By Sam Akaki
August 14, 2003
| While I would encourage all Ugandans of goodwill will to do everything possible to bring an end to the 17-year long war in the north and its attendant human tragedy to a speedy end, and to stop its spread to Teso and other regions, I am seriously concerned about the creation of tribal militia armies for the purpose.
The proliferation of tribal armies could have a number of disastrous consequences for Uganda, not least because these militias are not trained in any basic military combat skills. There is a real risk of an infinite abuse by the militia armies of fundamental human rights of civilians in the war zones. For example, The Monitor recently reported: “The Kasese Resident District Commissioner, Mr Musa Ecweru and has issued an order for the Teso militia force, the Arrow Group, to kill on sight any Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) warrior above 18 (See “[Kony wants fresh talks; The Monitor August 11). This statement raises several serious questions: who is Ecweru to issue an order to kill on sight any LRA warrior above 18? How will the Arrow Group establish that their prospective victim is LRA and how will they establish that he/she is 18? The use of militias is likely to degenerate into wider inter-tribal wars. At the recent launching ceremony of the Amuka (Lango voluntary defence force), state minister for health and head of the Teso militia, Capt. Mike Mukula reportedly said: “The rebels had used Lango region to launch attacks on Teso soil. The rebels had found safe havens in Omoro, Orum from where they plan attacks on Katakwi and Kaberamaido districts”. He added, ominously: “We in the Teso region have shown rebel leader Joseph Kony that he has no monopoly of violence, Langi join anti-Kony uprising”. (See The New Vision August 11). These judgmental and inflammatory statements are highly unlikely to go down well with the Langi politicians and the leaders of their new militia force. By appearing to blame the Langi, who are themselves victims, of the recent incursion by the LRA into Teso region, Mukula is acting more like an agent provocateur than a peacemaker. The only people to blame are the leaders of the Movement government who have failed to protect the people of Lango and Teso. The militia men and women being enlisted for war against the LRA are likely to add to the long statistics of the unknown numbers of young people who never came back from front lines in the DR. Congo (DRC) and in the north where they were sent. The donor countries, the ones who really matter, are unlikely to be amused by Ecweru’s orders to his tribal army “to kill on sight any …”. If unchecked, Ecweru and other tribal militia leaders would become the self-styled policemen, prosecutors, judges, jury and executioners in the killing fields of the new war in the north and east. Already, Ecweru’s statement is sending shockwaves in London and other capitals about the rule of law in Uganda. Tribal militias without any military training are unlikely to have an impact on the LRA given that the UPDF with its superior manpower and military hardware has failed to do so for more than a decade. By resorting to militia armies to fight the war, the Movement government is deliberately prolonging the 17-year long war and its unspeakable human tragedy. Finally and the most serious of all, the proliferation of tribal militia armies could mark the beginning of Uganda as a failed state. Militia armies have already brought down Somalia, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Cost and Liberia. Thankfully, many people at home an abroad now seem to have reached the conclusion that only a negotiated settlement would bring this war to an end. One hopes that the Movement leadership will soon realise the futility of war and reach the same inevitable conclusion. The writer is the European Co-ordinator International Lobby for Reform in Uganda (ILORU) |
© 2003 The Monitor Publications
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