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The Monitor (Kampala)
September 7, 2003
Posted to the web September 8, 2003
Patrick Elobu Angonu
Kampala
The eerie atmosphere and stench smell of first decomposing bodies filled the air as you enter Atirir village, the scene of the September 1 ambush in which the rebel LRA fighters attacked a Gateway bus and set it ablaze after killing more than 25 passengers.
In downtown Soroti, people were standing in small groups discussing the attacks.
Ms Akunyo was one of the lucky ones who escaped unharmed after a bus attack that occurred in this dusty village, 17 km North of Soroti town along Soroti Lira highway.
Akunyo says the rebels sprayed the bus with bullets deflating its tires instantly.
"When the bus came to a halt, the rebels started pulling out passengers one by one and killing them instantly," she said.
Among those killed was the Kaberamaido District Security Officer (DISO) Lt. Chris Ruyongo and a Catholic priest Fr Lawrence Oyuru.
"The rebels were heavily armed. They numbered about 100 and dressed in uniform similar to that of the UPDF," she said.
Another survivor, Ms. Betty Asege was not so lucky, she dumped her 8-month baby, Sam Eniru. "I don't know whether my baby has survived," the tearful Asege said.
Ambushes like that of Atirir are now daily occurences in Teso ever since the LRA invaded the area last June.
As I sat in my office to write this article on September 3 a fleet of tanks and armored vehicles crisscrossed Soroti town before they eventually hit the Soroti-Lira highway as onlookers stood along the roadsides in shock and awe.
Soroti town that has for long been touted for cleanliness is now littered by garbage left behind by internally displaced people who spend nights on shop verandahs, as well as mud and chain marks left on the roads by armored vehicles and tanks.
Moments later, news filtered through that the LRA staged another ambush at almost the same spot as the Gateway bus incident.
But this time the President who was on a shooting range mission at the nearby Oculoi rocks some 8kms north of Soroti town, quickly ordered his Presidential Guard Brigade soldiers to confront the LRA who had planed to set the lorry ablaze.
One PGB soldier was reportedly killed and a mamba damaged by the rebels. "I am sorry for what has happened," Museveni told some of the UPDF and Arrow Group soldiers who were nursing bullet wounds at Soroti hospital shortly after the ambush was bust.
"The whole thing is a challenge. When you read the map and join the lines to areas where the rebels have reached, It is a challenge," says regional Police Commander Bob Ngobi.
But the mind boggling question that is often asked is: Why has the LRA become more brutal in Teso in recent days than when it invaded the sub-region three months ago?
What is even more disturbing is that Joseph Kony's LRA seem to be committing horrendous atrocities against their latest Teso victims in the face of President Yoweri Museveni's camping in the sub-region ostensibly to decimate the LRA once and for all.
"Teso will provide a Waterloo for LRA," Museveni recently told a congregation of some 200 delegates most of whom were Movement ideologues and a handful of LC officials and religious leaders at Soroti Hotel.
At a risk of being branded unpatriotic, I will attempt to delve into circumstances that tend to point out as to why we are not making any meaningful headway to end the terrorist acts of the LRA.
First of all it has to do with intelligence gathering and dissemination for appropriate action against he LRA. Since Museveni moved to Teso to oversee the UPDF offensive against the LRA, he has held a series of meetings including the holding of a cabinet meeting at Soroti in frantic efforts to end the suffering of the people.
The president, however, does not seem to notice that the people he is meeting are the very ones that have been providing him information that has failed to end the war for the last 17 years.
It would have been meaningful if the August 30 cabinet meeting Museveni summoned in Soroti had been a national conference that would involve the opposition and diplomatic corps to chant out an alternative means to end the war peacefully.
The only attempt to have a representative view on how to flush out the LRA from Teso was when Museveni met Teso politicians at the Presidential lodge in Soroti.
However, the leaders treated him bizarre scenes. A fracas broke out between his state minister for health and Soroti Municipality MP Mike Mukula and other leaders in Teso.
In the end they failed to present a joint memorandum on how to end the brutality of the LRA.
The president took only 17 points enumerated by the Ms Alice Alaso Asianut, Women MP for Soroti.
Museveni was at a loss when Mukula was singled out for "confusing" and being "divisive" inTeso.
This unbecoming scenario was shortly to be replicated in a meeting summoned by Church of Uganda prelates at Soroti Medical Centre to broker peace between the widening divisions and bickering amount the Teso leaders.
Nothing good came out of this meeting that was co-chaired by Bishops Nicodemus Okile (Bukedi) and Bernard Obaikol (Soroti) with retired Teso Bishop Gereshom Ilukor as a peace broker and Bishop Irigei (Kumi) as an observer.
Guns were reportedly drawn in this closed meeting. The point of contention here was who should be the spokesmen of Teso and the control of the Arrow Group militias.
There was also a question of the whereabouts of the Shs 57 million initially released by government to foot the bills of the militia.
The mayhem sown by the LRA has continued because of luck of honesty, says Fr Athanasius Mubiru.
Fr. Mubiru is the Co-ordinator of Socadido, a church organisation that runs Kyoga Veritas radio, recently re-opened. Government had closed it after it was accused of airing pro-rebels views.
"The war has persisted because truth is not told," Fr. Mubiru said.
He said the truth comes from the people.
"The people have told the truth about the LRA incursions but the government and UPDF commanders are adamant," he added.
Fr Mubiru gave an example of not taking action on the truth provided by civilians when the LRA struck Obalanga June 15 after UPDF had been informed about the invasion of the LRA three weeks before the attack.
It has also been difficult to read the mind of the marauding LRA rebels as to whether they were committed to peace as they claim in leaflets.
In letters signed by Brig. Charles Tabuley that he handed to Mzee Pampras Imodot Edimu to deliver to the government, the LRA commander said the LRA are interested in fresh peace negotiations.
Brig. Tabuley dismisses international (read USA) classification that the LRA is a terrorist Organisation.
The LRA had abducted Edimu. However, when Mzee Edimu put to Tabuley why they are killing innocent people, abducting children and torching homesteads the rebel leader reportedly said the killings are done by errant LRA fighters.
In an interview on September 3, Mzee Edimu quoted Tabuley as having said that the LRA turned their anger to civilians because it was civilians who are fighting them.
"Brig. Tabuley told me that the LRA is killing civilians because it is the civilians who are fighting them. Throughout the six hour interrogation the rebels kept referring to the Arrow Group as civilians," added Mzee Edimu.
"President Museveni says that we are remnants but he has failed to defeat us," Edimu quotes Tabuley.
