Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony continues to play cat and mouse. Last week a planned signing of the peace agreement was put off when the dreadlocked one did not show up to sign the document.
There was a palpable disappointment at the new development.
In more than 20 years of fighting, the economy of northern Uganda has been decimated, more than a million people have been displaced and there is talk of a lost generation born during the period and raised in traumatic conditions without the support of traditional social structures.
The peace process was seen as a chance for a region to get back on its feet and reintegrate into the economy of Uganda.
Not surprisingly because of the never-ending conflict recent surveys have shown that northern Uganda is the most poverty stricken region in the country.
There is a strong correlation between communal poverty and insecurity and the argument could be made that the conflict dragged on longer than it should partly because of the growing poverty in the area.
The best hope for northern Uganda is that economic activity returns to the area, the locals can rebuild their asset base and business concerns from the rest of Uganda and the region can get engaged, creating a larger than local interest in the area’s stability, so it stops being “their problem.”
In the last two or so years during which a semblance of peace has come upon the region, the explosion of economic activity has been something to write home about. Exports in agricultural produce, beverages, cement and other finished goods to South Sudan via northern Uganda has boomed.
Mukwano Industries has moved in to promote oil seed agriculture to stoke its plants. The Madhvanis are lobbying hard for acres of land in Acholi on which to establish a sugar plantation.
Cotton production had picked up to record levels but has only been recently sabotaged by some foreign involvement, unfortunately abetted by local leaders. Banks and regional distributors for a host of fast- moving commodities are opening up shop in the region.
Given just a few months of relative calm and northern Uganda has taken the ball and ran.Relief aid is all very nice and should be seen as a temporary measure to tide the region over until harvests recover to pre-conflict levels.
This should not take more than three years, with adequate support, considering that a lot of land has been left fallow for the last two decades, meaning nutrients have not been depleted from land over use making the land very fertile.
Northern Uganda’s agricultural potential is scary.
Critical at this time is that the state commits to the rehabilitation and expansion of the region’s infrastructure.
The local leadership can help with this undertaking, initially pressuring the Government to plan for the resources and once released to ensure that they are utilised optimally with as little leakage as possible.
We are already hearing disturbing noises about the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) – briefcase NGOs being set up and monies being disbursed but not being utilised for their intended purpose, and all this seemingly under the very noses of NUSAF’s management.
In the absence of widespread banking network, local leaders can promote the establishment of cooperative societies to help the people save, gain access to cheap credit and also help market their produce.
The leadership should help the people aggregate their resources into meaningful quantities.This will help attract more economic activity and attract investment to the region. I believe peace can hold in northern Uganda – Kony’s psychosis not withstanding. The region’s people have tasted the benefits of peace and are slowly rebuilding confidence in their ability to take control of their own destinies.
With visionary and clean leadership in the region, it’s only a matter of time before northern Uganda takes its place in helping develop Uganda.
