Acholi MPs want military offensive stopped
Dec 16, 2008
THE Acholi Parliamentary Group has asked Uganda, the DR Congo and South Sudan to immediately halt the offensive against LRA rebels in Garamba forest.
By Joyce Namutebi
THE Acholi Parliamentary Group has asked Uganda, the DR Congo and South Sudan to immediately halt the offensive against LRA rebels in Garamba forest.
They said the governments should go back to the negotiating table, arguing that the military option had failed to resolve the conflict for 20 years.
Addressing a press conference at Parliament yesterday, the MPs condemned the attack, which they said had thrown the people of northern Uganda in disarray.
The MPs contended that Uganda did not have the moral authority to attack the LRA. The MPs argued that currently being far away in the jungles of Garamba, the LRA were no longer a real threat to Uganda.
“The reason given for the attack is that the leader of the LRA, Gen. Joseph Kony, has refused to sign the final peace agreement. President Yoweri Museveni has not yet also signed the same,†they argued. “What moral authority does Uganda have to attack the LRA for failing to do what Uganda herself has not yet done?†asked Livingstone Okello Okello, the group’s chairperson.
The Chua MP said the peace agreement did not specify who should sign first.
“More than 99% of LRA combatants and their wives, not to mention many children born in the bush, were abducted. They were abducted because the State of Uganda failed to protect them. It is a double crime for the State of Uganda to follow these abducted people and destroy them in the bush.â€
Okello Okello said the top LRA officers wanted by the International Criminal Court were only three and that destroying thousands of people to get rid of the trio “is a crime bordering on genocide.â€
He said for more than two years, South Sudan, the international community and the UN wasted resources on the Juba peace talks, yet the three countries seemed to prefer the military option.
“LRA is now far away from Uganda. As a result relative peace has prevailed in northern Uganda in the last two years,†the MP said.
He said Uganda was still saddled with a $10b debt as a result of looting Congo and hoped that history would not repeat itself.
Betty Ocan (Gulu) said the Government never wanted peace for the people of northern Uganda.
Reagan Okumu (Aswa) said the air raids hit empty camps as the rebels had already fled.
Present at the press conference were MPs Beatrice Anywar (Kitgum), Judith Franca (Pader), Aciro Concy (Amuru) and Jimmy Akena (Lira Municipality).
THE Acholi Parliamentary Group has asked Uganda, the DR Congo and South Sudan to immediately halt the offensive against LRA rebels in Garamba forest.
They said the governments should go back to the negotiating table, arguing that the military option had failed to resolve the conflict for 20 years.
Addressing a press conference at Parliament yesterday, the MPs condemned the attack, which they said had thrown the people of northern Uganda in disarray.
The MPs contended that Uganda did not have the moral authority to attack the LRA. The MPs argued that currently being far away in the jungles of Garamba, the LRA were no longer a real threat to Uganda.
“The reason given for the attack is that the leader of the LRA, Gen. Joseph Kony, has refused to sign the final peace agreement. President Yoweri Museveni has not yet also signed the same,†they argued. “What moral authority does Uganda have to attack the LRA for failing to do what Uganda herself has not yet done?†asked Livingstone Okello Okello, the group’s chairperson.
The Chua MP said the peace agreement did not specify who should sign first.
“More than 99% of LRA combatants and their wives, not to mention many children born in the bush, were abducted. They were abducted because the State of Uganda failed to protect them. It is a double crime for the State of Uganda to follow these abducted people and destroy them in the bush.â€
Okello Okello said the top LRA officers wanted by the International Criminal Court were only three and that destroying thousands of people to get rid of the trio “is a crime bordering on genocide.â€
He said for more than two years, South Sudan, the international community and the UN wasted resources on the Juba peace talks, yet the three countries seemed to prefer the military option.
“LRA is now far away from Uganda. As a result relative peace has prevailed in northern Uganda in the last two years,†the MP said.
He said Uganda was still saddled with a $10b debt as a result of looting Congo and hoped that history would not repeat itself.
Betty Ocan (Gulu) said the Government never wanted peace for the people of northern Uganda.
Reagan Okumu (Aswa) said the air raids hit empty camps as the rebels had already fled.
Present at the press conference were MPs Beatrice Anywar (Kitgum), Judith Franca (Pader), Aciro Concy (Amuru) and Jimmy Akena (Lira Municipality).