Kony delays peace signing

Apr 01, 2008

THE signing of the peace agreement between the Government and the LRA has been postponed for a week at the request of rebel chief Joseph Kony.

By Milton Olupot
in Juba
& H. Mukasa
In Kampala

THE signing of the peace agreement between the Government and the LRA has been postponed for a week at the request of rebel chief Joseph Kony.

His chief negotiator David Matsanga yesterday informed the head of the Government team, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, that Kony needed more days to travel from his dense Garamba forest hideout to Ri-Kwangba at the Congo-Sudan border, where he was scheduled to sign.

Kony, who is wanted at the The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity, had been scheduled to sign tomorrow. This will now be on April 10 in Ri-Kwangba and the Government and observers in Juba will sign on April 15, Matsanga said.

President Yoweri Museveni was expected to attend the signing ceremony.

Reacting to the extension, Rugunda said: “We have been ready to sign for a long time. It’s an unfortunate postponement. We expect this is the last.”

Capt. Chris Magezi, the spokesperson of the Government team, regretted the delay. “Kony has showed a strong willingness to sign the peace agreement himself and we don’t object to that.

While this postponement is a little setback, it is not enough to undo the commitment of both parties to sign the agreement.”

Matsanga’s announcement appeared to contradict what he told a press conference at Juba Bridge Hotel yesterday. Time and lack of logistics in Ri-Kwangba, he argued, were the main reasons for the postponement.

“The facilities, especially tents and toilets, are inadequate. There are no chairs. Where has the money given for the preparations for the ceremony gone? The food is exposed to the rain in the camp,” Matsanga said.

He also asserted that most LRA commanders were indisposed due to the current hostile weather in the jungle.

“General Kony has emphasised that he has to sign the agreement personally because it is symbolic and a boost to the peace process.”

Anxiety has been building since the negotiations concluded raising the prospect of ending the two-decade long war, but frustration is setting in as the signing of the final agreement is repeatedly extended.

The elders invited for the ceremony were yesterday sent back to Uganda. Many of them expressed displeasure over the delays but remained hopeful.

“The people of the north want the peace agreement signed.

Postponing it makes them more anxious. I hope the new dates will be honoured,” said Archbishop John Baptist Odama.

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