Dear people of Karamoja, in all your respective capacities, whether you are local citizens ,politicians, government technocrats, or NGO staff, my message to day is this: “Now is the time to market Karamoja.” To help readers understand the main point of this article, I will begin with Mirzeler and Young (2000). Mirzeler and his colleague stated that in the 1920s, missionaries attempted to market and civilize Karamoja, but some of their strategies, such as education, faced serious rejection.
For example, as a way of rejecting education in the region, the pen was cursed and symbolically buried in a local community ceremony in the 1930s (Munaabi and Mutabaazi, 2006). This had a significant impact on the education and civilization of Karamoja. By 1962, the entire Karamoja region had only one Karamojong student out of 281 at Makerere University College, now Makerere University (Kasfir, 1979 :page 110).
However, evidence shows that the unearthing of the pen ceremony was done in 1995 (Datzberger cited in Brown, Kelly, & Mabagu, 2017), and many Karimojongs have since earned degrees, diplomas, and certificates in various fields. It is now time to use the education that the Karimojongs have received to promote the entire Karamoja subregion. My argument in this article is directed towards three main groups: 1) The Karimojongs, 2) Non Karimojongs either in Karamoja or benefiting from Karamoja, and 3) Development partners and NGOs in Karamoja. Let us all work together to market the Karamoja Subregion within and outside Karamoja.
Additionally, Karamoja is endowed with resources such as vegetation, beautiful scenery, wildlife, culture, artifacts, minerals, livestock, honey, and sorghum. These resources have the potential to promote tourism and attract investors, including the young population who can work as laborers in industries and the tourism sector. If Karamoja is marketed intensively, it will easily attract tourists, donors, and investors, creating employment opportunities in the sub region.
To achieve this, Karamoja stakeholders can establish a “Karamoja Awareness Creation and Marketing Agency,” efficiently organize it, and then partner with government and development partners to promote and market Karamoja. I know some readers will ask who will fund the marketing of Karamoja, but funding will be discussed in a different article. What is essential for the people of Karamoja is to think critically and address challenges with innovation in order for Karamoja to prosper.
Ayub Mukisa (PhD)
Executive Director-Karamoja Anti Corruption Coalition
Email:ayubmukisa@gmail.com
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