MPs Call For Daily Briefing On Kony War
Sep 19, 2002
KOLE MP Bernard Okot Omodi yesterday told Parliament that the Government was playing down the number of the casualties suffered by the UPDF during its offensive against the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels.
By John Kakande
and Milton Olupot
KOLE MP Bernard Okot Omodi yesterday told Parliament that the Government was playing down the number of the casualties suffered by the UPDF during its offensive against the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels.
Omodi and a number of other MPs demanded that the Government brief them on a daily basis on the progress of the war in the northern Uganda so that they can be accurately informed.
Omodi cited a report in The New Vision yesterday, which quoted the army saying three UPDF soldiers were killed in a rebel attack on a detachment in Alim, Aruu in Pader district. He noted that the Pader district chairman Edwin Yakobo Komakech put the number of soldiers killed at between six and eleven.
“What I find very disturbing is that whenever there is a report of the army, they are playing down the numbers even when the people in the area know how many soldiers were killed. It makes it difficult for the governed to believe the government,†Omodi said.
“I want an explanation from the authority. We have never been given a true position,†he added.
Omodi was reacting to earlier remarks by the Prime Minister Prof. Apolo Nsibambi (pictured) who ruled out a daily briefing for the MPs on the war.
Nsibambi, replying to Aggrey Awori (Samia Bugwe North) proposal for a daily security briefing, said it would be “unwise†for the Government to release a statement on the war daily. “We give you a report when it is appropriate,†added Nsibambi.
“It would be most imprudent to give a daily briefing,†said Nsibambi arguing that this could jeopardise the Government’s war strategy. He said war couldn’t be treated as a casual matter.
Awori said the security situation was a matter of concern. “Is it not possible for the Government to give us on a daily basis a report about what is happening in the north?†asked Awori.
Ends
and Milton Olupot
KOLE MP Bernard Okot Omodi yesterday told Parliament that the Government was playing down the number of the casualties suffered by the UPDF during its offensive against the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels.
Omodi and a number of other MPs demanded that the Government brief them on a daily basis on the progress of the war in the northern Uganda so that they can be accurately informed.
Omodi cited a report in The New Vision yesterday, which quoted the army saying three UPDF soldiers were killed in a rebel attack on a detachment in Alim, Aruu in Pader district. He noted that the Pader district chairman Edwin Yakobo Komakech put the number of soldiers killed at between six and eleven.
“What I find very disturbing is that whenever there is a report of the army, they are playing down the numbers even when the people in the area know how many soldiers were killed. It makes it difficult for the governed to believe the government,†Omodi said.
“I want an explanation from the authority. We have never been given a true position,†he added.
Omodi was reacting to earlier remarks by the Prime Minister Prof. Apolo Nsibambi (pictured) who ruled out a daily briefing for the MPs on the war.
Nsibambi, replying to Aggrey Awori (Samia Bugwe North) proposal for a daily security briefing, said it would be “unwise†for the Government to release a statement on the war daily. “We give you a report when it is appropriate,†added Nsibambi.
“It would be most imprudent to give a daily briefing,†said Nsibambi arguing that this could jeopardise the Government’s war strategy. He said war couldn’t be treated as a casual matter.
Awori said the security situation was a matter of concern. “Is it not possible for the Government to give us on a daily basis a report about what is happening in the north?†asked Awori.
Ends