Traditional conflict early warning systems: a case study of Turkana among Karamoja cluster pastoral communities.

Abstract

This study explores conflict early warning systems. The case study of the Turkana pastoral community in Karamoja cluster within IGAD sub-region is taken to illustrate indigenous conflict early warning among the pastoral communities. The Turkana community is the largest within the Karamoja Cluster and shares international borders with all the other Karamoja Cluster groups in Uganda, Sudan and Ethiopia.

The study looks at the conflicts among the pastoral communities within the Karamoja Cluster. Livestock raiding is identified as the major factor contributing to violent conflicts within the Karamoja Cluster communities. This study explores conflict early warning mechanisms. Regional framework in Africa for conflict prevention and specifically early warning are explored. Indigenous conflict early warning mechanism among the Turkana community IS explored. The study shows that there exists a well-structured, institutionalized and comprehensive indigenous conflict early warning mechanism among the Turkana

community. However and unfortunately theme'e~nism....

is used as a tool to prepare to

attack rather than as a tool for conflict prevention. The thiay calls for efforts to reverse this trend.

The study concludes by observing that conventional and indigenous conflict early warning mechanisms can enrich each other if integrated, and this is possible. The study recommends the need for enhancing indigenous conflict early warning into a tool for

conflict prevention through retraining the indigenous actors and incorporating indicators, which are sensitive to indigenous knowledge, in information gathering and analysis.