Saleh Vows To Rout Kony

By Nicholas KajobaLT. General Salim Saleh has vowed to rout Joseph Kony and end the northern rebellion.He said the war was not as serious as portrayed by the press.“Kony and his rebels cannot accept dialogue because of his strange acts of killing innocent people, abducting and raping young girls. But I have joined the struggle to wipe him out,” Saleh said.“The Government will wipe out all the rebels in northern Uganda though newspapers depict it as a serious war,” he said.Saleh was touring a youth project in Kasenge, Mbalala, Mukono district on Sunday.He was accompanied by Brig. Matayo Kyaligonza, journalist Tamale Mirundi and Mukono Resident District Commissioner Charles Mubiru.Saleh said he left Gulu for Kampala to do his exams but would be returning to his Gulu base in September. He did not elaborate.“I came back to do my exams and I will be going back to help the struggle in early September,” he said.Saleh said recently that he was in Gulu on a special assignment for President Yoweri Museveni.He said Parliament and the public persuaded government to make peace and even offered amnesty to Kony but he refused the offer. He said the UPDF was capable of wiping out the rebels.Museveni and UPDF army commander Maj. Gen. James Kazini have pitched camp in Gulu to oversee the anti-Kony operatioin. On Friday, the House of Bishops sitting at the Uganda Christian University, called for a cease-fire between the State and the rebels.Saleh said the war was a national issue, which should be tackled by all leaders.Saleh said Kony’s bases in Sudan had been cut off following an agreement signed between Sudan and Uganda two months ago. He said the UPDF would not allow Kony to settle in northern Uganda.He attacked politicians, who criticise the Government on its handling of the war. He said they should instead be partners to end the insurgency.Saleh, who inspected a quarry where youths use bare hands to extract stones, promised to get them machines.He said he had given many loans to Ugandans but most had not been repaid. “I was disappointed when I gave out a lot of money in loans but people refused to refund it to me,” he said.Ends