Patience of LRA Victims Wearing Thin

Thursday, 27 March, 2008

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Patrick Okino

As a deal to end decades of bloodshed in northern Uganda draws near, war victims say the leader of the Ugandan rebels should be pursued if he fails to sign the accord.



Anxiety in northern Uganda rose this week as word spread that the signing of a peace accord, some 20 months in the making, had been delayed yet again. Originally set for March 28, officials now say that it will be signed April 5.



The delay was agreed so that negotiators for the Lord’s Resistance Army could meet with LRA commanders in a remote area on the border of South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, to discuss details of the agreement.



It remains unclear, however, if rebel leader Joseph Kony will sign the agreement because recent intelligence reports say he has left his northern Congo camp and relocated in the Central African Republic, CAR, apparently to fight alongside rebels there.



“We were optimistic and waiting to welcome the LRA leader, Joseph Kony into the communities, after the signing of the peace deal,” said Patrick Ayena, a senior local leader in Lira district, which was hard hit by the war.



“But, if it is true that he had been relocated to CAR, then he must be followed, because it indicates that peace is not his priority.”



Ayena said that Kony was procrastinating over the signing of a peace agreement, “That is why he demanded the extension till 28 March to give him time to relocate his fighters.”



Ayena lives in Aromo, just five kilometres from the village of Odek, which is Kony’s ancestral home.



Patrick Ogwang, resident of Barlonyo village where the LRA massacred an estimated 300 people in February 2004, said Kony deserves to be apprehended and taken to the International Criminal Court, ICC, for prosecution if he does not come out of the bush.



“It has been our fear since the peace process started 19 months ago,” said Ogwang that Kony might not come out of the bush to sign the agreement.



Ogwang told IWPR that if Kony does not sign the peace accord, he would prefer the rebel commander would die, “…before he returns to Uganda to destabilise us”.



Yuventino Coda, a resident of Oumo village about 50 km east of Lira, said the Ugandan army now was better prepared to handle Kony and his rebels.



“They should not give him time to reorganise and come back to Uganda,” said Coda.



However, some former internal refugees said they were relieved upon hearing reports that Kony had crossed into CAR because it meant the rebels would have difficulty returning to Uganda wage war again.



“This is good news for us,” said James Onyanga, who returned to his home village in Amwak after leaving Lango Cultural Centre internal refugee camp in 2005.



“We don’t regret even if he (Kony) doesn’t sign the peace deal to end the prolonged conflict because he is no more,” said Onyanga.



“They (the Ugandan military) must follow him and [ensure he] is brought to book,” said David Kennedy Odongo, a resident of Omoro.



“The north has suffered enough. We don’t want to go back to the situation again.”



In some locations in northern Uganda, people were prepared to welcome back Kony and his top commanders who have been indicated by the Hague-based International Criminal Court, ICC, for war crime and crimes against humanity.



In the Lango region, some said Kony should face the traditional justice system of kayocuk, or mato oput, as it is called in Luo, the language of Acholi tribe in northern Uganda. The Langi are a related tribe in the north, where religious and cultural leaders said they would pray for Kony.



“We are ready to welcome [Kony] on the 28th,” said Yosam Odur, the paramount chief of the Langi. “But if he shuns the peace agreement, the Uganda military should pursue him until he is arrested.” The chief made his remarks during the 4th commemoration of the LRA massacre at the Barlonyo camp east of Lira.



“This is the only opportunity for [Kony] to come out,” said Odur of the peace accord.



“But if he is becoming stubborn by crossing to Central African Republic, he would die …,” said Zadok Odongo, a county leader who fought the rebels for ten years.



While residents of the north worried about the rebels entering CAR, some government officials said it amounted to a serious breach of the permanent ceasefire agreement.



“Kony has shifted most of his fighters to CAR,” said Major Paddy Ankunda of the Ugandan army. “That is already a blatant breach of the cessation of hostilities agreement.”



Whether this will prevent the signing of the peace accord is unclear, as Ugandan officials say they intend to sign it, regardless of Kony’s presence.



Some residents in the north expect that Kony would return to his ancestral village of Odek, and if that happens, would like him to personally see the mass graves of the victims of his fighting.



“We have forgiven him, but not forgotten atrocities he committed,” said Rebecca Amuge Otengo, who represents Lira in the Ugandan parliament.



“Government has largely overcome the problem of insurgency and is in a better position than ever before to protect the population,” said Professor Apollo Nsimbambi. “Even if the negotiation stalls, government is ready to protect the people of north and north-eastern Uganda.”



Nsimbambi said most of the internal refugees have begun returning to their villages, a sign that most across the north anticipate peace.



But much work need to be done, noted Nsimbambi. In addition to security, people need food, shelter, farming implements, seeds, water and sanitation, health, education, psychosocial support and access to roads, he said.



It is up to the government, now, to follow through with its promises of support, he went on, and take advantage of the peace.



Patrick Okino is an IWPR-trained journalist.

Also see Story Behind the Story, published in ACR Issue 165, 10-Apr-08.

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