Put Kony out of action and settle the matter for good!

SIR— Kony has again come and gone and come again. The photograph of a burnt-out hulk of a military Rand Rover that appeared on the front-page of The New Vision on Monday was a grim reminder that the pacification of northern Uganda was still as elusive as the AIDS cure. In just one month, about 29 soldiers have lost their lives, leave alone the countless civilians.When one thinks of all the mayhem and robbery, rape and plunder Kony has visited on Ugandans, the innocent people killed, those who have been maimed or abducted, and the resultant sorrow and anguish, the only question one is forced to ask is how long it will be before we get a respite.The Government has been fighting Kony for 16 years now and, despite the various ultimatums and deadlines, Kony is still alive and well. And by the look of things, he will still be fighting ten years from now.That being the case, it is time for the Government to re-think some of its military policies. For despite assurances to the contrary, it is all too clear that the UPDF has failed to tame Kony.What I suggest is that the Government take some extreme measures to kill Kony and bring to an end the untold suffering Ugandans have had to bear till now.To that arch-rebel, the Government will have to borrow a leaf from Angolan president Dos Santos. After unsuccessfully battling Savimbi for close to 26 years, he had no other re-course but to hire foreign military experts who helped locate Savimbi and put that indomitable bandit out of action and pave the way for a peace in Angola.The use of foreign military personnel has political complications for the Government which it may find repugnant. The cost of such help may also be very high. But when one considers the costs involved in fighting the LRA for years to come, not to mention the attendant loss of lives and property and the lost revenue and investment due to the negative image the war is giving to Uganda, it is a far cheaper alternative.Short of this, except praying for one of his many concubines to infect him with AIDS, Kony will be here with us ten year from now still wreacking havoc.Stehen Nakonya,Kampala