Joseph Kony amnesty ends on January 17
Jan 06, 2004
THE amnesty is still open for Joseph Kony and his top Lords Resistance Army (LRA) commanders up to January 17, Hajji Gganyana Miiro, the Amnesty Commissioner (AC) in charge of West Nile region, has said.
By Charles Ariko
THE amnesty is still open for Joseph Kony and his top Lords Resistance Army (LRA) commanders up to January 17, Hajji Gganyana Miiro, the Amnesty Commissioner (AC) in charge of West Nile region, has said.
“The amnesty is still valid. Many people have been asking me whether the amnesty expired on Dec 31. Any Ugandan who denounces rebellion now or before January 17 will automatically be granted amnesty,†Miiro said.
He was on Monday briefing journalists during a tour of a transition camp where ex-combatants of Taban Amin’s West Nile Bank Front are being kept.
Taban Amin’s soldiers recently returned from the DR Congo and are to be resettled in West Nile.
Miiro said there were increasing LRA rebels and Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) that had expressed willingness to denounce rebellion.
`“We are still persuading these rebels to come out. We believe the amnesty should be extended otherwise how do we convince the rebels to denounce rebellion when there is no law?†he asked.
“Scrapping the amnesty law would be sending a bad message to the rebels that the Government is not interested in peace but fighting them,†Miiro said.
He said the Amnesty Commission had managed to convince 11,000 rebels to denounce rebellion.
Four thousand of whom were formerly LRA rebels.
The Ammnesty law was renewed on July 17, 2003 but expires on January 17.
THE amnesty is still open for Joseph Kony and his top Lords Resistance Army (LRA) commanders up to January 17, Hajji Gganyana Miiro, the Amnesty Commissioner (AC) in charge of West Nile region, has said.
“The amnesty is still valid. Many people have been asking me whether the amnesty expired on Dec 31. Any Ugandan who denounces rebellion now or before January 17 will automatically be granted amnesty,†Miiro said.
He was on Monday briefing journalists during a tour of a transition camp where ex-combatants of Taban Amin’s West Nile Bank Front are being kept.
Taban Amin’s soldiers recently returned from the DR Congo and are to be resettled in West Nile.
Miiro said there were increasing LRA rebels and Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) that had expressed willingness to denounce rebellion.
`“We are still persuading these rebels to come out. We believe the amnesty should be extended otherwise how do we convince the rebels to denounce rebellion when there is no law?†he asked.
“Scrapping the amnesty law would be sending a bad message to the rebels that the Government is not interested in peace but fighting them,†Miiro said.
He said the Amnesty Commission had managed to convince 11,000 rebels to denounce rebellion.
Four thousand of whom were formerly LRA rebels.
The Ammnesty law was renewed on July 17, 2003 but expires on January 17.