allAfrica.com: Uganda: Kony is a Political Pawn (Page 1 of 3)

Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) chief Joseph Kony did not turn up to sign the Juba peace deal on April 10 after more than 21 months of intense negotiations. Internal affairs minister Ruhakana Rugunda has been head of the government delegation to the talks. Despite the setback, Rugunda told Cyprian Musoke that he is still optimistic of a peaceful solution to the northern Uganda conflict ...

The peace talks have been going on for 21 months and still no comprehensive peace agreement has been signed. Are you disappointed?

From the beginning we knew it was not going to be an easy process. There was the chaos that marred the opening; the problems that characterised the visit of President Yoweri Museveni when some LRA leaders refused to shake his hand. There was even the question of who represented the LRA. A number of names were mentioned.

We demanded that Joseph Kony inform the chief mediator that so and so were members of his delegation and that they had full authority to negotiate on behalf of the LRA. We expected these ups and downs. After all, this was not the first attempt at peace talks, nor was it the second, third or fourth. There had been many previous attempts, the most known being that of Betty Bigombe, Eriya Kategaya, Salim Saleh, Reagan Okumu and Norbert Mao. Some of the things that took place therefore did not surprise us at all. All in all, having this expectation, I believe the peace process has gone reasonably well.

But on April 10, Kony did not show up for the signing of the peace agreement. What exactly happened that day?

I do not think the full story has come out. We did agree on the date of signing the final peace agreement in Juba and also in Ri-Kwangba. Then there were changes. The date shifted from March 6 to 13. Eventually, it became April 10. Because this date had been given to us by the LRA, the chief mediator and the rest of us agreed on it.

So what went wrong?

We were more than a hundred people that day in Ri-Kwangba: journalists, religious leaders and international observers from Europe and America. Some, such as the religious leaders led Archbishop John-Baptist Odama and the traditional leaders led by Rwot Achana II, had been there from the previous night. The information was that before Kony would sign, he would first meet the religious and traditional leaders, and after that, the chief mediator.

The religious leaders went into the bush and everybody was under the assumption that they were having their meeting with Kony. But it turned out they were actually not meeting him. They were talking with him on phone. We waited for several hours. When they came back, we realised that the meeting had not taken place. Nevertheless, the chief mediator continued to make consultations with different people. We eventually left him there at about 7:30pm, trying to make contact. We returned to Nabanga, where we spent the night in a camp earmarked for about 50 people, but we were well over a hundred. Some had to sleep in the open. We still expected he would come the following day. So the religious and traditional leaders and the journalists went back the next morning. We decided we were not going to move from the camp until we were sure Kony was going to sign.

Was there any indication that he was anywhere nearby?

The impression was created that he was in the vicinity, wanting to make sure that he was safe. At about midday, we discussed with the chief mediator that, based on the intelligence information we got, Joseph Kony was not anywhere near Ri-Kwangba and that we were just being taken for a ride. We told him we had decided to go back to Kampala. So at 1:00pm, we left in a helicopter for Juba and then straight to Kampala. We left a number of religious and traditional leaders there, as well as the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Prof. Ogenga Latigo, the Leader of the Acholi Parliamentary Group Hon. Okello Okello, and other MPs. They waited for several days. After five days, they also left.

You were convinced Kony was going to sign. What do you think made him change his mind?

I was indeed of the view that he would sign because this is by far the best ever opportunity for Kony to emerge out of the insurgency in the safest and best way. Why didn't he come? I think mainly because of misinformation. Kony receives numerous communications from different sources: people in Uganda, in the diaspora and in the region. It appears to me that some of the people tell him wrong things, which sound credible to him, specifically focusing on the fear factor. They tell him: "If you come out, you will be arrested, you will be handed over to the ICC like Charles Taylor. The special division of the High Court is a cover-up. They want to hang you." So they basically tell Kony that if he signs, he will be killed.

Why would some people misinform him? What are their motives?

I believe everybody wants peace in northern Uganda, but some want it on certain terms. For us, the essence of the talks is to achieve a negotiated settlement so that we reach a peaceful end to the conflict and reconcile. If we hang anybody, the concept of reconciliation does not arise. It has never been the intention of the Government to establish courts whose purpose would be to hang Kony. Instead the courts have to ensure that he accounts for the crimes he committed during the insurgency, that there is no impunity. The victims must be able to see that some of the people who were responsible for their maiming, abduction or rape have accounted and have received appropriate punishment.

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