By Counsel Twinobusingye Severino
Peace is often spoken about as an outcome. Rarely is it treated as a discipline.
Across religions, however, the pattern is clear. Whether in Christianity or Islam, children are not simply born into belief, they are trained into it. They undergo structured learning, internalising values, boundaries, and responsibilities before they are entrusted with full participation in their faith.
Peace, arguably, requires the same intentional cultivation.
Yet the world appears to be moving in the opposite direction.
Since late February this year, the Middle East has once again reminded us of the cost of neglecting diplomacy. The confrontation involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, driven largely by technological capability, left destruction in its wake before a ceasefire was eventually reached. Advanced weapons, from drones to ballistic missiles, defined the battlefield. Ironically, it was not superior firepower that ended the conflict, but negotiation.
That lesson is not new. It is simply ignored too often.
In many advanced economies today, higher education increasingly feeds into the machinery of war. Research and innovation are channelled into building more sophisticated weapons—biological, chemical, and kinetic. The pursuit of knowledge, in this sense, has been closely tied to the pursuit of military advantage.
What remains underdeveloped, particularly in Africa, is the academic investment in peace itself.
Few universities on the continent offer specialised training in peace-building, diplomacy, and conflict prevention. Yet history consistently shows that while peace can be imposed through force, it rarely endures without understanding. Sustainable peace is negotiated, not enforced.
Africa’s own experience reinforces this truth. From the Great Lakes region to the Horn of Africa, the gun has left deep scars, civil wars, displacement, and generations shaped by instability. Uganda alone hosts over a million refugees, many fleeing conflicts within the region.
Against this backdrop, the African Union’s recent decision to operationalise its Peace Fund is both timely and necessary. At the 39th AU Summit earlier this year, member states committed to building a more sustainable financing mechanism for peace initiatives, with a target of mobilising $400 million and ensuring Africa funds at least a quarter of its own peace operations.
It is a significant step.
But it also raises an important question: will this fund be used primarily to respond to conflicts, or to prevent them?
The distinction matters.
If the Peace Fund is to achieve lasting impact, it must go beyond firefighting. Prevention—investing in the intellectual and social foundations of peace—offers far greater returns. And that investment must begin with the youth, who are often both the drivers and victims of conflict.
This is where institutions of learning come in.
Africa needs to think of peace not only as a policy objective, but as a field of study. Universities should be at the centre of this shift, producing graduates trained not just in law, politics, or security, but in the practical art of building and sustaining peace.
The African Union should, therefore, consider establishing regional peace hubs anchored in higher education institutions.
For East Africa, the case for the Karamoja Peace and Technology University (KAPATU) is compelling.
Karamoja is not just another location. It is a sub-region that has lived through decades of insecurity, marginalisation, and underdevelopment. Its history makes it an unlikely but powerful setting for transformation. A university rooted in such a context is uniquely positioned to engage with the realities of conflict—not as theory, but as lived experience.
KAPATU’s proposed academic focus on peace and diplomacy aligns directly with the AU’s ambition to “silence the guns” across the continent. Its geographic location also places it at the heart of the wider Ateker region, linking communities across Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, and Ethiopia—areas that share both cultural ties and security challenges.
Uganda’s role as a major refugee-hosting country further strengthens the case. With populations from across Africa living within its borders, the country offers a natural laboratory for studying displacement, integration, and post-conflict recovery.
In this context, KAPATU is more than a university project. It is a strategic opportunity.
The disarmament of Karamoja has addressed the physical instruments of conflict. The next challenge is more complex: changing mindsets shaped by years of violence. That transformation cannot be achieved through security interventions alone. It requires education—structured, deliberate, and sustained.
The AU Peace Fund, if deployed with foresight, could support precisely this kind of intervention.
Rather than waiting for conflicts to erupt and then mobilising resources to contain them, the continent has an opportunity to invest in long-term stability by nurturing a generation equipped with the skills and mindset for peace-building.
Peace is not accidental. It is taught, practised, and reinforced over time.
Just as faith is nurtured through institutions, so too must peace be cultivated through systems of learning. Universities like KAPATU can play that role—training not just negotiators, but ambassadors of coexistence.
If Africa is serious about silencing the gun, it must first educate the hand that holds it.
The Writer is Chairperson KAPATU Council
ABOUT KAPATU
KAPATU is a Nucleus National Public University established jointly by the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Kotido and Moroto, the Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI), headed by its president, Counsel Severino Twinobusingye, and the government of Uganda. Its main campus is situated at Losilang, Kotido municipality (Karamoja). The initiative aims to foster peace and sustainable development in the region through education.
It was conceived in 2014 but actualised on 29th April, 2023, in a colourful ceremony at Nsambya presided over by the Vice President of Uganda, H.E. Maj. Jessica Rose Epel Alupo, who represented H.E. the President. The KAPATU project is being overseen by a Strategic Leadership Committee comprising President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (Chair/Founding Chancellor), Vice President Jessica Rose Epel Alupo (Founding Deputy Chancellor), and First Lady, also Minister for Education and Sports, Maama Janet Kataha Museveni.
The government has, in the FY2025/26, allocated Shs180bn for the university’s establishment following a special cabinet sitting on 16th December 2024, chaired by H.E. the President and also attended by H.E. the Vice President.