Moses Mulondo
26 September 2007
Kampala — THE Uganda People's Congress (UPC) party has rejected the Government's invitation to the consultations on the Juba peace talks. The Government on Saturday invited the UPC to participate in the final and conclusive round of consultations which started yesterday at Munyonyo Speke Resort.
The UPC president, Miria Obote, said the peace talks had been poorly handled and that their invitation was very late.
"Besides, the process is being done on a narrow area of the formal justice system and not on the major issue of accountability and reconciliation. This is absurd," she said.
Addressing the party's weekly press briefing yesterday in Kampala, Miria accused the Government of handling the talks with 'hypocrisy'.
"UPC would like to reiterate that the Government is holding an olive branch in one hand and a dagger in the other.
"It is talking peace on one hand and employing military and scaring strategies on the other hand."
The Government is currently conducting nationwide consultations on what people would want included in the reconciliation package with the LRA rebels.
The findings will inform the discussions when the parties resume talks in Juba.
The UPC also advised the Government to dismiss the ultimatum issued by the US secretary of state for African affairs, Jendayi Frazer, which called for the talks to end within a certain time frame or have war declared on one of the parties.
"It will be recalled that a similar ultimatum by Museveni in 1994 instead derailed the peace talks initiated by Betty Bigombe. This approach is uncalled for.
"It does not create an ambient atmosphere for meaningful peace talks," Miria said.
On the boarder crisis between the DR Congo and Uganda, Miria called for the intervention of the African Union and the United Nations.
She said the two organisations should investigate the cause of the clashes and to come up with a joint solution.
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