Ker Kwaro Acholi a Re-Invention of Traditional Authority in Northern Uganda

Ker Kwaro Acholi A Re-invention of Traditional Authority in northern Uganda Clare Paine Department of International Politics Aberystwyth University March 2014 Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MPhil SUMMARY In this thesis I examine the ‘revival’ of Ker Kwaro Acholi – the widely recognised traditional cultural institution in Acholiland, northern Uganda. I illustrate the ways that its emergence over the past decade has been shaped by dominant discourses at local, national and international levels, concluding that Ker Kwaro Acholi is an ambiguous entity that functions as a new power base in the political landscape of Acholiland. The thesis challenges common perceptions that often reduce Ker Kwaro Acholi to a council of traditional chiefs and offers a more nuanced picture that reveals the complexities of Ker Kwaro Acholi. I argue that the process of Ker Kwaro Acholi’s ‘revival’ has been a strategic project of crafting images of the institution that appeal to powerful discourses, and that these images have served to obscure inherently political agendas of Ker Kwaro Acholi’s central actors. As a result of my study not only is there evident need to reject pervasive uncritical understandings of Ker Kwaro Acholi and to recognise Ker Kwaro Acholi’s potential for fuelling further conflict and upholding a patriarchal and disciplinary regime in Acholiland, but also to further question the collaborative and facilitating role western donors have continually played throughout Ker Kwaro Acholi’s revival. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Funding from The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) enabled this research, including a six month fieldwork trip to Uganda. I am deeply grateful to those I met in Uganda who shared their stories and views, and I wish to thank my friends at Cathedral Parish in Gulu who made my stay so enjoyable. To the great friends I have made along the way – thank you for walking with me, sharing your wisdom and insights, and pushing me on. Also, thank you to my family and in particular my parents, Peter and Carol, who have provided unwavering love and support. And finally, Ed, thank you for your love and patience, and your ever-ready listening ear. CONTENTS Abbreviations i Glossary ii Maps iii-iv INTRODUCTION 1 PART ONE CHAPTER ONE - TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY REVIVALS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 14-38 CHAPTER TWO - ACHOLILAND AND TRADITIONAL AUTHORITY REVIVALS IN UGANDA 39-63 PART TWO CHAPTER THREE - BECOMING A TRADITIONAL CULTURAL AUTHORITY 64-95 CHAPTER FOUR - BECOMING A GOVERNMENT-CULTURAL INSTITUTION 96-120 CHAPTER FIVE - BECOMING AN AGENT OF DEVELOPMENT 121-145 PART THREE CHAPTER SIX - ALTERNATIVE IMAGES AND SUBJUGATED KNOWLEDGES 146-193 CONCLUSION 194-201 BIBLIOGRAPHY 202-210 APPENDIX A – LIST OF INTERVIEWS 211-213 APPENDIX B – IMAGES, KER KWARO ACHOLI 214-218 ABBREVIATIONS CAP – Community Action Program CNA – Community Needs Assessment CRCM – Community Reconciliation and Conflict Management IDP – Internally Displaced People INGO – International Non-Government Organisation PRDP – Peace Recovery and Development Programme NGO – Non-Government Organisation NURP-1 – Northern Uganda Reconstruction Project NUSAF – Northern Uganda Social Action Fund NUTI – Northern Uganda Transition Initiative UGX – Ugandan Shillings UK – United Kingdom US – United States UN – United Nations UNIFEM – United Nations Development Fund for Women USAID – United Stated Agency for International Development WB – World Bank i GLOSSARY Bul ker – royal drum Dak ker – wife who marries rwot at his coronation Ker – royal authority Kaka – a lineage segment Kal – village and household of rwot. Ladit (pl. Ludito) – village elder Ladit-pa-Rwot/Ladit kaka– elder of the rwot Lakwena (pl. Lukwena) – messenger of rwot Lobong – subordinate or commoner lineage Lawirwodi – leading rwot Laloyo Maber – ‘good ruler’ Lukiko – parliament or council of rwodi Rwot mo (pl. Rwodi mo) – anointed chief of lineage Rwot Kalam (pl. Rwodi Kalam) – chief ‘of the pen’, appointed by colonial government Rwot Okoro – female leader of farmer group Rwot Kweri – male leader of farmer group Ton ker – royal spear Won piny – father of the land ii MAPS Uganda, with Acholiland in northern Uganda highlighted http://www.nationsonline.org/maps/uganda-administrative-map.jpg iii Ethnographic map of Uganda iv INTRODUCTION In this thesis I examine the ‘revival’ of Ker Kwaro Acholi1 – the widely understood traditional cultural institution in Acholiland, northern Uganda. I argue that Ker Kwaro Acholi is a new power base in the political landscape of Acholiland and illustrate that its emergence over the past decade has been constituted by multiple discourses, contingent events and strategic practices. In the thesis I identify how these discourses, events and practices have combined to produce three dominant images through which Ker Kwaro Acholi has become known. I also identify and examine less visible discourses that constitute Ker Kwaro and shed light on the disjunctures between these dominant images and less visible discourses of the institution. Through the analysis I reveal that Ker Kwaro Acholi has emerged and exists predominantly through negotiating a series of dominant images that, when held against the light of less visible discourses that are constituted by the everyday practices of the institution, are challenged and undermined in significant ways. The three dominant images that, I argue, have enabled Ker Kwaro Acholi’s revival and that have significantly formed the institution, are images that cast Ker Kwaro as a traditional authority; a government-cultural institution; and an agent of sustainable development. The less visible discourses that undermine these ways of seeing Ker Kwaro Acholi render the institution far more amorphous than the relatively neat dominant images suggest and reveal how Ker Kwaro Acholi has become a site of renewed clan rivalry and struggles amongst traditional leadership, a platform for political aspirations, and a lucrative venture for some well-placed individuals. As a result, and in the light, of the more complex and multidimensional picture I offer of Ker Kwaro Acholi, there is an evident need to reject one dimensional and uncritical understandings of the institution and for greater recognition of Ker Kwaro Acholi’s potential, not only for facilitating peace in northern Uganda, but also for fuelling further conflict, and recognising not only its potential as a cultural and political representative of Acholi on the national stage, but also its potential for upholding a patriarchal and disciplinary regime within Acholiland. And finally, although Ker Kwaro Acholi may have 1 Ker Kwaro Acholi is also referred to as Ker kal Kwaro Acholi or KKA. I will use Ker Kwaro Acholi or Ker Kwaro in this study. 1 the potential to be an effective agent of development, there is need for greater recognition of the alternative agendas, as well as the unintended effects, resulting from donor partnerships. In terms of the people who constitute Ker Kwaro Acholi today, the institution is composed of a Paramount Chief, a Prime Minister, Council of Chiefs, Executives of the Council of Chiefs, a cabinet of Ministers, a secretariat of development practitioners and a number of male and female elders. As mentioned above, and as I will further illustrate through my study, Ker Kwaro Acholi is constituted by more than its roles of office, appointed positions and employees – but while this is an important point of my thesis, the people who constitute Ker Kwaro and those who have encountered the institution at various stages of its revival are central characters and agents who have knowingly and unknowingly shaped Ker Kwaro Acholi. WHY STUDY KER KWARO ACHOLI? Ker Kwaro Acholi has been recognised by the Government of Uganda as one of the nation’s traditional, cultural institutions – a recognition marked by President Yoweri Museveni recently funding the building of new houses for the ‘chiefs’ of Ker Kwaro.2 As well as the Ugandan Government, Ker Kwaro Acholi is also recognised by numerous international and more locally based development organisations. For example, in 2009 International Alert advised business investors in northern Uganda to recognise and include Ker Kwaro Acholi in consultation processes, as this was thought ‘enormously significant in gaining access to operating in the region’3, and USAID partnered with Ker Kwaro Acholi on a project to revive farmer groups across Acholiland.4 Other multilateral and bilateral donors such as The World Bank, United Nations Development Fund for 2 M. Olupot and C. Ocowan, "Museveni Gives Acholi Chiefs Houses," New Vision, 17 November 2010. 3 International Alert, Contributing to a Peace Economy in Northern Uganda: A Guide for Investors (Kampala2009), 44. 4 USAID, Spring Implementing Partners Information Pack (Stability, Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Uganda Project, 2009). 2 Women (UNIFEM)5 and the American Embassy have also recognised and partnered with Ker Kwaro Acholi on projects to booster conflict reconciliation and conflict management in northern Uganda, to promote women’s rights in Acholi and preserve Acholi cultural heritage, respectively. A host of other bilateral donors,6 as well as INGOs7 have, to greater and lesser degrees, recognised Ker Kwaro Acholi as the traditional cultural institution of Acholi and supported its empowerment. The Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP), a local NGO formed in 2005 as a research initiative between the Gulu District NGO forum and the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University

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