
Use our pull-down menus to find more stories

web allafrica.com	Enter your search terms	Submit search form
OR subscribers use AllAfrica's premium search engine

Click here to read or make comments on this topic »

Uganda: 'We Have a Good Agreement in Place'


	Email This Page Print This Page Comment on this article

The Monitor (Kampala)

INTERVIEW
20 April 2008
Posted to the web 21 April 2008

Frank Nyakairu

Dr James Obita, holder of a doctorate in industrial chemistry, is now the new leader of the Lord's Resistance Army delegation to the Juba talks. Dr Riek Machar is the vice-president of South Sudan. He is also the chief mediator of the Juba peace process. Frank Nyakairu spoke to both men in Nabanga, South Sudan, on April 14. Excerpts:-

Dr James Obita

The world held its breath The world held its breath on April 10 expecting you to deliver peace, what went wrong?

If I am reading everything correctly; there was a total breakdown of communication between the head of the LRA peace delegation and Joseph Kony and his fighters. On one hand [Dr David] Matsanga-Nyekorach made everyone, including us, to believe that April 10 was the date for signing but Gen. Kony, on the other side, knew on that day he would meet cultural and religious leaders from northern Uganda. When he saw Ri-Kwangba [the venue prepared for the signing ceremony on the Sudan-DR Congo border] being swamped by hundreds of people, including diplomats and the mediation team, he began to think that he is being pressured into signing the agreement.

So his concerns about Mato Oput and the Special Division of the High Court were mere scapegoats?

No, those were issues he wanted clarified.

But, Dr Obita, you flew to Ri-Kwangba two times purportedly to consult Kony.

We met and talked to Kony for some time. But because we had a leader, Matsanga, we agreed that he communicates with the General and passes on the information to avoid conflicting communication. I am not very sure when Matsanga lost direct communication with Kony.

There is information that Kony last spoke to the mediator when he confessed late last year to killing his deputy Vincent Otti.

We hear so. But it is difficult to know what exactly went wrong between Kony and the mediator. I am sure the two know that well.

How did you take the murder of Otti in October last year?

There is no dispute that the murder of Otti was so devastating and disturbing to some of us who knew him well. He was instrumental in co-ordinating the fighters in the bush and the rest of the world. He made accessing Kony very easy and handled issues very fast as opposed to now. When he was killed LRA was never the same.

There is information there is a continuing purge in the LRA.

For now, I do not know what is true and what is not.

What do you make of Joseph Kony?

I think he is a very intelligent and unpredictable man. He has his one way of leadership which makes him different.

There is that story about you surviving execution on Kony's orders; tell us more.

I have been Kony's foreign secretary for years. At the time I was co-ordinating communication between President Museveni and Kony. I held so many meetings with Ugandan minister Amama Mbabazi and David Pulkol, then heading the External Security Organisation. We had joint meetings with members of the Community of Sant'Egidio and the subject matter was mainly the abducted Aboke girls. I was for the idea that the LRA releases all of them. When I went to Jabilen [in South Sudan], I found out that most of them were mothers, others had died and Kony was also deceived that I had received $200,000 from President Museveni.

He accused me of betraying him and said he was going to kill me. He told me to say my last prayers - but changed his mind. He freed me but Khartoum forces held me for three more months. I walked several dozen kilometres from Jabilen to Juba and quit the LRA.

How did you two get together again?

I had given up on this LRA thing. But in December 2006 he called me and said he wanted me to join his delegation. I thought about it for some time and for the sake of peace in northern Uganda I decided to accept. I came back and the first time we met again he apologised and said that by executing me he [would have] made the biggest mistake of his life.

Now, you seem at odds with him again.

Relevant Links

East Africa
Conflict, Peace and Security
Peacekeeping and Conflict Resolution
Uganda

In my heart of hearts, I know that the General has been receiving very negative reports about the delegation. There are very many people in the Diaspora who believe that we did not negotiate a good agreement. Some went as far as saying that the delegation was planning to sell Kony off, have him arrested. These people I cannot name in the Diaspora caused a lot of damage to the peace process and to us. And they should all know that they have just signed a death warrant for Kony himself and many other people in northern Uganda.

Page 1 of 2


	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.