Sep 13, 2020(Nyamilepedia) — Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Devolution and ASALs, Eugene Wamalwa on Saturday led the celebration of a one-year anniversary of the Karamoja-border peace initiative by commissioning the Urum Peace Dividend Water Project in Loima SubCounty.
The project is meant to benefit the residents of Karamoja community in Uganda, Pokot and Turkana community in Kenya.
The CS was happy to celebrate the anniversary of the peace deal that the residents are already reaping the fruits of.
“As we mark the 1st anniversary of the signing of the Moroto Peace Accord,Kenyans at Nasal& Orum in @WestPokotCounty & @TurkanaCountyKE start testing fruits of the Peace tree we planted on12th Sept 2019 in Moroto Uganda,before HE Uhuru Kenyatta @StateHouseKenya &H.E @KagutaMuseveni,” read a tweet he shared yesterday.
Greatly honoured to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the signing of the Kenya/Uganda Cross-Border Program for Sustainable Peace&Dev,with the People of @WestPokotCounty& @TurkanaCountyKE by commissioning Nasal&Orum peace dividend water projects @StateHouseKenya @UnKenya @UNDPKenya pic.twitter.com/czjstqpdZL
— Eugene L. Wamalwa (@EugeneLWamalwa) September 12, 2020
Karamoja cross border peace initiative is a peace deal aimed to economically empower local communities living along the Kenya-Uganda border, and boost peace and economic development.
“The Karamoja cluster is a cross-border area shared by the four neighboring countries, and can be considered a single social-ecological zone whose development is best perceived within the framework of an integrated development plan jointly executed.” Read a statement the CS shared with one of the local media houses
The deal was sealed by the memorandum of understanding between Kenya and Uganda.
“The MoU aimed to increase inter-ethnic interactions, collaborations and movements, leading to a reduction in tensions and resource-based conflicts, elimination of illegal flow of small arms and light weapons, empowerment of local and county government operations, as well as strengthening of peace building, community resilience and conflict prevention.” The CS added.
It helped end the communities war as they have always fought for the scarce resources along the border.
The MOU is supposed to fosters constructions of three dams in turkana, West Pokot, Marsabit. Two peace dividends, pilot water projects in Nasal and Napitiro in West Pokot, and Urum in Turkana County are already complete.
