UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Conflict legacies Understanding youth’s post-peace agreement practices in Yumbe, north-western Uganda Both, J.C. Publication date 2017 Document Version Final published version License Other Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Both, J. C. (2017). Conflict legacies: Understanding youth’s post-peace agreement practices in Yumbe, north-western Uganda. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:10 Oct 2021 Hier komt de tekst voor de rug; hoe dikker de rug, hoe groter de tekst Conflict legacies Understanding youth’s post–peace agreement practices in Yumbe, north-western Uganda This work is the result of the research project ‘Coming of age in Uganda: Youth’s social navigation in fragile contexts’ with project number 400-08-207, which was financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Cover pictures front: Atiku Muhammed Cover picture back: Jonna Both Cover design: Emmelie Smit-Both Printed by: Gilde Print – The Netherlands Conflict legacies Understanding youth’s post–peace agreement practices in Yumbe, north-western Uganda ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. ir. K.I.J. Maex ten overstaan van een door het College voor Promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Aula der Universiteit op woensdag 21 juni 2017, te 13:00 door Johanne Cornelia Both geboren te Gouda Promotiecommissie Promotores Prof. dr. R. Reis Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. M.E. De Bruijn Universiteit Leiden Overige Leden Prof. dr. A. P. Hardon Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. R. A. van Dijk Universiteit van Amsterdam Dr. E.M. Moyer Universiteit van Amsterdam Prof. dr. T. Allen London School of Economics and Political Science Dr. K. Titeca Universiteit van Antwerpen Faculteit der Maatschappij- en Gedragwetenschappen TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix INTRODUCTION 11 HISTORY OF TURMOIL 15 LEGACIES OF CONFLICT 17 HISTORY, STRUCTURE AND AGENCY 18 YOUTH, MEMORY AND GENERATIONS 20 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION 22 1. ACCESSING PASTS IN THE PRESENT: METHODOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS 25 INTRODUCTION 25 UNFOLDING STORIES 26 WHY YUMBE? 27 Setting 27 Youth in Yumbe: A generational approach 28 YOUTH, BOREDOM AND MOBILITY: INTERSUBJECTIVITY IN SMALL TOWN ETHNOGRAPHY 31 ‘TALKING WHILST WALKING’: EMBODIED MEMORIES, LANDSCAPE AND DISCLOSURE 33 BIOGRAPHIC NARRATIVES: HISTORICIZING THE LIVES OF YOUNG PEOPLE 36 CONCLUSION 38 2. HISTORIES OF VIOLENCE AND CONFLICT 41 INTRODUCTION 41 SLAVE-RAIDING AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 42 Nubi 42 The link between the Nubi and the Aringa 44 AMIN 53 Pride 54 Fear and secrecy 54 Innocence 55 VIOLENT RULE 57 1979 AND THEREAFTER 59 CONCLUSION: A COMPLEX HISTORY OF CONFLICT 70 3. ‘IT APPEARS AS IF WE ARE STILL IN THE BUSH’: RECURRENT EXPERIENCES OF i CONFLICT AT THE MARGINS OF YUMBE DISTRICT 71 INTRODUCTION 74 RECURRENT EXPERIENCES WITH ARMED CONFLICT 76 IN THE AFTERMATH OF CONFLICT: EXPERIENCING A SENSE OF CONTINUITY 80 Persistent poverty revives painful memories of the past 81 Enduring health problems in the aftermath of conflict 83 Persistently neglected areas: Remoteness and prevailing suspicion 86 Divisive post–peace agreement policies 88 DISCUSSION 90 CONCLUSION 92 4. ‘THE PRESIDENT IS GOING TO REBUILD THIS HOUSE FOR MY FATHER’: LEGACIES OF MILITARISM AND PENDING PROMISES 93 INTRODUCTION 94 GROWING UP WITH A MILITARY FATHER: LIFE HISTORIES OF SONS 95 My mother was the only one who really cared for me 96 At some point you start thinking: ‘Let me meet my death on the way’ 99 UNCARING FATHERS? 103 A lack of love 103 Mafuta mingi 104 Still waiting 106 Loss of status 108 THE PERSISTENCE OF MILITARY IDENTITIES 108 BEING A BETTER FATHER 109 DISCUSSION 110 CONCLUSION 112 5. ‘STRONGER THAN MAHOGANY’: ‘ARINGA IDENTITY’ AND SOCIAL IMAGINATION FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF MALE YOUTHS 115 INTRODUCTION 115 ‘TYPICALLY ARINGA’ 117 THE INFLUENCE OF TERRAINS AND HISTORIES ON THE SOCIAL IMAGINATION 121 YOUTH, VIOLENCE AND YOUTH’S DIFFERENT SOCIAL POSITIONS IN YUMBE 122 The bush 124 A man should be prepared to die in the seventh forest 126 THE REGIME OF THE PAST 130 DISCUSSION 136 6. ‘IT IS PEACE-CREATING’: LOCAL REFLECTIONS ON KHAT USE AND DEALING WITH NEGATIVE EMOTIONS 139 INTRODUCTION 139 A HISTORY OF KHAT IN YUMBE: A FERTILE GROUND FOR RAPID ABSORPTION 141 ii Aggressive/active marketing and early users in Yumbe 141 Additional factors 144 KHAT AND PEACE 145 Social peace 148 Contested claims? 151 AMBIGUITY AND KHAT CONSUMPTION 152 DOMESTIC PEACE? 154 DISCUSSION 158 CONCLUSION 159 7. ‘RUNNING TO JUBA’: YOUNG PEOPLE NAVIGATING DECISIVE MOMENTS AND PERILOUS REGIONAL OPPORTUNITIES 161 INTRODUCTION 161 DEALING WITH INSECURITY 163 The importance of chance over risk 164 The normalization of insecurity 164 FACTORS MOTIVATING MOBILITY 166 In search of opportunities 166 Intimate crises 170 Boys on the run and absentee fathers 170 Divorce and absent mothers 174 Letting the dust settle 176 Escaping prosecution and retribution 176 DISCUSSION: FRONTIER TERRAINS, FRONTIER PRACTICES 179 Frontier terrains 179 CONCLUSION 182 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: YOUTH AND THE LEGACIES OF CONFLICT 185 YOUNG PEOPLE AND THE HABITS OF WAR AND PEACE 192 BIBLIOGRAPHY 197 SUMMARY 209 SAMENVATTING 215 iii iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Sincere appreciation is due to many, for supporting me and collaborating on this research over the past years. Most importantly I am indebted to many young people in Yumbe, Arua and Juba who allowed me to enter their lives and thoughts, by endless chats, exchanges of ideas, and the sharing of time, food and journeys. I have chosen to anonymize all of your narratives for your own protection or the protection of the people you spoke about with me, however it fills me with regret that this implies that I cannot honour your often beautiful personalities here. Allow me to say that although it has been long (I last visited Yumbe in 2013) and although staying in touch has been challenging, especially with a small baby around, I look back on a very precious period with very special friends and hope to pick up where we left very soon. I hope that you recognize yourself in the way in which I convey some of your ongoing struggles and resilience. Fortunately I am also able to mention a few people by name who have been generously helpful to me in Yumbe. First of all Ibrahim Okuonzi, having facilitated the start of my research as a former TPO coordinator in the region and having remained an important source of information and feedback ever since. I also thank Francis Alumai and Patrick Onyango for insightful exchanges at TPO Uganda headquarters in Kampala, and Ria Reis and Joop de Jong for connecting me to them. Amadile Charles, if we hadn’t crossed paths that day in 2010 accidentally, a lot of joy and laughter as well as understanding would have been lacking during the research. Not only do I admire your wonderful, kind, cheerful and wise personality, you also invited me to your warm family, with more loving and fun people like you who made me feel very much at home. I would like to thank Avako Jannet and children & Nite Florence and her late husband for the laughter and for hosting me in their homes when I was lonely. The same goes for Lily, Zeinabu and Annet. Mr. Drasi Rogerson has been a great inspiration, a vast source of knowledge, of wisdom and compassion. Our extensive interviews on film have hardly found a place in this dissertation but I trust I will find a good place for them to still be shared with the world. Robert, Rovis, Solo, Hippo, Abasi, and Drajiga, Austin and Samuel you have brought laughter and fun to life in Yumbe and have been of great help in allowing me to understand more about the place. I am also grateful to the various members of the administration of Yumbe District, the CAO Elly Piwang and LC5 chairman Taban Yassin, and the various RDC’s I met for answering my questions and supporting this research. The staff of Praford and of Fredericus brought a lot of joy to my life in Yumbe, so did sister Helen, sister Lilian and Mark Alagi in Arua. I feel deeply connected to you, Ronald Leku Marx, Richard Asea and Patrick Pariyo, despite the distance that is now between us. You still inspire me. Thank you for your warm companionship over the years. I would not have embarked on this adventure if Ria Reis and Mirjam de Bruijn would not have convinced me to get back to academia and go to Uganda for this research project. v Although the first (and later) year(s) were filled with doubt, I am glad to have accepted this pathway. Ria I thank you for all I have learned from you and for your positive feedback on every draft I shared and that you read each time very thoroughly.