British MPs Signing Resolution On Kony
The Monitor (Kampala)
July 8, 2003
Posted to the web July 8, 2003
Mwanguhya Charles Mpagi
Kampala
British MPs are signing a resolution condemning the 17-year-old insurgency led by Mr Joseph Kony in northern Uganda.
Kony's Lord's Resistance Army has been fighting the government since 1988.
The MPs are asking the British government to use its influence to force a political solution to the conflict.
The British Parliament's Web site says that MP Thomas Simon moved Resolution No.1475.
The Web site yesterday reported that 39 MPs had so far signed the resolution.
The MPs want the British government to influence "a political solution to the war in order to end the unspeakable suffering by the civilian population" in northern Uganda.
In moving the motion, Simon said that the British parliament is "appalled by reported deaths of several civilians who were killed in government helicopter attacks in the towns of Lira and Soroti on 23rd and 24th June".
The resolution was debated on June 25 and MPs are still signing in support.
The resolution notes that the military option appears to be failing.
"The LRA insurgency appears to be escalating and spreading to other regions? [This parliament] notes with regret that this has forced the Uganda Government to divert over 20 percent of its expenditure including that on education and health to defence."
The LRA rebels have recently stepped up attacks in the northeast after being engaged by government troops in northern Uganda.
Thousands of people, especially children, have been abducted, killed or maimed since 1988.
A further one million people have been displaced from their homes and are now forced to live under the most squalid conditions in the "protected villages" set up by the government and local authorities.
