Badru Mulumba
27 March 2008
Nairobi — Peace talks to end Uganda's decades-old insurgency have formally ended in Juba, with the rebels and government delegations agreeing on a final pe agreement, and one last extension of the ceasefire.
"This is the end of formal negotiations of the peace talks," said Chief Mediator Riek Machar as delegations leaders initialed the agreements. "This is the last day and night for formal negotiations."
And both sides agreed to sign the final peace agreement on April 5.
"That's a very important day," said Mr Machar, who also is the Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan.
It's still not clear if the LRA leader Joseph Kony would personally sign the agreement or send someone to sign for him.
The Ugandan government says Mr Kony is in Central African Republic, although Mr Kony has called a delegation from northern Uganda to meet him in Garamba National Park, in the Congo.
The International Criminal Court indictments still stand against Mr Kony.
But the leader of the Uganda government delegation Dr Ruhakana Rugunda said Uganda would choose peace over the ICC. "Uganda respects the ICC, but we also have our own national obligations to ensure that the country is at peace and our people live a normal life," Dr Rugunda said.
"We will implement everything that we have committed to in the agreements that we have signed."
The rebels, however, accused the Uganda government of having a low implementation level of peace agreements.
"Signing the peace agreement and implementing the peace agreement are two different things," said the leader of the LRA negotiation team David Matsanga.
He said failure to implement this agreement could litter another rebellion.
"We didn't leave any stone unturned," Mr Matsanga said. "So you must tell Ugandans the truth."
The talks aimed at resolving Uganda's more than two decades-old insurgency have been going on since July 14, 2006. Aid agencies estimate that more than 1.5 million people have been displaced during the war. Under the final peace agreement, the government would help resettle the displaced people.
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