I Won't Resign, Says Mbabazi
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The Monitor (Kampala)February 28, 2004
Posted to the web February 27, 2004
Alex B. Atuhaire
Kampala
Defence minister Amama Mbabazi has said he won't bow to pressure for him to resign over the Barlonyo massacre.He also says that Parliament has no power to declare northern Uganda a disaster area.
"I told Hon. [Aggrey] Awori in Parliament that what he was suggesting [resign] to me was to submit to terrorism. I said never," Mr Mbabazi told The Monitor in an exclusive interview on Thursday evening.said."I will never. No, I won't [resign], we shall fight these chaps [rebels] until we finish them," he said.
Mbabazi is under pressure to resign, in the wake of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army attack on Barlonyo camp, Lira, in which about 192 people died.Lawmakers including Samia Bugwe North MP, Awori have said that the only honourable option left for Mbabazi is to resign - as a way of showing remorse for the army's failure to protect people.The Barlonyo attack came on the heels of another one at Abia camp in Lira.
In response to the attack, Parliament on Wednesday passed a resolution declaring northern Uganda a humanitarian disaster Area. Cabinet, however, voted the following day to reject the resolution.Mbabazi said there is no cause for alarm and is confident that the UPDF would finish the rebels."Yesterday, I again told Parliament that I have no doubt in my mind that we are winning this war," he said.
Mbabazi said that when Kony rebels re-entered Uganda, after the launch of Operation Iron Fist in March 2002, they operated in 15 groups."As we speak today, only five groups are remaining," he said.He said that one is led by Kony and is based in southern Sudan. He said Vincent Otti leads the other. The rest are under LRA commanders; Odhiambo, Rasca Okuya and Ochan Bunya."I told parliament [about] the recent happenings.
UPDF has killed many of them. The attack on Barlonyo was with vengeance because they have been suffering a lot of causalities inflicted by the UPDF.They were able to [attack Barlonyo] because of the weakness of the command in the area," Mbabazi said.Reacting to Parliament's Wednesday motion, declaring northern Uganda a disaster area, he said.
"Parliament only passed a resolution that northern Uganda should be declared a humanitarian disaster area. This is a function of the executive," Mbabazi said.Full Interview in Sunday Monitor
"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state."
- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister
