THE leader of the LRA delegation, Martin Ojul, has the full backing of rebel chief Joseph Kony, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Dr. Stephen Kagoda, assured the public yesterday.
Kagoda was reacting to fears that the LRA peace team, which is holding consultations on accountability and reconciliation in the north, did not have the blessings of Kony.
The fears, expressed during the ongoing workshop on Conflict Resolution and Peace Building in Eastern Africa, followed reports that Kony had arrested Vincent Otti, his deputy.
Opiyo Makasi, a former LRA operations commander, recently surrendered to the Government, whereas several top rebels are now feared dead or arrested.
“How sure are we that we are not negotiating with people who do not have the mandate of Kony? Is it not possible that we are just wasting time?” asked Albert Gomes Mugumya of the Centre for Conflict Resolution.
“Before the talks started, there was background work to establish that we were not dealing with impostors or people without the mandate,” Kagoda responded.
“The LRA has remained in close contact with us over this matter and we believe that the people negotiating with the Government have the mandate.”
However, he added that the rift between Kony and his commanders posed a challenge in the peace talks.
“We want them to remain united so that we deal with them as a group. We do not wish to negotiate with one group and later another group comes up to call them selves LRA.”
Justice Peter Onega, the Amnesty Commission chairman, was among those who attended the conference at the Jinja Nile Resort Hotel.
He said the commission had recorded 26 rebel groups in Uganda.
Onega said since its inception, the commission had extended amnesty to over 25,000 rebels, of whom 18,000 were former LRA fighters, who had given up armed resistance and returned home.
He explained that the International Criminal Court, which indicted Kony and his top commanders, might not adequately address the issue of balancing impunity and justice.
