The Ateker Communities’ “Right to Dream” influences Oil-driven regional development

Democratic governance, shared prosperity, climate change and development infrastructure are the four things that would drive East Africa in the coming decade. Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan are already pursuing what Ethiopia, at significant costs have equally decided to take. Building large-scale infrastructure and energy projects that make national economic sense but with regional trans-boundary costs and benefits to climate change, sharing prosperity and directly implicate on the common Ateker communities ambitions. 

According to classic Wikipedia, The Ateker or ?aTekerin is a common name for the closely related Jie, Karamojong,Turkana, Toposa, Nyangatom and Teso peoples and their languages. Itung'a andTeso have been used among ethnographers, while the term Teso-Turkana is sometimes used for the languages, which are of Eastern Nilotic stock. Ateker means 'clan' or 'tribe' in Teso language. In Lango language the word for clan is atekere. This week, I met this friend, an Ateker activist, and our discussions informed this article.

As students of history and culture, the common thread beat the path of the Ateker present and future is the introduction of the gun in the Second World War in Ethiopia. The gun will not quench the thirst of Ateker for nationhood. The division as a result of state borders and the juxtaposition of high value natural resources would drive the Karamoja clusters of communities chance to forefront the next post colonial, post millennial spur of east African regional development.

Political-economic devolution say in Kenya is a major step to the reality of the region’s audacity of hope as the next frontier of economic growth for individual states and for the east African region. The discovery of commercial deposits in Turkana County, (to some seen as equal to 1963 independence) comes with the urgent need to bridge the development gap. Yet it also provides an opportunity to lead the shedding off the perceptions of “an ungoverned space” that it shares with other members of the Ateker families across the four state borders. The communities have identical interests at all levels of governments, which surpass state borders. The regional development of the region will be driven by the nationhood ambitions of the Ateker.

Democratic governance: In the Turkana language, Ateker means a distinct group with related customs, laws and lifestyle and who share a common ancestry. Turkana County as a member of the Ateker, equally has the burden of sharing the ambitions of the other regional members. While recent insecurity seem to contest this, the community's desire to contend with common ambitions, driven by sustainable development of natural resources found in their communally owned land, makes democratic governance a no-brainer.

Turkana communities are known for their forthrightness in governance engagement, or leadership. Oil company engagements are learning this brutal reality must equally be based on the fluidity of community local interests. Companies must discern the flow of self-interests, the different segments of communities have and provide opportunities for those interests to count in local decisions making. The urban and rural Ateker male or female are increasingly driven by individual and collective ambitions to measure up to different role-models while keeping their identity. Far-flung representative decision made without local ways to check and balance does not seem to work. Rigid community engagement structures that are inflexibility challenges of seasonality, generational gaps and or alternative land uses with collective ownership of individual informed decisions, may be candidly contested.  

Members of one Ateker have a common character of mutual respect for each other in their diversity. The counties responsibilities in making the state borders secure are immense to maintain this respect. By their livelihood, they live, invest and save beyond the limits of state borders. Each member group of Ateker occupies its own territory and exercise authority over its own land and people independent of each other. Yet they are one people. They have interest beyond state borders and irrespective of state borders. 

An Ateker County Government has a cross-border regional policy, if not only to build peace and stability, of the nationhood as to secure the wider ambitions. Turkana Communities must find their voices in village, ward, sub-county and county government structures (Turkana County Public Participation Act 2015), contest them occasionally, if these structures are to provide the means for local governance of both proceeds of natural resources and expression of their vision in local development. This shared with the Karamoja of Uganda state, or the Toposa in Eastern Equatoria State, South Sudan, and the Nyangatom in Ethiopia will see the region provide meaningful sub-national governance that is based on peace, security, stability and sustainable development.  

Shared large scale infrastructure: The friend said that there are natural resources in the larger Ateker region. Weather it is in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia or South Sudan, the presence of either grazing land, to petroleum deposits, water aquifers to international rivers that will provide answers going forward will require the signature of an akater to develop, benefit from or share. This is a great driver for rebuilding the Ateker nationhood, if only we can be able to entertain the ambitions. inter-clan equal sharing of infrastructure project opportunities (jobs and tenders) is inevitable.

The common characteristics that bind the Ateker together include Language. Member of one Ateker speak one language or distinct languages which developed from one common language, Laws and Customs (Each Ateker has distinct laws and customs). The laws and customs of people of one Ateker are similar. To be able to build large-scale infrastructure through the community you need to learn the language, laws and customs to be able to permit.

What other see as a result of International competitive interests, the US government has put fresh firewood dicey LAPSSET a regional commercial fireplace. The construction of this mega-regional infrastructure has costs and benefits to the larger Ateker nationhood. The major costs would have to be negotiated; how the project will be designed to suit their livelihoods, yet open the commercial interests to each other, their states and international export coastlines. The super-highway, fibre-optic, railway and petroleum pipeline will strongly open up northern Uganda, to benefit the Karamoja immensely.

Ateker business interests will expand to the wider states, and also export to international markets through infrastructure to the coasts. The challenge would be to make these infrastructure projects have meaning to the wider rural Ateker communities, whose pastoralists-livelihood will not be replaced by these roads, rails, and cities or the multiplier businesses they generate. The urban class educated Akater will need to go into joint venture opportunities with each other and with the wider interests.  

Shared prosperity: Land is one characteristic that helps in determining membership in an Ateker. Members of one Ateker usually occupy adjoining areas. Land adjudication forms the basis for laws and customs. In the Turkana Ateker, land is subdivided into regions or territorial sections, ?iTela. Each Ekitela institutes its own common laws, which are derived from the general laws of the whole nation or kingdom.

Land is also what development projects will ask for in exchange for exploitation of natural resources. Community ownership of land must also mean communal benefit from investments in large-scale projects that demand land-use changes. These changes must be compensated communally and individually. Individually in terms of preferential job and tender opportunities and collectively in terms of revenue sharing financing locally driven development initiatives.  

There are petroleum resources “flowing through” the sub-surface of the Ateker region. These resources bring strong complication to state boundaries. While exploration of petroleum is best managed by state led production sharing contracts (PSCs), the sharing of the revenue has to include and contribute to the nationhood of Ateker. The Ateker nationhood would also provide the states with a solution to better contract negotiation for petroleum and also water resources that run across state border. According to my friend, the Ateker do are comfortable with whichever state that wins cross border international legal disputes on where petroleum under their land lies. To the Ateker, states are administrative units of the larger nation.  

Climate Change and Lifestyle. Members of each Ateker live their lives in a similar lifestyle. Diversified groups within one Ateker usually have traces of laws and customs that can be traced to the original group. The revenue from petroleum must improve pastorlalism. The construction of large-scale infrastructure and county administration development projects must not stifle pastoralists grazing lands and migration routes. But more so, these projects contribution to the larger climate change impacts must be measured and mitigated to protect the lifestyle of the Ateker community. Religious beliefs of one Ateker are similar. The supreme deity worshiped has one common name.

The Ateker narrative is one the four states may have to deal with if the regional development from local natural resources across these boundaries is going to be successful.

These are personal views and due diligence is advised on any references made, for any purposes whatsoever.