Is Museveni using Kony war to stay in power?
In April, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group released a controversial report on the crisis in northern Uganda <b>Amama Mbabazi</b>, the Minister for Defence responds.
In April, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group released a controversial report on the crisis in northern Uganda Amama Mbabazi, the Minister for Defence responds.
While I welcome the interest and many of the recommendations made by the International Crisis Group (ICG) in its report: “Northern Uganda: Understanding and Solving the Conflictâ€, published in Brussels on April 14 2004, it contains many inaccuracies and inexactitudes that inevitably lead to wrong conclusions.
It is clear the authors of the report do not have sufficient knowledge of the genesis of the problem in Northern Uganda nor of its history i.e the chronological record of events and the explanation of their causes.
Museveni uses war to stay in power.
The claim President Yoweri Museveni uses the so called war in the north to “monopolise†power or to “justify the unreformed army that is key pillar of his regime†and uses it to curtail “freedom of expression and association†of his opposition, is an example of this lack of knowledge.
Firstly, Museveni is not the initiator of this conflict. This problem has its roots and links with our history of struggle for freedom and with the Sudan support for these terror groups. It all began with the overthrow, by Milton Obote using elements in the army, of the national constitution in 1966, the overthrow of Obote by military coup in 1971, the establishment of fascism and the subsequent usurpation of power by Obote in 1980. It is estimated that between them, Amin and Obote regimes till they were finally defeated in 1986, had killed up to 800,000 Ugandans. Anyone that wants evidence of this should visit Luwero Triangle where 70,000 skulls are preserved in 30 mass graves as evidence of the criminality.
Eleven thousand of the former government soldiers went into Sudan in 1986, although the then government of Sudan initially disarmed them on August 19 1986, they were rearmed and launched an attack on the Uganda Government military units at Bibia on August 22 1986.
When this group suffered a series of defeats, the military officers did the honourable thing when they indicated their readiness to have dialogue with the Government.
Through negotiations, they were absorbed into government and many of them are responsible public servants today. Some civilians among this group, however, especially those that had committed crime against the population, refused to come out saying they were defeated because they had disobeyed God’s commandements.
Hence the mysticism and birth of the Holy Spirit movement under one Alice Lakwena and, later on, Joseph Kony. This group re-established links with the Sudan Government, which gave them support. So until recently, the mainstay of the survival of the terrorist Lords Resistance Army (LRA) has been the support it got from the Sudan Government.
It is important to note that the LRA was not the only terrorist group that had been sponsored to destabilise Uganda.
We have had instability in the northwest (West Nile region) caused by the West Nile Bank Front, in the northeast (Teso region) caused by the Uganda Peoples Army (UPA), in the East (Bukeddi) caused by the Force Obote Back Again (FOBA), in the Central (Buganda) caused National Democratic Front (NDF) and in the West (Bundibugyo-Kasese-Kabarole region) caused by the Allied Democratic Front (ADF) the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and the people of Uganda have defeated all of them. The only one continuing to carry out terrorist activities against the population of northern Uganda is the LRA.
The evidence, therefore, contradicts the suggestion by the report that President Museveni nurtures war in Uganda in order to stay in power. It is self evident that the opposite is the case. Infact, in all, the Government has made peace with 16 rebel groups since it came to power in 1986, integrating them all into the Government and the army. Even as recently as 2002, the Government signed a peace agreement with the rebels of Uganda National Rescue Front 11 (UNRF 11).
In the case of the LRA, President Museveni only weeks ago in an address to the nation, reiterated the Government’s readiness to resolve the problem through the quicker option of peaceful negotiations. He was reiterating this because this is the standard approach by government in resolving political conflict. Indeed the hallmark of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and the Movement administration has been the resolution of political questions by political means rather than by force.
Since 1994, many efforts by the Government of Uganda with the help of mediators (these include The Jimmy Carter peace Centre of former president Jimmy Carter of the USA, the community of Santa Egidio of Rome, the religious leaders of Northern Uganda, the governments of Libya and Egypt, the Acholi Elders and more recently a Western government) or directly like when the former Minister of state for the North Betty Bigombe met Kony, were made. It has been the bandits that have shown a consistent lack of interest in dialogue. All this is in addition to the amnesty offered to the terrorists by the Amnesty Act.
Given the good record of performance, which the report partially acknowledges, by the Government and the president of Uganda, it defeats any good thinking and sound reasoning for the same government and president to promote war at the same time. Attracting foreign investors and development have been key to Museveni’s economic policy. It is, therefore, hard to believe that the President would maintain a war, which has drained huge resources from development and has seriously tarnished Uganda’s image, scaring away tourists and investors.
The opposite is more likely. The war has earned the President criticism at home and abroad.
Ending the war would raise his popularity, both in the north and south. In fact, the opposition tries to use the war to gain popularity.
Secondly, the enjoyment of individual freedom in Uganda is misrepresented.
A cursory look at the record of the Movement in promoting freedom of expression, for example, will clearly show that Uganda is not rivalled, to my knowledge, by many countries in Africa.
Where as there was only one radio and one television station at the time president Museveni came to power, which were state controlled, today there are 85 radio stations (with an additional 28 repeater stations), 84 of them privately owned and operated. All of them, except the government one, are FM radio stations spreading the whole countryside with no government censorship.
Similarly there are now seven television stations, six of them private stations operating without government censorship. Similarly there are seven television stations, six of them private stations operating without government censorship. The same is true of the print media.
In adtion, Uganda has had two presidential and parliamentary elections with tens of local government elections all billed clean and representing the will of the electorate by international observers. This is the first time in Uganda that elections have been held regularly. The Movement System of governance under which elections have been held was usually disparaged by those that espoused the notion of one size fits all! They had a mindset that democracy cannot be practiced except by group competition.
The rug has been pulled from under their feet as the National Conference decided that Uganda goes multi party in the next elections. There can’t be lack of freedom of association in a democracy!
Inadequacies in the army
It is claimed in the report that the UPDF is incapable of ending the war because of inadequacies in the army. That the UPDF has some serious constraints is true. The UPDF is indeed faced with handicaps in trying to end this conflict. The enemy is operating from another country. Kony, who is central to the LRA, is in Sudan. Up to recent times, he was protected and armed by the Sudan Army. The LRA decides when and where to attack and they always attack soft targets. It is not easy anywhere in the world for an army to give foolproof protection to the population against terrorist attacks. One of the greatest constraints is the chronic under funding of Defence. Contrary to public perception, the UPDF has a limited budget. Infact, military expenditure in Uganda went down from 3% of GDP in 1990 to 2.0% in 2001, according to figures of UNDP. This is lower than most countries in the region. Sudan spent 3% on defence in 2001. Rwanda 3.9%, Ethiopia 6.2% and Eritrea 27.5%! In absolute figures, Uganda this year has a defence budget of $160m, for an army of approximately 50,000 troops. That is roughly a quarter of the $608m which the UN mission in Congo is spending this year for only 10,000 troops.
The UPDF, these serious constraints not withstanding, has brought a valiant struggle against these bandits and seriously degraded their capacity to wage war. The UPDF entered Sudan after we signed a protocol to that effect with the Sudan government in April 2002, and uprooted Kony from his bases in Kit Valley and the Imatong and Acholi Mountains of southern Sudan. Uprooted in Sudan, Kony entered Uganda and tried to spread terrorism into Teso, Lango and Adjuman. These efforts were all defeated by the UPDF together with the local populations in those areas. That is why the remnants of the bandits retreated to a few areas of Kitgum and Gulu districts and others back into Sudan.
With the mobility and lethality the UPDF is developing, with the slight improvement in its budget, and with the very commendable co-operation.
The Government is now receiving from the Sudan government, we remain in no doubt whatsoever that we shall deliver a final blow to the terrorists unless they positively respond to President Museveni’s offer of dialogue.
There has indeed been a problem of corruption in the UPDF. There were ghost soldiers on the payroll. There was acceptance of helicopters that had not been overhauled as required by the contract. These problems are being tackled.
More than 100 officers have been removed as a result of the investigation into ghost soldiers. More than 60 officers have been charged and are waiting for trial. Five people are currently under investigation in relation to the helicopters issue. Auditing, investigation and prosecution guide actions.
Southerners use the war to continue the monopolisation of power and wealth
Whereas it is true that the North is currently more affected than the rest of Uganda as a result of the war, there is no monopolisation of power by southerners. There are nine ministers from the North in this government, including the son of former President Tito Okello. Every constituency has its representative elected to parliament. There is a full-fledged ministry for the North. And this year alone more than sh200b has been allocated for the North through various rehabilitation and development programmes.
The military option has been a failure
As indicated above, this is not quite accurate. The UPDF has booked major successes in the past year. It flushed the LRA out of Teso region. As a result 400,000 people who have been in internally displaced persons camps are now going home. It rescued more than 10,000 abducted children, many of whom had been in Sudan for eight to 12 years. The reception centres in northern Uganda registered a total of 10,339 returnee children between June 2002 and March 2004. This does not include children abducted for one or two days and they were taken home directly by the UPDF. It also does not include children who escaped and went straight home, without passing through any reception centre.
The UPDF killed several notorious LRA commanders, including Tolbert Nyeko and Charles Tabuley. They were responsible for some of the worst actions, such as the Mucwini massacre in July 2002 where 60 civilians were killed with machetes, hoes and knives after they had been forced to smash their children against trees.
Of course I do acknowledge the gravity of the humanitarian situation in the north. The people there are facing tremendous suffering and difficulties to unacceptable levels. The fact that the army is defeating the terror groups there must not diminish the appropriate appreciation by Government and the international community of the suffering the people of the north have faced at the hands of these bandits. They have been subjected to murder or even massacres like in the recent case of Barlonyo and Atiak, Acholi Pii and Lokung earlier on at the hands of the LRA. They continue to live in Internally Displaced Peoples camps where the conditions are very difficult. As the report accurately observes, the LRA has visited grief on the people of Acholi.
The government is doing everything possible to bring this to an end. As I said earlier, in Teso region, the people have begun to return to their homes. We are working hard to create conditions in the Lango and Acholi regions conducive to the return of normalcy to the area including return to their homes by all the populations currently in IDPs. The international community has been very supportive in the provision of relief to the people. Government is most grateful for this support. All we ask of the international community at large is its total support of the continued effort by government to pacify the area as soon as possible.
Human rights abused by UPDF
Some leaders in the North like to equal the atrocities by the LRA to human rights abuses by the government army. Infact, the UPDF observes a very strict code of conduct. There have been isolated incidents of criminal or undisciplined behaviour by government soldiers. The UPDF has set up a human rights desk, where such incidents can be reported. All complaints are being investigated and, if evidence against them is found, the soldiers are court martialled. Two soldiers, for example, were tried and convicted of murder and suffered capital punishment in Kitgum in February 2003.
The writer is the
Minister of Defence
While I welcome the interest and many of the recommendations made by the International Crisis Group (ICG) in its report: “Northern Uganda: Understanding and Solving the Conflictâ€, published in Brussels on April 14 2004, it contains many inaccuracies and inexactitudes that inevitably lead to wrong conclusions.
It is clear the authors of the report do not have sufficient knowledge of the genesis of the problem in Northern Uganda nor of its history i.e the chronological record of events and the explanation of their causes.
Museveni uses war to stay in power.
The claim President Yoweri Museveni uses the so called war in the north to “monopolise†power or to “justify the unreformed army that is key pillar of his regime†and uses it to curtail “freedom of expression and association†of his opposition, is an example of this lack of knowledge.
Firstly, Museveni is not the initiator of this conflict. This problem has its roots and links with our history of struggle for freedom and with the Sudan support for these terror groups. It all began with the overthrow, by Milton Obote using elements in the army, of the national constitution in 1966, the overthrow of Obote by military coup in 1971, the establishment of fascism and the subsequent usurpation of power by Obote in 1980. It is estimated that between them, Amin and Obote regimes till they were finally defeated in 1986, had killed up to 800,000 Ugandans. Anyone that wants evidence of this should visit Luwero Triangle where 70,000 skulls are preserved in 30 mass graves as evidence of the criminality.
Eleven thousand of the former government soldiers went into Sudan in 1986, although the then government of Sudan initially disarmed them on August 19 1986, they were rearmed and launched an attack on the Uganda Government military units at Bibia on August 22 1986.
When this group suffered a series of defeats, the military officers did the honourable thing when they indicated their readiness to have dialogue with the Government.
Through negotiations, they were absorbed into government and many of them are responsible public servants today. Some civilians among this group, however, especially those that had committed crime against the population, refused to come out saying they were defeated because they had disobeyed God’s commandements.
Hence the mysticism and birth of the Holy Spirit movement under one Alice Lakwena and, later on, Joseph Kony. This group re-established links with the Sudan Government, which gave them support. So until recently, the mainstay of the survival of the terrorist Lords Resistance Army (LRA) has been the support it got from the Sudan Government.
It is important to note that the LRA was not the only terrorist group that had been sponsored to destabilise Uganda.
We have had instability in the northwest (West Nile region) caused by the West Nile Bank Front, in the northeast (Teso region) caused by the Uganda Peoples Army (UPA), in the East (Bukeddi) caused by the Force Obote Back Again (FOBA), in the Central (Buganda) caused National Democratic Front (NDF) and in the West (Bundibugyo-Kasese-Kabarole region) caused by the Allied Democratic Front (ADF) the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and the people of Uganda have defeated all of them. The only one continuing to carry out terrorist activities against the population of northern Uganda is the LRA.
The evidence, therefore, contradicts the suggestion by the report that President Museveni nurtures war in Uganda in order to stay in power. It is self evident that the opposite is the case. Infact, in all, the Government has made peace with 16 rebel groups since it came to power in 1986, integrating them all into the Government and the army. Even as recently as 2002, the Government signed a peace agreement with the rebels of Uganda National Rescue Front 11 (UNRF 11).
In the case of the LRA, President Museveni only weeks ago in an address to the nation, reiterated the Government’s readiness to resolve the problem through the quicker option of peaceful negotiations. He was reiterating this because this is the standard approach by government in resolving political conflict. Indeed the hallmark of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) and the Movement administration has been the resolution of political questions by political means rather than by force.
Since 1994, many efforts by the Government of Uganda with the help of mediators (these include The Jimmy Carter peace Centre of former president Jimmy Carter of the USA, the community of Santa Egidio of Rome, the religious leaders of Northern Uganda, the governments of Libya and Egypt, the Acholi Elders and more recently a Western government) or directly like when the former Minister of state for the North Betty Bigombe met Kony, were made. It has been the bandits that have shown a consistent lack of interest in dialogue. All this is in addition to the amnesty offered to the terrorists by the Amnesty Act.
Given the good record of performance, which the report partially acknowledges, by the Government and the president of Uganda, it defeats any good thinking and sound reasoning for the same government and president to promote war at the same time. Attracting foreign investors and development have been key to Museveni’s economic policy. It is, therefore, hard to believe that the President would maintain a war, which has drained huge resources from development and has seriously tarnished Uganda’s image, scaring away tourists and investors.
The opposite is more likely. The war has earned the President criticism at home and abroad.
Ending the war would raise his popularity, both in the north and south. In fact, the opposition tries to use the war to gain popularity.
Secondly, the enjoyment of individual freedom in Uganda is misrepresented.
A cursory look at the record of the Movement in promoting freedom of expression, for example, will clearly show that Uganda is not rivalled, to my knowledge, by many countries in Africa.
Where as there was only one radio and one television station at the time president Museveni came to power, which were state controlled, today there are 85 radio stations (with an additional 28 repeater stations), 84 of them privately owned and operated. All of them, except the government one, are FM radio stations spreading the whole countryside with no government censorship.
Similarly there are now seven television stations, six of them private stations operating without government censorship. Similarly there are seven television stations, six of them private stations operating without government censorship. The same is true of the print media.
In adtion, Uganda has had two presidential and parliamentary elections with tens of local government elections all billed clean and representing the will of the electorate by international observers. This is the first time in Uganda that elections have been held regularly. The Movement System of governance under which elections have been held was usually disparaged by those that espoused the notion of one size fits all! They had a mindset that democracy cannot be practiced except by group competition.
The rug has been pulled from under their feet as the National Conference decided that Uganda goes multi party in the next elections. There can’t be lack of freedom of association in a democracy!
Inadequacies in the army
It is claimed in the report that the UPDF is incapable of ending the war because of inadequacies in the army. That the UPDF has some serious constraints is true. The UPDF is indeed faced with handicaps in trying to end this conflict. The enemy is operating from another country. Kony, who is central to the LRA, is in Sudan. Up to recent times, he was protected and armed by the Sudan Army. The LRA decides when and where to attack and they always attack soft targets. It is not easy anywhere in the world for an army to give foolproof protection to the population against terrorist attacks. One of the greatest constraints is the chronic under funding of Defence. Contrary to public perception, the UPDF has a limited budget. Infact, military expenditure in Uganda went down from 3% of GDP in 1990 to 2.0% in 2001, according to figures of UNDP. This is lower than most countries in the region. Sudan spent 3% on defence in 2001. Rwanda 3.9%, Ethiopia 6.2% and Eritrea 27.5%! In absolute figures, Uganda this year has a defence budget of $160m, for an army of approximately 50,000 troops. That is roughly a quarter of the $608m which the UN mission in Congo is spending this year for only 10,000 troops.
The UPDF, these serious constraints not withstanding, has brought a valiant struggle against these bandits and seriously degraded their capacity to wage war. The UPDF entered Sudan after we signed a protocol to that effect with the Sudan government in April 2002, and uprooted Kony from his bases in Kit Valley and the Imatong and Acholi Mountains of southern Sudan. Uprooted in Sudan, Kony entered Uganda and tried to spread terrorism into Teso, Lango and Adjuman. These efforts were all defeated by the UPDF together with the local populations in those areas. That is why the remnants of the bandits retreated to a few areas of Kitgum and Gulu districts and others back into Sudan.
With the mobility and lethality the UPDF is developing, with the slight improvement in its budget, and with the very commendable co-operation.
The Government is now receiving from the Sudan government, we remain in no doubt whatsoever that we shall deliver a final blow to the terrorists unless they positively respond to President Museveni’s offer of dialogue.
There has indeed been a problem of corruption in the UPDF. There were ghost soldiers on the payroll. There was acceptance of helicopters that had not been overhauled as required by the contract. These problems are being tackled.
More than 100 officers have been removed as a result of the investigation into ghost soldiers. More than 60 officers have been charged and are waiting for trial. Five people are currently under investigation in relation to the helicopters issue. Auditing, investigation and prosecution guide actions.
Southerners use the war to continue the monopolisation of power and wealth
Whereas it is true that the North is currently more affected than the rest of Uganda as a result of the war, there is no monopolisation of power by southerners. There are nine ministers from the North in this government, including the son of former President Tito Okello. Every constituency has its representative elected to parliament. There is a full-fledged ministry for the North. And this year alone more than sh200b has been allocated for the North through various rehabilitation and development programmes.
The military option has been a failure
As indicated above, this is not quite accurate. The UPDF has booked major successes in the past year. It flushed the LRA out of Teso region. As a result 400,000 people who have been in internally displaced persons camps are now going home. It rescued more than 10,000 abducted children, many of whom had been in Sudan for eight to 12 years. The reception centres in northern Uganda registered a total of 10,339 returnee children between June 2002 and March 2004. This does not include children abducted for one or two days and they were taken home directly by the UPDF. It also does not include children who escaped and went straight home, without passing through any reception centre.
The UPDF killed several notorious LRA commanders, including Tolbert Nyeko and Charles Tabuley. They were responsible for some of the worst actions, such as the Mucwini massacre in July 2002 where 60 civilians were killed with machetes, hoes and knives after they had been forced to smash their children against trees.
Of course I do acknowledge the gravity of the humanitarian situation in the north. The people there are facing tremendous suffering and difficulties to unacceptable levels. The fact that the army is defeating the terror groups there must not diminish the appropriate appreciation by Government and the international community of the suffering the people of the north have faced at the hands of these bandits. They have been subjected to murder or even massacres like in the recent case of Barlonyo and Atiak, Acholi Pii and Lokung earlier on at the hands of the LRA. They continue to live in Internally Displaced Peoples camps where the conditions are very difficult. As the report accurately observes, the LRA has visited grief on the people of Acholi.
The government is doing everything possible to bring this to an end. As I said earlier, in Teso region, the people have begun to return to their homes. We are working hard to create conditions in the Lango and Acholi regions conducive to the return of normalcy to the area including return to their homes by all the populations currently in IDPs. The international community has been very supportive in the provision of relief to the people. Government is most grateful for this support. All we ask of the international community at large is its total support of the continued effort by government to pacify the area as soon as possible.
Human rights abused by UPDF
Some leaders in the North like to equal the atrocities by the LRA to human rights abuses by the government army. Infact, the UPDF observes a very strict code of conduct. There have been isolated incidents of criminal or undisciplined behaviour by government soldiers. The UPDF has set up a human rights desk, where such incidents can be reported. All complaints are being investigated and, if evidence against them is found, the soldiers are court martialled. Two soldiers, for example, were tried and convicted of murder and suffered capital punishment in Kitgum in February 2003.
The writer is the
Minister of Defence