ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how pastoralists in East Africa, operating under a state without the capacity or will to protect its subjects, restored local order after the proliferation of automatic rifles. Dozens of ethnic groups in the arid and semi-arid areas of East Africa depend primarily on livestock (cattle, camel, sheep, goat and donkey) herding for their subsistence. These pastoralists are among the most marginalised peoples in East Africa and face grave threats to their human security. The majority of citizens in East Africa regard peripheral pastoralists as primitive, savage and warlike. The chapter argues that state-sponsored disarmament tends to increase the public's vulnerability to natural and social changes. It also argues that the proliferation of (semi-) automatic rifles such as the AK47 and G3 has increased the seriousness of conflicts. The chapter briefly describes how the relationship between the Daasanach and the Nyangatom changed after the proliferation of automatic rifles.
