In the 1970s, President Idi Amin Dada created Iteso Home Guard units specifically to protect the region from raids by Karamojong cattle rustlers.
With this history, and the region's previous support for Milton Obote in mind, the Special District Administrator (SDA) in Soroti, Lt. Rwakatare-Amooti, ordered the disbanding of the people's militia.
[citation needed] The disbanding of the people's militias led to the creation of a power vacuum along the border with Karamoja, which Karamajong cattle raiders exploited to conduct raids into Teso territory.
The prohibition against movement of livestock out of the region came to be seen as a draconian act of malice by the Museveni administration, as it insured cattle would be stolen by raiders while NRA officers reportedly flouted the rule for personal gain.
Its members were largely composed of professional soldiers, resembling the Acholi Uganda People's Democratic Army, which was also fighting the NRA government in the north.