By Henry Mukasa
PARLIAMENT Speaker Edward Ssekandi has said it is not right to blame the persistence of the rebellion in northern Uganda on the Acholi.
He also said it is wrong to view the war as a northern affair. He suggested that it should be addressed as a national problem.
“It’s not their fault (the Acholi). The people in this region have suffered for long and it is time now to stop the rebellion,” Ssekandi said.
Ssekandi was speaking at School Day for Uganda Martyrs Secondary School, Namugongo, in Wakiso district, on Sunday.
The school dedicated the day to the suffering people of northern Uganda.
They donated a consignment of relief items to the people living in displaced persons’ camps.
Ssekandi hailed the students of Namugongo for feeling for their kindred in northern Uganda. He said the gesture was a good seed for patriotism.
“It’s not normal for people to do things for people they don’t know or have never met. I have seen that Namugongo has the bricks with which to build this country,” Ssekandi said.
The Namugongo headmaster, J.C Muyingo, said he mobilised the relief in honour of Acholi Catholic martyrs Daudi Okello and Gildo Irwa and as a way of healing for the hurting hearts of the people in the camps.
“Without a quick end to the rebellion, we can only try to alleviate the suffering and bleeding hearts of the people in this part of our country,” Muyingo said.
Gulu Archbishop John Baptist Odama, who received the relief on behalf of the people in camps, said the war in the north blights Uganda’s name. “Uganda is a royal country, not a nation to be cheapened by wars,” Odama said.
He commended the parents and students of Namugongo for the aid. “I’m very grateful and feel proud of you,” he said.
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