Uganda pins Sudan on LRA warlord Kony
May 12, 2014
The Ugandan government has told Sudan to own up to supporting the Lord’s Resistance Army Joseph Kony instead of diverting and accusing Uganda of supporting rebels.
By Raymond Baguma
The Ugandan government has told Sudan to own up to supporting the Joseph Kony-led Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) instead of diverting and accusing Uganda of supporting rebels.
Asuman Kiyingi, the state minister for foreign affairs said Khartoum has not taken up the challenge other than claiming that the rebels transit through Uganda and they are not arrested.
“But the rebels travel all over the world. It’s not the same as saying that they are training in Uganda,” Kiyingi said during a phone interview with New Vision on Sunday.
He said Uganda’s position is that the source of the diplomatic conflict between the two countries is Khartoum’s support to LRA whose leaders have been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Those allegations are very old. Uganda has nothing to do with supporting rebels fighting against the Khartoum government. We had a principle stand on SPLA/M supported Dr. John Garang because they stood for a just cause. But for rebels fighting against Khartoum we have nothing to do with them,” said Kiyingi.
This comes after a Sudanese diplomat Ambassador Kamal Osman Ali, accused Uganda of undermining his country’s sovereignty by allegedly supporting its various rebel groups.
Sudan government says Uganda hosts Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), an alliance of rebel groups, which Uganda denies.
Kony and his top commanders are wanted by ICC to answer charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Several reports by Resolve and Invisible Children as well as UN reveal that Kony is operating in the Kafia Kingi enclave, which is a disputed area under the control of the Sudan Armed Forces.
Last month, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi said Uganda had filed a complaint with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) against Khartoum for supporting LRA.
“Sudan accused us of supporting rebellion in their country, which I denied. The OIC has taken note of our complaints and it has expressed willingness to mediate,” Mbabazi told Parliament.