Alice Emasu
19 March 2006
Washington, DC — THE United States Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council in Washington, Dr. Cindy Courville, has said the US government is committed to supporting Uganda to end the 20-year northern Uganda war.
Courville revealed this on Thursday during a meeting with six women journalists from Africa at her office in the White House, Washington DC.
She said the administration of President George Bush was working tirelessly to find the best way to fight Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
The LRA, declared by the United States a terrorist organisation, has been at war for 20 years, raping, maiming and killing the local population. Over one million people have been uprooted from their homes by the war and are now living in camps.
"We know that you are challenged by Kony. Many people feel frustrated but we have to work with you and get a solution. We feel that it is probably not right to deploy 2,000 American soldiers to fight one man," explained Courville, who is President Bush's advisor on security and foreign policy matters.
According to her, the solution to the war in the north couldn't be found as fast as the people want it. She said the US has assisted the country to train the army in anti-terrorism.
While commenting on the recently-concluded presidential election, Courville said prior to the election, Uganda was seen as a role model of democracy in many ways by most of the African countries.
She said the US did not participate in removing the presidential term limits. "We are told your people chose to return Museveni as your president. But even if there were problems with the term limits, you now have to work with him and build the political parties," she said.
Courville pointed out that Museveni cannot be compared with the former South African President Nelson Mandela because whereas Mandela, inherited the political policies from previous governments; Museveni initiated policies.
She, however, observed that the challenge for Museveni is to move forward and open up the political space for the parties.
"I really believe that Uganda has a big future. I think that democracy for East Africa will be a success. But for the region to be stable, the East African leaders need to work with the governments of Rwanda and Burundi because they still need support," Courville said.
She disclosed that Bush was concentrating on Africa because he has seen the determination of the African people to develop their continent.
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