Juba — THE Lords Resistance Army leader, Joseph Kony, has lashed out at Members of Parliament from northern Uganda, currently in Juba on an observation mission, accusing them of taking an inducement of Shs60 million each to "to mess him up."

In a two and a half hour teleconference with the MPs and members of the LRA peace negotiation team, a rather infuriated Kony told off the legislators and said, "You MPs are all useless, you have been bribed with Shs60 million each to come and mess me up."

The LRA warlord, who spoke via satellite link at the Juba Bridge Hotel late Saturday, was apparently incensed by a decision the MPs took, to beseech the LRA to drop the three odd demands; one praying for the creation of two parallel armed forces in Uganda, the other a power sharing deal with President Yoweri Museveni and a quest for a federal system of governance.

MPs Ogenga Latigo, Okello Okello, Betty Amongi, Santa Okot and the LRA's lead negotiator Martin Ojul, spoke to Kony on behalf of the 12 MPs representing community interests at the talks. "We told Kony that it is only under Article 260 of the 2005 Constitution that such changes can be effected but there are some people misleading him," Amongi said.

After the meeting, a few MPs went about finger pointing and accused Okot of telling Kony not to drop the demands.

"She openly said she has been in Parliament and that the three demands can be handled since Museveni also changed the Constitution," said an MP who preferred anonymity.

Okot, however, denied the claims. "I only told him [Kony] that if there is good will of President Museveni, the constitution can be changed," she said.

At the meeting, the MPs reportedly voiced their concerns over the protracted negotiations raising the time factor but Kony simply laughed them off.

"The peace talks can even take three years," he said. It also emerged that some MPs, expressing disappointment and frustration, decided to jet back home.

The LRA negotiators are under pressure to sign a second key agreement with the government but the rebels have shown no sign of budging. The two parties had been expected to reach an agreement by the weekend. But the rebels who held a closed and lengthy meeting with the mediator, Dr Riek Machar on Friday night, insisted they would not drop their demand for a power sharing deal, and a parallel army.

Oddly, the team turned its guns on the northern MPs and accused them of hijacking the negotiations. "The bottom line is we want the people who lost their cattle to have it back in form of compensation inclusive of the 20 years time lost," said LRA spokesman Godfrey Ayo.

"Who are these MPs to decide what we want? We thought they came here to observe but now they are mediating, very soon there will be too many cooks who will spoil the broth. They are pushing this process too fast and in the end, we will realise that our people have not benefited."

Making the case for two armies, Ayo said, "This will not be a permanent structure, it will only take effect during the implementation of the peace agreement to make sure the rebel leadership is secure."

Lira Municipality MP Jimmy Akena told Daily Monitor, "What the LRA has just shown us is total confusion about what they want. They are increasingly getting disorganised about what they want for the people of northern Uganda, if it is peace, then, they should not be creating all these unnecessary delays."

The government has roundly rejected the LRA demands as bordering on the improbable. However, following the rejection, the rebels demanded for time off to consult their leadership.

It still remains to be seen whether the two parties can finally reach a deal at this final round of negotiations.