Hudson Apunyo
5 August 2008
A US Army team responsible for civil affairs in northern Uganda is set to leave following the region's return to stability. Capt. Wendy Ormond, the leader of A/402 Civil Affairs Battalion Team II, part of Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) told Daily Monitor in an email message on Sunday that the time had come to move on to the next phase. "Civil Affairs Team II will not be replaced," she said.
Capt. Ormond said the mission of CJTF-HOA in northern Uganda was preventing conflict, promoting stability and protecting coalition interests in order to prevail against extremism.
"We supported this mission by providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Lira, Pader, and Kitgum," Capt. Wendy said. "We helped facilitate the return of internally displaced persons home through borehole drilling and repair, and construction and rehabilitation of schools and clinics, and worked closely with NGOs and local government in the area as well as our colleagues from the Ugandan Peoples Defence Forces," Capt Wendy said.
She said the situation is changing for the better and it is felt that their resources can be used more effectively elsewhere. However, the projects they had embarked on will continue to conclusion.
Capt. Wendy said the US government remains committed to helping the people of northern Uganda resume peaceful, productive lives to resolve the wounds of conflict and prevent future conflict. "We understand that the road to recovery is a long one, and that the needs are great," she said.
"We will complete the projects we have started. Our engineer, US Navy Lt. Trey Sicks will monitor the construction projects and boreholes covered in our present contracts. We understand that there is still much work to be done and would have liked to do more, but the team replacing us is needed elsewhere."
The US Army is building one block (2 units) of teachers' housing, two dormitories and latrines for St Theresa's Secondary School in Abako.
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