Kiruhuura’s wealth: Understanding President Museveni’s context

While canvassing for votes in the Karamoja sub-region in recent days, Presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni urged people in the region to end nomadism and cattle rustling if they are to enjoy the government’s transformative programmes currently underway.

According to his message, transformation will be derailed if the two vices are not discarded once and for all. To fully illustrate his point, he used the example of how he had since transformed the people in Kiruhuura district and made them rich through a mindset change, because they once suffered a similar problem—nomadism.

The Kiruhuura people were formerly cattle nomads, just like the Karimajong, but have since been transformed after listening to the president’s correct advice. The shift from a nomadic to a settled lifestyle for the Kiruhuura people brought significant cultural and economic change, as Museveni educated them about the benefits of a settled life.

These benefits included improving their animals from traditional Ankole long-horned cows that produced little milk compared to Fresian breeds that produce large quantities, thereby increasing the household income earned through selling large amounts of milk.

He educated these nomads to adapt by learning to cultivate crops or by hiring others to farm for them, and by commercialising their livestock production to earn cash for their children’s formal education.

Museveni not only ended pastoralism among his community, he also taught them to fence their land, create water sources on their own land, and keep quality cattle breeds that add value to the owners.

One of the most critical changes in a settled lifestyle was living in one permanent place. When they settled down, they started eating healthy organic foods; they learnt to eat vegetables in addition to milk and meat.

Hygienic foods clearly replaced milk as a staple food in their community. As a result, these once poor nomads of Kiruhuura began living modern lifestyles. They built decent houses, drive nice cars, and earn not only from cows but from crop husbandry because they were taught to diversify their farming methods.

Sadly, the president’s message to the people of Karamoja has been taken out of context to imply that he was boasting that his people in Kiruhuura are rich. The other wrong implication the naysayers are attaching to the president’s message is that he seems to suggest the Karimojong are still poor simply because they either don’t value work or lack innovation.

Of course, those peddling such falsehoods are the usual ideologically bankrupt groups that are always looking for every opportunity to misinform and disinform to soil the name of the president.

These groups have gone further to insinuate that the Kiruhura people are rich because of their association with the president, since he is one of them anyway. This is absurd. When President Museveni came to power in 1986, he picked up where he had left off.

While still a student at Ntare School and the University of Dar es Salaam in the late 1960s, he knew much better that nomadism was a futile practice among his people. There are many stories of how he would gather nomads in the Ankole sub-region to educate them about the need to live a settled life.

During his holidays, Museveni did not have the luxury of having fun like any young man; instead, he spent all his time educating his people about mindset change. When he finally became President, he strongly advised them against roaming the country with their cows in search of fresh pastures.

He advised them, among other things, to use their lands for a few but improved breeds that give them enough milk for sale. Indeed, the Kiruhuura people heeded the president’s advice and transitioned to a permanently settled lifestyle.

It is no wonder that Kiruhuura is among the first two districts in Uganda to produce large volumes of milk. Kiruhura alone produces 1.2 million litres of milk every day, about 60 per cent of the total milk produced in the country.

Kiruhuura’s milk accounts for 45 per cent of Uganda’s milk export. As a result, people’s incomes have drastically changed. Household income is among the highest in the country.

Decent means of transport have been acquired, and healthy lifestyles are now a standard feature for these once haggard-looking pastoralists. Finally, what was clear in the president’s message to the Karimajong is that they must adopt a mindset change and listen to his advice, as the Kiruhuura nomads did.

This, however, must be peaceful and voluntary. Nomadism and cattle rustling are indeed a primitive form of existence that any sensible leaders must discourage.

And that is precisely what the president meant when he was counselling the Karimajong people, but not bragging at them like most biased social media keyboard warriors are quick to comment.

The writer is the Ag. executive director Uganda Media Centre