Vision Reporter
29 June 2009
Kampala — GULU district chairman Norbert Mao has acknowledged that some Acholi in the diaspora planned to form a new rebel group to topple President Yoweri Museveni's government.
According to Mao in his column 'Letter from Gulu' in The New Vision today, he got to know about the plan in early 2008 from a student in the UK.
He said the student, who attended a seminar on peace-building in Juba, gave him a 53-page document on his memory stick which called for the removal of the Government, by force if necessary.
The group, initially called the Uganda People's Front (UPF), "will instigate an internal grassroots popular movement against the Museveni dictatorship that is also effectively supported by Ugandans in the diaspora and their friends worldwide," Mao quoted from the document.
"The UPF is prepared to remove the Museveni dictatorship by force, if necessary. The UPF shall establish a transitional government as soon as Kampala falls. The transitional government will immediately proceed with assurance of civilian safety and seek recognition by foreign governments."
Mao acknowledges forgetting his memory stick in a computer at the Sheraton business centre in April, which ended up in the hands of security operatives.
But he denies involvement in the plan and says he wants to clear his name after media reports hinted that, as the owner of the memory stick, he faces arrest over subversive activities, along with six Acholi MPs. At the same time, he expressed anger at the Sheraton staff, whom he suspects of working for State security.
According to Mao, the name UPF was being retained for purposes of drafting and the final name would be agreed upon by a general meeting of all members.
Mao quoted the student as saying that "a section of our people in the diaspora thought that the whole Juba process was a hoax and that the Government of Uganda had no interest in peace."
He further said the group, in its document, declared: "The people of northern Uganda are of peripheral concern to the real powers behind the peace talks. UPF is clear on this point: a perceived success in Juba is worse than a perceived failure. A success in Juba is an outcome planned and calculated to replicate and multiply the cycle of insecurity."
Once in power, the group, according to Mao, plans to suspend the Constitution of Uganda and re-organise the make-up of Parliament under an Interim Legislative Council.
"However, the UPF government shall uphold, respect, protect, promote and enforce all applicable provisions of all preceding constitutions of Uganda," the document reportedly says.
Mao in his column denies media reports that the political leaders in Acholi want to discourage the displaced people from returning to their villages.
"This is utter nonsense. The political leaders of northern Uganda, especially Acholiland, have been at the forefront of the campaign urging IDPs to leave the concentration camps and go home."
Earlier this month, 11 men, including a Pader-based freelance journalist and two former LRA rebels, were charged with treason in a Kampala court.
The State said they had formed a rebel group, the Popular Patriotic Front (PPF), and were recruiting and training people to overthrow the Government.
They had allegedly mobilised logistical support for their rebellion, which included fire-arms, satellite phones, solar panels, Global Positioning System (GPS) machines, gum boots and walkie talkies.
The suspects, according to the charge sheet presented on June 16, committed the offence between 2006 and May 2009 in eight districts, including Masindi and Kampala. The other districts are Gulu, Pader, Kitgum, Nebbi, Apac and Amuru.
The new rebel group, according to army spokesman Maj. Felix Kulayigye, was formed by Acholi in the diaspora with the help of local people in a bid to replace the LRA.
See Mao's 'A Letter from Gulu' under COLUMNIST
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