In May 2019 National Catholic Reporter relayed that Catholic bishops from Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia called for coordinated, peaceful disarmament in the border triangle where Turkana, Pokot, Karamoja, Daasanach, and Toposa communities live.
Church officials said about 8 million illegal small arms circulated among herders whose cattle-raiding traditions had grown deadlier with modern weapons. The same zone also hosted large refugee populations and fed wider forced migration.
Bishops argued that one-country gun collection campaigns fail when fighters can cross borders, and they asked states to pair disarmament with development rather than only raids.
Kept as Horn pastoral-conflict archive, the bishops’ appeal dates a recurring arms problem that still shapes Ethiopia’s southern and western frontier security.
Sources: National Catholic Reporter