Making bullets legal tender

By Isaiah Lucheli

The dome shaped huts made of sticks and covered with grass or polythene bags in the sun-baked region welcomes one to the border village of Oropoi in the vast Turkana District.

In the nearby kraals, sheds made from sticks serve as shops. Among the goods openly displayed include sugar, tea leaves, salt and maize. They are sold to local people and also those across the border in Uganda.

Near the kraals, men clad in robes and armed with guns and a traditional stool (Ekachalong), herd their livestock while women, adorned with beads, while away time outside their huts as children play.

The sheds used as shops are busy as some residents, with their guns hanging on their backs, dash from the kraals to the shops to buy some commodities and return to their huts.
“Some of them use bullets as money to buy from the shops,” Mike Lokwa, a resident, whispers as a man walks away from the shop carrying some sugar.

“For majority of Kenyans, money is the medium of exchange for goods but the trend is different here in Oropoi and other border villages,” he explains. “Here bullets are a form of currency.”
He explains that barter trade, where one exchanges bullets for some basic commodities, is an acceptable way to trade in the area.

To test this shocking revelation, some friendly residents  assisted CCI team to purchase two bullets.We were referred to a young man in a manyatta who initially pretended he doesn’t trade in bullets. But upon the intervention of Lokwa, a local resident, the man softened and informed us that bullets were retailing at Sh200.

Thriving trade

They chatted for a few minutes in vernacular and after a while  the young man disappeared behind the kraals. When he returned five minutes later, he carried about 10 bullets, which he held in both hands.
He politely explained that they normally hide the bullets for fear that police would arrest them.
As he displayed the bullets, the young man was apologetic that he had run out of AK 47 bullets and only had those for G3.

We haggled for the price and finally ended up buying at Sh150 per bullet.As we handed him the money in exchange for the bullets, the seller explained that bullets were becoming scarce by the day due to the disarmament exercise in Uganda and the conflict between Turkanas and Toposas.
Straight from the bullet seller, Lokwa led us to a shed where we exchanged one bullet for a two kilogram tin of maize.

Lokwa explained this was the norm in the region.Bullets among the border communities come in handy especially in exchange of essential commodities and cross border trade among the Toposas of Sudan, Turkanas of Kenya and Karamajong of Uganda.

The peace that had been prevailing between Toposas and Turkanas had enabled the two communities to engage in barter trade where the Toposas exchanged bullets for essential commodities from the Turkanas.

“There was a peace agreement between the Turkanas and the Toposas in 2006. From that time the Toposas used to supply Turkanas with bullet and snuff and they would get sheets, beads, maize and sugar in return,” said Simon Ekai a local resident.

Ekai, however, explained that the price of a bullet had drastically shot up following the eruption of clashes between the Turkanas and the Toposas three months ago.“Toposas have been making incursions into Turkana where they have attacked and killed several people including a respected elder in Lokichogio. This has adversely affected the trade,” noted Ekai.

He explained that most pastoralists had a shortage of bullets adding that the price of the ammunition had shot up from as little as Sh40 to between Sh100 and Sh150.

“Majority of the pastoralists prefer AK 47 guns because it is easier to operate and, therefore, there is a high demand for its bullets. The bullets are now retailing at over Sh150,” said Ekai.
He added that in areas such as Oropoi, Kibish and Lokipoto, the impact of the shortage of bullets had adverse effects on the security of the people leading to the drop in the prices of firearms.

Gun prices decline

“Most herdsmen do not have adequate bullets and they are not willing to part with the few they have,” he added.
The price of guns, Ekai explained, had dropped from Sh20,000 to Sh15,000 due to the acute shortage of bullets.

“A mop up exercise conducted by the Uganda Peoples Defence Force (UPDF) in Karamoja, Bukwa, Nakiloro and Kapchorwa recovered over 5,000 guns last year. This has aggravated the situation,” said Ekai.

“In Oropoi you can purchase a kilogramme of sugar with one AK 47 bullet or two G3 bullets. In this part of the country bullets are like a currency,” he said
He said bullets are valued more than currency because they are acceptable on all sides of the border.

“To protect your family and your livestock, guns and bullets are the ultimate weapons. Without a gun you can be run over by the enemy,” said Mark Esekon a resident of Oropoi.
He explained that although bullets are used as currency in the area, majority of the people currently prefer using livestock, beads, snuff and other goods due to the prevailing shortage of bullets.

Supply points

“Bullets are becoming scarce and people have resulted to hoarding the few they have just in case there is an attack. Cases of vicious raids are common,” added Esekon.
The Catholic Justice and Peace representative in Lokichogio Peter Moru and Lokichogio Peace Organisation (LOPEO) coordinator Mr Emmanuel Eregae confirmed the trade existed in the area.
Moru explained that barter trade still thrived in the area and added that bullets and even guns could easily be obtained through the trade.
Herdsmen have been exchanging two bulls for an AK 47 while bullets can be used to purchase essential commodities such as sugar, maize, flour and other basic commodities, he said.
“It is not strange for the locals to purchase goods using ammunition. We have been engaging in barter trade since time immemorial especially in villages. Towns and urban
centres are the only places where money is a medium of exchange,” said Moru.
He explained that majority of the pastoralists owned guns due to increasing cases of external aggression.

Moru explained that organisations working in the area were sensitising the people on the importance of disarming and engaging in other income generating activities.
“Overdependence on livestock as the backbone of livelihoods is to blame for the trend among the border communities. The Government should initiate development projects in these marginalised areas,” said Moru.

The main source of ammunition for the pastoralists is Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda. Others include some unscrupulous police officers who sell their ammunition to the pastoralists. The border points where guns and bullets find their way into the country include Kibish on the border with Ethiopia and Lokichogio, Solia and Naita on the border with Sudan.
Amudat is one of the point through which bullets are smuggled in from Uganda. Other areas include Oropoi, Lokipoto and Lorengipi.

Turkana West District Commissioner Mr Patrick Muriira confirmed that there were cases of arms being smuggled into the country through the borders.
“We cannot rule out barter trade as one of the modes of transactions. But the Government is committed to ensuring that the illegal arms are rooted out ones and for all,” he said.
He said the Kenyan Government was working closely with both the Sudanese and Ugandan governments to carry out a joint disarmament exercise.

“Carrying out disarmament exercise in one country would leave people vulnerable because the communities sharing the border are all armed. Therefore, it must be conducted simultaneously,” said Muriira.

“We have given the people amnesty to return the guns that they own illegally and we are hopeful that they will return them,” he said.He assured the people that the Government was in the process of bolstering security along the border.
“The Government is committed to protecting people’s lives and their property. The disarmament exercise would involve all the stakeholders and it is christened Dumisha
Amani,” he said.
The Turkana North Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) Mr Ndungu Waikonya conceded that majority of the pastoralists own illicit guns but the Government was working on modalities to facilitate disarmament.

Waikonya said the guns were the main source of insecurity in the region and said the Government was beefing up security to guarantee the people security.