Badru Mulumba
2 April 2008
Juba — Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony has requested that the signing of the peace deal be deferred, saying his fighters have malaria, are hungry, and without facilities, such as toilets.
The Uganda Lord's Resistance Army rebels said the request was made following a visit to Ri-Kwangba Saturday, which exposed what they call the terrible conditions in the area.
Under a ceasefire agreement signed July 2006, the rebels were expected to converge at Ri-Kwangba, at the border between Sudan and the DR-Congo, near Garamba National Park, during the course of the talks, where they would be provided with supplies, such as food and medicines.
"People had malaria, people were sick, but that's no reason to stop the signing of the peace talks," LRA head of delegation Dr David Matsanga said Tuesday morning.
"The reason is that there is nothing on the ground," Matsanga said, dismissing reports out of Kampala that Mr Kony was sick. "There's no toilet, there's not even a single tent."
Mr Matsanga denied reports that Kony was ill and insisted the rebel leader was within 30 miles of Ri-Kwangba.
Peace talks to end Uganda's decades-old insurgency formally ended March 1 in Juba, with the rebels and government delegations agreeing on a final peace agreement, and an implementation schedule. And both sides had agreed to sign the final peace agreement on April 5.
Mr Matsanga said the Lord's Resistance Army expects some 3,000 people at the signing ceremony.
"You can't expect people to sign under a tree," said Matsanga. The Chief Mediator has communicated an April 10 date for LRA leader to sign the agreement. The Ugandan government would sign on April 15.
"The date was given to the Ugandan government; they are agreeable to it."
Matsanga declined to see what would happen if the facilities are not put in place.
"I don't know," Dr Matsanga said. "That's the problem of Government of Southern Sudan." They have the money. They have to meet the standards of signing ceremony. They have already invited people."
Peace talks to end Uganda's decades-old insurgency have formally ended in Juba, with the rebels and government delegations agreeing on a final peace agreement, and an implementation schedule.
Mr Kony will sign the deal from the bush, the rebels have said.
The Ugandan government says Kony is in Central African Republic, although Matsanga said Kony called a delegation from northern Uganda to meet him in Ri-Kwangba in order to dispel the rumours.
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