Moses Byaruhanga
7 April 2008
opinion
The media has of late been awash with stories about signing the peace accord in Juba between the LRA and the Uganda government. To understand the issues at hand let's look at the genesis of the problem. Northern Uganda has been hit by terrorism sponsored by Sudan using Joseph Kony (LRA) as a proxy in the last twenty years.
The population had hope in government providing them with security by moving from their villages to camps. Government with assistance from donors did its best to provide food, shelter and sanitation to IDPs, but it was never enough. Insecurity in the north notwithstanding, government maintained budgetary allocations to the districts in northern Uganda like to the rest of the country.
Government decided on the three-pronged strategy to solve the LRA problem. This was amnesty, peace talks and a continued military offensive. On amnesty, government lived to its promise, as all those who were either captured or surrendered were never tried in courts. They were instead forgiven under the amnesty law. On talks, government cleared anybody or group who sought permission to talk to LRA.
The first attempt was by the then Minister in Charge of the North, Ms Betty Bigombe around 1994, the President Jimmy Carter Foundation, the Community of St. Edigio, Elders and Religious leaders. All the above attempts at peace talks failed. At one time Kony killed one of the elders who was on his way to meet LRA fighters. LRA used peace talks to reorganise itself whenever it had been under fierce attacks by UPDF.
The military strategy worked. It led to the defeat of Kony in southern Sudan under "Operation Iron Fist". This was followed by the government of Sudan signing a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) with SPLA in January 2005.
The CPA marked a turning point in the history of insurgency in northern Uganda. With southern Sudan under SPLA in accordance with the CPA, the days of LRA were numbered. LRA could no longer loiter in southern Sudan, a territory under SPLA. It should be noted that the Sudan government armed LRA to attack SPLA, and cause mayhem in northern Uganda.
So with southern Sudan under SPLM, LRA could no longer use that territory for a much long time as a springboard to launch attacks on northern Uganda. Under the protocols signed between the government of Khartoum and Uganda allowing UPDF to pursue LRA inside Sudan, LRA could not stand the UPDF fire. They fled to Garamba National Park in Congo in September 2005.
This marked the end of insurgency in the north and peace started reigning. Kony later contacted the SPLA leadership, which he requested to inform the leadership in Uganda, that he wanted peace talks. The government of Uganda accepted his request and constituted a team led by Dr Ruhakana Rugunda to talk with the LRA team under the SPLM chairmanship.
By the time Kony requested for talks, the International Criminal Court (ICC) had already indicted five LRA leaders. However with LRA leaders holed up in Garamba there was no authority ready to effect the indictments. Hence when Kony requested for talks, government accepted.
The current peace in the north is not a result or an outcome of the current peace talks. On the contrary, the peace is a result of the changed dimensions already mentioned above namely; the defeat of both LRA and their sponsors, the CPA, which put south Sudan under SPLM. Kony cannot use south Sudan to attack Uganda, like he did in the past. With or without peace talks, the peace in northern Uganda is irreversible.
The writer is special presidential assistant on political affairs
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
