Geresom Musamali
6 January 2008
Kampala — UGANDA and the DR Congo have agreed to pressurise the Lord's Resistance Army to leave Garamba National Park. Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, the chief of the Uganda Defence Forces, met the Congolese chief of general staff, Dieudonne Kayembe, in Kampala over the weakened.
According to the UPDF spokesperson, Capt. Paddy Ankunda, officials of MONUC, the UN peace monitoring team in Congo, also attended the meeting.
"It was agreed that the army of the Democratic Republic of Congo and MONUC pressurise the LRA to leave Garamba and move to Ri-kwangba (South Sudan)," Ankunda said.
"The UPDF offered to extend technical and other support to Congo."
The LRA leader, Joseph Kony, has been hiding in Garamba since he was pushed out of northern Uganda by the UPDF.
During the peace talks mediated by South Sudan in Juba, the LRA leaders, whose brutal 20-year war in northern Uganda killed tens of thousands of people and displaced two million more, signed a truce with the Government in 2006 but have refused to quit their jungle hideouts in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The rebels have not assembled in the designated area and some LRA fighters have surrendered to MONUC.
In 2006, Kony resisted MONUC forces that had gone to evict him from the park, killing several peacekeepers.
He is also said to be feeding on the rich wildlife in the park, including elephants.
Ankunda said the meeting reviewed past resolutions and recommendations on how to deal with negative forces in the region.
They noted the slow pace of implementation of the resolutions.
They also noted the need to continue dialogue and action against the negative forces.
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