Kenya-Uganda Lokiriama Peace Accord: lessons from an unwritten agreement

This policy brief examines the 1973 Lokiriama Peace Accord, an unwritten indigenous agreement between the Turkana of Kenya and the Matheniko of Uganda. The author argues that this community-centred, culturally sensitive approach to conflict resolution is more durable than modern, state-led interventions, which often focus on punishment rather than reconciliation. The document recommends that governments in the Karamoja Cluster integrate traditional governance structures into their peacebuilding strategies to address persistent intercommunal violence and the impacts of climate change.

• The 1973 Lokiriama Peace Accord serves as a durable model for borderlands peace because it is community-centred and culturally sensitive, prioritizing consensus-building and reconciliation over punishment and enforcement.
• Traditional conflict resolution mechanisms in the Karamoja Cluster are characterized as local, flexible, and cost-effective, relying on the authority of elders to broker binding settlements and maintain social order.
• Modern state-led peacebuilding approaches, which rely on top-down strategies, police enforcement, and court systems, often fail to produce lasting peace because they focus on judgment rather than reconciliation and exclude the affected communities.
• The Karamoja Cluster faces complex insecurity driven by climate change-induced droughts, which increase competition for water and pasture, and the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons.
• The authority of traditional elders is being eroded by colonialism and the rise of modern administration, leading to a shift where young warriors view the ownership of arms as a symbol of masculinity and wealth.
• The Lokiriama Peace Accord was established through a process of inter-community negotiation and symbolic rituals, including the burial of weapons and the casting of curses, which continue to motivate adherence to the treaty.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Kenya-Uganda Lokiriama Peace Accord: lessons from an unwritten agreement. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1766040796253-pb-216.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Kenya-Uganda Lokiriama Peace Accord: lessons from an unwritten agreement. n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1766040796253-pb-216.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Kenya-Uganda Lokiriama Peace Accord: lessons from an unwritten agreement |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1766040796253-pb-216.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndkenyauganda, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Kenya-Uganda Lokiriama Peace Accord: lessons from an unwritten agreement}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/pages/1766040796253-pb-216.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }