LRA not in Owiny-Kibul
Oct 04, 2006
The Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team travelled to Juba last week to verify whether the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) complied with the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement by assembling in Owiny-Kibul.
The Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team travelled to Juba last week to verify whether the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) complied with the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement by assembling in Owiny-Kibul. The team was informed by the local leaders and SPLA in the area, that only forty five (45) LRA came to Owiny-Kibul on the 16th of September to collect food and then left.
Mr. Vincent Otti, the LRA’s Second-In-Command alleged that the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) was deploying along River Nile and around Owiny-Kibul. He went on to say that “UPDF should withdraw from Southern Sudan as a sign of interest in the peace talks.â€
It should be remembered that the deployment of UPDF in Southern Sudan has never been a subject of discussion in Juba, after all it was done under a different arrangement to which LRA was not a party. It is instructive to note that Vincent Otti is complaining of deployments along R. Nile. River Nile is neither a safe corridor, a safe zone, nor an Assembly Point! Why then should Otti express concern over those deployments.
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces has not deployed in Owiny-Kibul, neither have we made any troop movements during the period of the cessation of hostilities.
Vincent Otti also claimed that LRA will never come back to Uganda, yet we have it on good authority that Otti has ordered the groups in Sudan, to “scatter and go back where they were or go to Garamba or operate along the boarderâ€! These are not statements of a person committed to peace talks, rather they are the tricks that are intended to buy time.
There questions being asked:
lIs LRA interested in peace or they want to jump out?
lIf they jump out what are their options?
According to one Honourable Member of Parliament from Pader, LRA had not only lost the practical, tactical and logistical capacity to fight but also psychologically they were spent. He therefore did not see any other courses of action open to LRA! He went on to observe that the LRA had also lost the local support and it were the people in the diaspora, that were still pushing them. The views from the MP, brought many questions in mind about the team in Juba.
For record purposes, the team in Juba is 98 per cent diaspora, 1 per cent from Uganda and 1 per cent from Garamba! Here, one may wonder therefore, where are we heading in the next two or three weeks! Is it possible to continue playing games of hide and seek in Juba? Are we going to spend another 16 years in Juba? Are we seeing a repeat of 1994 and 2004? Is the country prepared to keep quiet and watch the Otti drama (Ekyamulabi) endlessly?
Which government has ever allowed a rebel to use radio stations and express his views? Which government has ever allowed the Head of State hold debate with a rebel commander? Tell it to me and I will break my pen.
Joseph Conrad in 1911 said; “I take it that what all men are really after is some form or perhaps only some formula of peace.†Is the LRA after peace or are just having illusions! All said and heard; Peace, the upland serenity of high attitude, the openness of grassland without indigenous bush or trees; the greening, yellowing or silver-browning that prevailed, according to season; is what the Uganda People’s Defence Forces wants, is what the government of Uganda wants, is what the Commander-in-Chief wants.
The writer is the Defence/UPDF spokesman
Mr. Vincent Otti, the LRA’s Second-In-Command alleged that the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) was deploying along River Nile and around Owiny-Kibul. He went on to say that “UPDF should withdraw from Southern Sudan as a sign of interest in the peace talks.â€
It should be remembered that the deployment of UPDF in Southern Sudan has never been a subject of discussion in Juba, after all it was done under a different arrangement to which LRA was not a party. It is instructive to note that Vincent Otti is complaining of deployments along R. Nile. River Nile is neither a safe corridor, a safe zone, nor an Assembly Point! Why then should Otti express concern over those deployments.
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces has not deployed in Owiny-Kibul, neither have we made any troop movements during the period of the cessation of hostilities.
Vincent Otti also claimed that LRA will never come back to Uganda, yet we have it on good authority that Otti has ordered the groups in Sudan, to “scatter and go back where they were or go to Garamba or operate along the boarderâ€! These are not statements of a person committed to peace talks, rather they are the tricks that are intended to buy time.
There questions being asked:
lIs LRA interested in peace or they want to jump out?
lIf they jump out what are their options?
According to one Honourable Member of Parliament from Pader, LRA had not only lost the practical, tactical and logistical capacity to fight but also psychologically they were spent. He therefore did not see any other courses of action open to LRA! He went on to observe that the LRA had also lost the local support and it were the people in the diaspora, that were still pushing them. The views from the MP, brought many questions in mind about the team in Juba.
For record purposes, the team in Juba is 98 per cent diaspora, 1 per cent from Uganda and 1 per cent from Garamba! Here, one may wonder therefore, where are we heading in the next two or three weeks! Is it possible to continue playing games of hide and seek in Juba? Are we going to spend another 16 years in Juba? Are we seeing a repeat of 1994 and 2004? Is the country prepared to keep quiet and watch the Otti drama (Ekyamulabi) endlessly?
Which government has ever allowed a rebel to use radio stations and express his views? Which government has ever allowed the Head of State hold debate with a rebel commander? Tell it to me and I will break my pen.
Joseph Conrad in 1911 said; “I take it that what all men are really after is some form or perhaps only some formula of peace.†Is the LRA after peace or are just having illusions! All said and heard; Peace, the upland serenity of high attitude, the openness of grassland without indigenous bush or trees; the greening, yellowing or silver-browning that prevailed, according to season; is what the Uganda People’s Defence Forces wants, is what the government of Uganda wants, is what the Commander-in-Chief wants.
The writer is the Defence/UPDF spokesman