Shs10 billion that government released last year as part of the Shs30 billion seed capital pledged by President Yoweri Museveni for the establishment of the university at Losilang in Kotido Municipality.

The KAPATU delegation was led by the university’s president and Bishop of Kotido Catholic Diocese, Rt Rev Dominic Eibu (MCCJ). Other members included the university council chairperson, Mr Severino Twinobusingye; Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Prof Annette Kezaabu; Principal Technical Advisor Dr Robert Limlim; University Secretary Mr Henry Kyarimpa; and the institution’s chief of security, Amb Phillip Idro, among other officials.

While presenting the report, Mr Twinobusingye said the project received the Shs10 billion in two instalments of Shs3 billion and Shs7 billion, leaving a balance of Shs20 billion yet to be disbursed.

In Pictures:

In 1963, shortly after visiting Karamoja, Prime Minister Milton Obote is widely quoted as having remarked: “We shall not wait for Karamoja to develop.” Whether apocryphal or not, the sentiment has lingered for six decades, not always in words, but often in attitude.

Today, Karamoja remains one of Uganda’s most paradoxical regions: rich in (natural) endowment (especially mineral wealth, rich soils, etc.), culture and human potential, yet endemically stuck at the bottom of all major national development indicators. With a population estimated at 1.5 million by the UBOS last census, it still struggles with limited access to quality education, healthcare, modern agriculture, and infrastructure. Over six decades since independence, Karamaja remains, to many Ugandans, less a part of this nation, having failed to integrate fully both in the national conscience and planning. For many Ugandans, Karamoja appears less like a fully integrated region of the Republic and more like a neglected frontier.

The question that refuses to go away is this: Is Karamoja’s stagnation a result of chronic national neglect, or of individual attitudes that quietly resist its transformation?

Transformation Requires Alignment

History shows that regional transformation, particularly in Africa, is neither accidental nor instantaneous. It requires political will at the highest levels, policy coherence across institutions, and regulatory frameworks that enable rather than obstruct investment.

When the Executive, Cabinet, Legislature, and regulatory bodies align around a shared development vision, the private sector, the fifth and indispensable actor, follows. Where they do not, progress stalls.

Karamoja’s story reflects both effort and frustration. Successive governments have launched multi-million-dollar initiatives to improve security, livelihoods, and infrastructure. President Museveni’s administration has invested heavily in disarmament, roads, schools, and social protection programmes. Yet the region’s gains have often been diluted by mismanagement, corruption, and bureaucratic inertia.

Good intentions have too frequently collided with weak implementation.

Education as the Long-Term Equaliser

In 2014, the Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI) conducted research in Karamoja to assess its structural challenges and long-term prospects. One conclusion stood out: sustainable transformation must be anchored in education.

From that research emerged the vision of the Karamoja Peace and Technology University (KAPATU), an institution intended to address not only academic gaps but also the region’s unique socio-economic realities. The initiative brought together CLASI, the Kotido Catholic Diocese, and the Government of Uganda in a rare multi-stakeholder partnership.

In April 2023, the project was formally unveiled at a ceremony presided over by President Museveni, represented by Vice President Jessica Alupo. Three months later, the foundation stone was laid at Losilang in Kotido Municipality. In 2024, the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) granted a Letter of Interim Authority, allowing promoters to recruit staff, establish administrative structures and mobilise resources ahead of full licensing.

By December 2025, NCHE officials visited Losilang to assess the university’s application for a Provisional Licence to admit students.

The symbolism of those milestones cannot be understated. For a region long associated with conflict and marginalisation, the establishment of a university is not merely an educational project; it is a statement of inclusion and a cornerstone to real empowerment and equalisation.

The Bureaucracy Question

Funding and political goodwill have not been the primary challenge. Support has come from across government and faith-based institutions. Yet progress has been slowed by procedural caution within sections of the bureaucracy, particularly in regulatory and legal approval processes.

To be clear, regulatory compliance matters. Institutions of higher learning must meet established standards. But there is a delicate balance between due diligence and excessive rigidity.

Karamoja’s circumstances are not identical to those of Kampala or Mbarara. Regions that have endured decades of insecurity and underinvestment require responsive, context-sensitive decision-making. When procedure becomes detached from purpose, it risks undermining the very transformation it seeks to safeguard.

During a visit to the proposed main campus at Losilang in December 2025, the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) team had the opportunity to see firsthand the context in which this university is being established. For many members of the delegation, it was their first time in Karamoja — and in Kotido in particular. Physical presence, more than briefing papers or compliance files, has a way of sharpening perspective.

The visit underscored the urgency and relevance of establishing the institution, not as an abstract policy proposal, but as a lived necessity. It also highlighted the broader ecosystem that supports the project, including the extended network of facilities across the region that form part of its enabling infrastructure, though these were not fully toured during the visit.

Sometimes, it is only by standing on the ground, seeing the distance, the terrain, the unmet demand, that the developmental case becomes unmistakable.

The writer is the President of Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI) and Chair of KAPATU Council.

ABOUT KAPATU

KAPATU is a Nucleus National Public University established jointly by the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Kotido and Moroto, the Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI), headed by its president, Counsel Severino Twinobusingye, and the government of Uganda. Its main campus is situated at Losilang, Kotido municipality (Karamoja). The initiative aims to foster peace and sustainable development in the region through education.

It was conceived in 2014 but actualised on 29^th April, 2023, in a colourful ceremony at Nsambya presided over by the Vice President of Uganda, H.E. Maj. Jessica Rose Epel Alupo, who represented H.E. the President. The KAPATU project is being overseen by a Strategic Leadership Committee comprising President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (Chair/Founding Chancellor), Vice President Jessica Rose Epel Alupo (Founding Deputy Chancellor), and First Lady, also Minister for Education and Sports, Maama Janet Kataha Museveni.

The government has, in the FY2025/26, allocated Shs180bn for the university’s establishment following a special cabinet sitting on 16^th December 2024, chaired by H.E. the President and also attended by H.E. the Vice President.