Executive Summary
The study into small arms has been of importance to arms control analysts and policy makers in the recent past. Much attention has been shifted from the control mechanisms for weapons of mass destruction to controlling the distribution and spread of these small arms.
The literatures that were available in the past focused mainly in the conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction and neglecting the roles that small arms play during the rampant conflicts observed in several countries in the world.
Later on, the attention shifted to the study of acquisition of small arms and light weapons. Such weapons are often used in conflicts between ethnic communities in different countries.
This paper focuses on the illegal proliferation, trade and the acquisition of arms by the rebel communities with a focus to the rebel factions in Uganda.
It is observed that the kind of governance that has existed in Uganda since independence is responsible for the development of various opposition groups that have continued to cause inter-ethnic and regional conflicts witnessed in Uganda.
The uncontrolled movement of arms into the country is caused by the failure by the government to exhibit good governance and address issues raised by the opposition.
There are legal provisions concerning the possession of the arms but these cannot be fully implemented if the government is not recognized among the rebels. There is need for dialogue to have these conflicts resolved.
Introduction
The transformations that have been observed in the international systems have led to a shift from trade in the weapons of mass destruction to a trade in small arms and other simpler weapons (Rogers, 2009, p.78). The production, possession, and use of such weapons have been of interest to researchers in the recent past.
The weapons have been seen to be used in deepening conflicts among ethnic communities. They have also been used by military forces to fight anti-government activists in different situations that have been witnessed in the world. The use of such weapons is enhanced by certain factors including their availability and the social norms among a given community (Godnick et al, 2002, p.10).
Uganda has witnessed various civil wars since attaining independence in 1962. The period between 1972 and 1986 was characterized by serious civil wars with occasional attempts by presidents to restore peace in the area. The worst scenarios were witnessed during the reign of General Idi Amin Dada (1971-1979).
Dr Milton Obote who took over for the second time from Amin attempted to restore peace in the region but this did not yield much fruit.
The coming into power of the current president Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in 1986 and the emergence of the National Resistance Army initiated reforms steps that would see peace being restored in some parts of the country.
Museveni improved on the relationship between Uganda and the international community including the World Bank that financed various reconstruction programs in the country.
However, some parts of the country, especially the northern part, continued to have conflicts and the poor economic level that was witnessed before the war crisis remains in the region.
There are anti-government movements in the country that are posing challenges to the reconstruction measures in the country. Illegally obtained arms have made the fight against such movements one of the big tasks to the government of President Museveni.
There is no precise definition of small arms and light weapons. However, the definition originally provided in 1997 by the UN Panel suggests that they refer to “man-portable lethal weapons that expels or launches, is designed to expel or launch, or may be readily converted to expel or launch a shot, bullet, or projectile by the action of an explosive, excluding antique small arms and light weapons or their replicas” (The Commonwealth Secretariat, 2008, p.3).
In their broad contexts, small arms are those purposed for single users and include revolvers, self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, and small machine guns. On the other hand, light weapons are those designed for use by two or three individuals operating as group (The Commonwealth Secretariat, 2008, p.3).
In this category are the heavy machine guns, portable anti-aircraft guns, anti-tank missiles, and recoilless rifles among many others.
Uganda before and after independence
The current situation that has been witnessed in Uganda for a very long time is attributed to the political factors that have prevailed in the country since independence. Before independence, Uganda was one of the African countries that had recorded good economic and social growth as compared to the neighboring nations.
Medical services, educational services, and economic growth were promising in the region (The World Bank, 2000, p.17). The country was able to produce cash crops that could be exported to other nations for foreign exchange. The country also produced minerals like copper that could also be exported.
There were enough commodities from the industrial sector to meet the needs of the Ugandans. In general, the social and economic development was doing well in Uganda. However, the political aspect of growth in the country took a different course that would greatly affect the social and economic growth.
The political intensified with the coming into existence of the Obote reign that succeeded Sir Edward Mutesa as the Ugandan president. Obote introduced the system of one party.
This intensified the political conflict that was already rocking the country (The World Bank, 2000, p.17). The tension grew in the political scene leading to overthrowing of the Obote government by Idi Amin in 1971 in a military coup.
The reign of Idi Amin did not improve the political situation that was deteriorating and that had adverse impacts on economic and social growth. The dictator missed his political powers leading to increased civil wars in the country.
He banned various political movements and assassinated the leaders that were perceived to be behind the movements. The ravaging political waves led to fleeing of Ugandan skilled professionals to other countries.
The Ugandan nationals that were not of African were expelled out of the country and their property taken forcefully (The World Bank, 2000, p.17). The Asian Ugandans had established various investments in the region and they were considered the key drivers of Ugandan economy.
All these moves culminated into a remarkable fall in the industrial and commercial sectors in Uganda. The managerial positions that were left vacant by the skilled professionals were occupied by soldiers and other civilians who had little or no education at all.
The cost of living increased drastically due to the poor governance in various government departments. The government spent much of the financial resources on importation and/or development of military weapons and machineries.
The Ugandans that had flown to other countries combined with the Tanzanian army to overthrow Amin in 1979. Further destruction was registered during this period and skilled individuals opted to flee once again to other countries (The World Bank, 2000, p.17).
Overthrowing Amin brought no peace to Uganda due to the rivalry among the exiles who had organized to overthrow Amin. Restoring unity among the Ugandans proved difficult. The condition worsened following the controversial elections in 1980 that brought Obote into power for the second time.
There were, soon, conflicts in some parts of the country some of which were initiated by the supporters of the overthrown dictator. Luwero and West Nile were some of the regions that had strong opposition to the government and that recorded high rates of civil wars.
The second reign of Obote yielded no better fruit than Amin regime. The government was a combination of soldiers, former political activists, and civilians who could not table proper ideas to manage the situation. The majority of the leaders had little knowledge in conflict resolution measures.
They lacked the expertise required to restore the economy of the country that had deteriorated since independence. There was a remarkable weakness of the civil service in providing services to the public (The World Bank, 2000, p.18).
The Ugandan military gained much power, and it was seen to misuse this power in the regions with conflicts. This lack of discipline by the military led to overthrowing of the Obote government in July 1985.
Background to the current situation in Uganda
The coming into power of President Yoweri Museveni in 1986 marked the beginning of the reconstruction of Uganda. Leading the National Resistance Movement (NRM), Museveni came into power when the country had very low Gross Domestic Product and an excessively high rate of inflation (The World Bank, 2000, p.19).
The government embarked on measures that could help in restoring the economic stability in the country. The president developed good relations with the international community. Support was received from the World Bank and other donor agencies towards restructuring the country.
However, there were still mixed reactions to the kind of government that had been put in place and soon conflict broke with the emergence of various opposition movements. The Holy Spirit Movement (HSM), founded by Alice Auma (Lakwena) following a spiritual inspiration was another movement that fought the NRM forces in the late 1980s.
The movement attempted to partner with Uganda People’s Democratic Army but this alliance did not last long. The short-lived partnership led to a defeat to the National Resistance Army that during conflicts and attracted more rebels in late 1986. This movement had obtained a number of rebel groups before it was defeated in a 1987 battle with the NRM army.
The Lords Resistance Army (LRA), led by Joseph Kony, is a rebel group that was party to the HSM. It was formed after the spiritual faction hade been defeated (Ploughshares, 2010) and vowed to uphold the spiritual message that was left by Alice.
The movement advocated for a government operating under the Ten Commandments described in the Bible, an argument that has led to loss of its fame among civilians. The LRA is still prevalent to date among the Acholi community.
It initially had the support from Acholi and Lango tribes of northern Uganda but has since received less support due abuse against the local tribes in these regions. Attempts by the government to make peace agreements with this rebel group have always failed.
The involvement of the International Criminal Court in the criminal cases that led to issue of warrant of arrest for five members of the rebel group is one of the factors that have hindered the signing of Final Peace Agreement between the government and LRA.
Another opposition movement, the Allied democratic Forces, came into light in 1997. It consisted of ex-commanders of the Amin regime and appeared to uphold the Islamic teachings. They claimed that the Muslims in the country were being marginalized and so they were to advocate for equal treatments of the different religions.
They operated in the western Uganda and organized attacks from their bases in eastern DRC. However, ADF was soon defeated and sent far from the Ugandan border. Another movement emerged that is also dominated by ex-soldiers of the Ugandan army during Amin’s reign.
The movement, based in the West Nile region, is geared towards reclaiming the power that was seized from Amin in 1979 (Ploughshares, 2010). There are constant conflicts between these rebel factions and the Ugandan government to this date.
Elections have been held in the countries, which are challenged by the opposition as having being biased towards the incumbent president. There have been protests by opposition leaders following the increase in the cost of living blamed on poor governance.
Main illegal arm flows to the opposed factions
The Ugandan government receives the military equipments from US and other countries like South Africa, United Kingdom, Israel, Belarus, and Russia (Ploughshares, 2010). In the process of shipping these equipments to the recommended destinations, some corrupt individuals shift some arms that are sold cheaply to the rebel groups.
On the same note, the rebel groups among them the Lord’s Resistance Army, have also been receiving military support from the Sudanese civilians that were engaged in civil wars.
The Ugandan and Kenyan government have been accused of providing support to the ethnic tribes along the country borders by supplying military equipments. In this manner, there is an increased illegal possession of small arms and conflicts between such regions with diverse ethnicity (Mkutu, 2007, p.2) are likely to continue.
Despite the government appeal to the rebels to surrenders these arms, very few guns have been recovered compared to thousands f rebels that have surrendered to the government.
This means that so many people are still in illegal possession of military weapons and there is still flow of such arms into the country. Attempts by the government to disarm these rebel groups have led to mass killing of civilians inviting criticisms from agencies like the Human Rights Watch (Ploughshares, 2010)
Karamoja is one of the regions in Uganda that has many illegally possessed weapons and that is characterized by violent conflicts among ethnic communities.
Issues of cattle raids are very rampant in this region owing to the increased modern firearms that are obtained from the neighboring countries and those that are locally manufactured (Mkutu, 2008, p.2).
The communities in this region blame the government for sidelining them in the national development programs resulting into larger conflicts and anti-government movements.
By 2008, the region was reported to have 30,000-120,000 small illegal arms (Mkutu, 2008, p.2). Their first acquisition of the arms was in 1979 when the dictator Idi Amin was overthrown. The members of the region stormed into army barracks and obtained the military equipments (Mkutu, 2008, p.2).
The civil wars that were seen in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia led to further acquisition of weapons by the communities in Karamoja who were mainly pastoralists.
They exchanged cattle for arms like AK47 and rounds of ammunition or bought these equipments cheaply from the rebel communities in these neighboring countries (Mkutu, 2008, p.2).
Another way of obtaining the weapons was through the Ugandan armed forces. The national army soldiers that are engaged in the battle with rebel groups and happen to miss in the action leave their weapons in possession by the rebel warriors.
By killing the UPDF soldiers and paramilitary groups, the rebel groups have continued to acquire more legal arms (Mkutu, 2008, p.2). Some weapons are also illegally passed to the opposing groups by the military combatants.
Uganda’s existing laws and regulations on the transfer of small arms
Illegal, proliferation, trade and the consequent illegal possession of the small arms and light weapons has been of concern to the various governments including the Ugandan government.
It was observed that there is a close association between the possession of such arms and other crimes like terrorism, drug trafficking, and armed violence among communities (The Commonwealth Secretariat, 2008, p.1; Renner, 1997, p.8).
Uganda is one of the member states of The Commonwealth and is therefore subjected to the rules and regulations provided by the Commonwealth concerning the manufacture and distribution/trade of small arms and light weapons (SALW).
The Commonwealth has provisions concerning the production, trade and the acquisition of SALW. A meeting by the Commonwealth Heads of Governments was held in Kampala in 2007 where the heads expressed their concern over the increasing proliferation of SALW.
The principles unanimously agreed to support the initiatives that had been developed by the United Nations like the UN Firearms Protocol. The Heads of Governments also welcomed the support by the Commonwealth Secretariat on measures of controlling arms trafficking into the member states.
Similar statements had been issued two years before in a corresponding meeting by Law Ministers of the member states (The Commonwealth Secretariat, 2008, p.1).
The government of Uganda has also partnered with those of the neighboring countries to enact policies that ensure disarmament of the opposition groups.
The government cooperated with the Kenyan government to develop a policy aimed at resolving conflicts among the pastoralist communities along their borders that led to increased acquisition of illegal arms.
There were policies like “shoot to kill” to be adopted by government officers on armed criminals. There were legal measures to be taken for an officer who failed to adopt these policies (Mkutu, 2008, p.2).
Recommendations
There is need to develop more explicit provisions regarding the manufacture and distribution of illegal arms into the country and the indiscriminate use of such weapons. These legislations should be at the national, regional, and international levels (Laurence, 1998).
There is also a need to address the issues that are raised by the rebel groups that lead to conflicts prompting for the acquisition of these weapons.
Treaties have been made among different states that are believed to be producing large number of these small arms. The treaties enable the associated states to organize their activities in the manner they choose to.
However, there is still very little control of the proliferation, possession and use of these small arms by the party-states (Rogers, 2009, p.110).
In this context, thus, there is a need to incorporate in the treaties a regulation on the quantities of the arms to be produced by the different parties and the procedures for the acquisition of such arms. There should be further legislation ensuring that the provisions in the treaty are correctly followed by the government agencies.
The defense of a country needs need not to wait for a conflict to arise then take measures of stopping it (Meek, n.d. p.2). The causative factors need to be identified and control measures adopted
Another way of ensuring that the treaties that have been developed are followed by the member states is prompting the governments to associate such acts to corruption and establish anti-corruption initiatives.
Some of the arms that have been legally produced fall into the hands of unauthorized users due to the corruption that occurs in the supply chain.
There is also a need to have a transformation in the governance of Uganda. Much of the conflicts that are witnessed in some parts of Uganda and other African countries have been attributed poor governance (Nathan, 1998) that marginalize certain areas and focus on the economic development of some key areas.
As these regions lag behind in development, there will be an increased need to adopt other illegal measures of ensuring that justice prevails. As a result, the fight against unauthorized manufacture and acquisition of illegal arms will not be made easier.
There is need to continue to restore cohesiveness among the Ugandans that have been lost since independence. The violations of human rights by Ugandan forces fighting the rebels should be condemned and if possible, the innocent victims of such acts need to be compensated (Mawson et al n.d, p.80).
It is important, at this point, to note that the legislations that are provided by the government of a country will only have strength if opposition side were contented and accepted the defeat during the elections of such a government.
If the elections are characterized by some irregularities, the opposition will always initiate movements that will oppose almost all the steps taken by the government regardless of their importance to the overall development of the country.
References
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Mawson, A. et al. UGANDA – “Get the Gun” Human Rights Violations by Uganda’s National Army in Law Enforcement Operations in Karamoja Region. Kampala: Human Rights Watch.
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The Commonwealth Secretariat. 2008. Proliferation of small arms and light weapons: working towards an arms trade treaty. Journal of Commonwealth Law & Legal Education, 6(2), 187-208. Web.