PRA exists, UN confirms

By Alfred Wasike

THE United Nations has confirmed that the People’s Redemption Army (PRA) exists in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), ending speculation by the opposition in Uganda that it was a Government creation to harass its political opponents.

Currently, about 20 PRA suspects arrested in the Ituri district of the DRC in 2003, are held in Luzira and Kigo prisons on treason charges over alleged links with the PRA.

The Government has also on several ocassions said Kiiza Besigye and other renegade UPDF officers, Samsom Mande and Anthony Kyakabale, have links with the PRA. But Besigye has since challenged the Government to substantiate its claims.

The UN envoy to the Great Lakes region, based in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, William Swing made the revelation during a press conference at the end of a United Nations Security Council closed meeting with President Yoweri Museveni in Entebbe yesterday.

Swing stressed, “From our intelligence information, we recognize that there are several negative and armed forces in the eastern DRC in places like Beni, Butembo, Garamba, Aru and others where groups like the PRA, ADF, NALU, LRA and others are operating.”

We have figures and places where these rebels are. We know that there are at least 2,000 PRA and other Ugandan rebel groups in the DRC. We have repatriated several hundred thousands and their families from groups like the West Nile Bank Front and others back home (Uganda),” he said.

Museveni recalled that some months ago he wrote to the UN Security Council proposing 4 ways of ridding the DRC of the PRA, LRA and other terrorist groups.

He said, “I suggested that we strengthen the mandate of the MONUC to enable them fight the terrorists or we could invite a third party to come and deal with the terrorists or Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and other neighbours would cooperate to wipe out these terrorists or we could use the African Union like in Burundi where we invited South Africa to provide security for the Hutu leaders to return home.”

Museveni warned, “But I can’t accept to sit here and not provide a solution or provide a weak solution that takes too long to resolve this problem which is causing insecurity in our region.”
He hailed the MONUC for providing security and money for the DRC to register 20 million voters in its planned polls.

The global security watchdog on a special mission that led it to the DRC, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania with a view to end conflict in the Great Lakes Region also warned that it was working on a resolution to clamp sanctions against the armed groups in the eastern DRC who do not voluntarily disarm and use force to disarm the groups that have been terrorizing Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

Swing also revealed, “We repatriated at least 8000 Rwandans with their families and 3000 Burundians also went back home. But overall we have between 12,000 and 15,000 with arms in the eastern DRC.”

Jean-Marc de La Sablière, the head of the 15-member UN Security Council mission said, “The time for voluntary repatriation has come to an end. It is now very important that the DRC army with support from MONUC do a job with more robust action against these elements who are disestabilising this region.”

The Permanent Representative of France to the UN also said, “Last year we introduced changes in MONUC. We did an operation in Parc Virunga to disarm the elements and it was successful. Things are hard but we are determined to help end conflict here.”