UN Sees No Let-Up as M7
Vows to Kill Kony
THE EASTAFRICAN
WITH THE Ugandan government under increasing domestic and international pressure to find a solution to the war in the north, the United Nations last week predicted difficult times ahead and a worsening humanitarian situation.
The Catholic Church said last week that the government should find a solution to the 17-year war between the Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces (UPDF) and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) by talking peace to the rebels.
Legislators from the war ravaged areas last week stormed out of parliament protesting the killing of their constituents and the government's failure to end the war.
"We are going to stay out of parliament because there is no need to participate when the security situation in our constituencies has gone from bad to worse," said Mrs Cecilia Ogwal, who represents Lira Municipality.
In July, a committee of ambassadors including UN agencies in the country held two days of discussions with the government on the worsening political and humanitarian situation in northern Uganda and urged the government to peacefully resolve the conflict.
A report titled "Hear Our Voices" that the UN wrote for the donor community outlining the conflict and justifying the need to raise some $128 million for humanitarian work, noted: "The ongoing political debate on a presidential third term, demands for multi-party elections, the Cabinet reshuffle in May 2003, and the absence of a mechanism for a peaceful resolution of the conflict with the LRA, all point to an unstable internal political situation."
However, army spokesman Major Shaban Bantariza told The EastAfrican that while the donors were entitled to their views, the war in the north was at its "tail end."
"The rebels are now cornered and are only operating in three counties in Lira. They have been driven out of Gulu, Kitgum and Teso region," said Maj Bantariza.
The UN agencies, NGOs and international organisations operating in Uganda are asking for $128 million in the Inter-Agency Consolidated Appeal for the country to address the urgent humanitarian needs of refugees and that of over 1.2 million displaced people.
Ajmal Qureshi, Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) representative in Uganda, told donor representatives in Kampala at the launch of the appeal last week that the money was urgently required.
But President Yoweri Museveni says the war will be over by next month. Meeting legislators from the war-torn areas, the president said rebel leader Joseph Kony would have to surrender or be killed.
The president has issued similar threats and deadlines in the past, which have all come to naught.
However, a political analyst in Kampala told The EastAfrican last week that the president's threat could come to pass this time as Kony had lost many of his top commanders, including Charles Tabuley.
He said Kony had been forced out of his traditional operating areas of Gulu, Kitgum and Apac, into areas where the population is hostile to suspected rebel collaborators.
The donors, who in the past have been critical of Uganda's Defence expenditure have, upon realising the gravity of the northern problem, relented and allowed the country to spend more on the military.
The president said two weeks ago that the army had acquired modern weaponry that will be used against the rebels who have terrorised northern Uganda since 1988 in a quest to bring down the secular government of President Museveni and replace it with a regime based on the biblical Ten Commandments.
The insurgents are however best known for their brutality against millions of northern Ugandans, whom they have killed, maimed, abducted and displaced from their homes.
The UN report states that one likely scenario would be the escalation of LRA activities in Acholi sub-region and the resultant insecurity around the internally displaced Person's camps and the countryside in 2004. This would hamper access by the displaced people to their village farmland, perpetuating dependence on humanitarian handouts.
"There is no possibility of negotiating access with the LRA. The government of Uganda is expected to continue with the military action against the LRA and enter no peace talks or mechanisms for resolving the conflict by dialogue," the UN said, adding that the worst case scenario would be any peace initiative with the LRA collapsing and intensification of the military campaign triggering off increased violence, which will curtail the population's movement to access land outside camps.
Another scenario includes a situation where tension between the governments of Uganda and Sudan escalate amid allegations of support of each other's opposition groups and that this would be exacerbated by Igad talks between the Khartoum government and Sudan People's Liberation Army rebels failing.
"The problem of internal displacement in Uganda has been going on for the past 17 years and it is far from over. It needs to be properly dealt with," Mr Qureshi said.
"Even more vital, the long-term solution to the humanitarian crisis in Uganda does not lie in continued provision of relief aid but in a peaceful resolution of the conflict," he added, after outlining the plight of Ugandans caught in the middle of the conflict.
The war in northern Uganda has recently increased in intensity with reports of new displacements, especially in the northern district of Lira where the LRA has been randomly killing dozens of villagers.
Uganda's development partners have warned that the conflicts in northern and eastern Uganda are putting a huge strain on the ability of local health systems to deliver services to internally displaced persons.
Vicky Moore, the USAid director in Uganda, told the recent 9th Health Sector Review Mission in Kampala that although Uganda has trained health personnel, the slow and inefficient recruitment process prevents them from being hired, especially in rural areas, where healthcare demand is greatest.
"We suggest better co-ordination among relevant agencies to achieve rapid and comprehensive answers to the urgent needs of internally displaced persons," said Moore in a statement read on behalf of donors, who meet 55 per cent of Uganda's health budget.
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Reported by A. Mutumba Lule, Vincent Mayanja and B. Musinguzi
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