The Monitor (Kampala)
Benon Herbert Oluka
24 June 2009
The United Nations Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, has prematurely suspended the mandate of Joaquim Chissano as his Special Envoy to Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)-affected areas.
The UN Chief also ordered the closure of the former Mozambican president's office in Kampala.
In a May 26 letter to the President of the UN Security Council, Mr Ban said the suspension of Mr Chissano's assignment would take effect on June 30, six months before the expiry of the additional one year mandate that was to end on December 31.
"In this context, the office established in Kampala to support his activities would close on June 30 2009. Should a signing ceremony of the final peace agreement be arranged, my Special Envoy would attend the gathering on my behalf," wrote the UN chief.
Mr Ban explained that after consultations with Mr Chissano, who was appointed to the role in December 2006, the two officials agreed that the former president had achieved the main objectives of the mandate given to him by the UN chief.
"Under his facilitation and the mediation of the Government of South Sudan, the delegation of the Government of Uganda and the representatives of LRA to the Juba peace talks have successfully concluded their negotiations with the signing of agreements on all substantive agenda items by March 2008," Mr Ban wrote.
"However," added Mr Ban, "due to the failure of LRA leader Joseph Kony to honour his commitments, the delegation of the Government of Uganda and the LRA representatives are yet to sign the final peace agreement that they initialled. I concur with my Special Envoy that the onus now lies firmly with Mr Kony to take the last step for peace and sign the final peace agreement, and that the Special Envoy has already successfully completed his assignment with the signing of the aforementioned substantive agreements."
The President of the UN Security Council, Vitaly Churkin, responded to Mr Ban's letter on May 29, saying the Council had "taken note" of the Secretary General's intention.
The suspension of Mr Chissano's mandate closes the door to one of the few remaining avenues of convincing Kony to return to the negotiating table. Analysts say the decision has been taken after a conclusion was reached that Mr Chissano cannot do much under the current circumstances.
"There seems to be a general agreement in the Council that only an effective military offensive can put enough pressure on the LRA to return to the negotiating table," said a June 21 report by a US not-for-profit organisation, Security Council Report.
Late last year, a joint operation by armies from Uganda, DR Congo and South Sudan attacked the LRA. Several calls have since been made by US senators and different NGOs for a new offensive to effectively wipe out the LRA.
The Chairman of the Acholi Parliamentary Group, Mr Livingstone Okello Okello, told Daily Monitor yesterday that the UN had, by suspending, reneged on a promise Mr Chissano made to parliamentarians from the war affected region that the office would be maintained beyond even the signing of the peace agreement to help oversee its implementation.
Mr Chissano is expected to perform his last duty tomorrow when he gives a final briefing to the UN Security Council, chaired by Uganda.
The Security Council is currently under the stewardship of Uganda's Permanent Representative to the UN, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, who was the head of the government delegation during the protracted negotiations with the LRA. The spokesman of the Ugandan delegation, Capt. Chris Magezi, declined to comment.
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