Firstly can you Vukoni mention one southerner who is a member of the LRA. Many ex-LRA rebels have been interviewed not only by government officials, but by foreign news media including foreign NGOs. European and American governments have all sent representatives to analyze the situation in the north of Uganda and non of them have made any southern link with Kony. Everyone has come away, uninimously acknowledging that Kony is the culprit responsible for the crimes in the north. All the major foreign stakeholders in Uganda, including UK and USA, have acknowledged that the LRA is a terrorist organization. They however advise that the government needs to do more to protect people in these conflict areas. Not one ex-rebel has ever made a southern connection with LRA. ALL ex-rebels point to one man KONY as the main engineer of all the criminality in the north; the maiming, abductions, enslavement of innocent people and wanton destruction of property. Another thing you need to know is that, unlike other parts of the world where there is similar confict, the government of Uganda is not sensoring what is going on in the north. There has been unlimited access to the conflict zone to foreign government officials and NGOs. That is why your story is so unbelivable, because if it had any truth to it, it should have been varified by foreign observers.
You accuse me of tribalism for pointing out (in my former postings) that Acholis were responsible for the trouble in the north. I will acknowledge that not ALL Acholis are culpable, but let's face facts, where does Kony come from? and where do the rank and file in LRA come from?. You ask me why has the conflict persisted for 18yrs, to answer your question i ask you, why has the rebelion failed to take root in Lango, and Itesot. LRA has been kicked out of Lango and Itesot, but has persisted in Acholi, that is very telling. Kony attempted to export his madness to Lango and Itesot, because these regions are geographically closest to Acholi, but he was kicked out by the poeple (not so much UPDF). Another reason why LRA has lasted as long as it has, is because Sudan has been aiding and abating there activities. Now that Sudan is no longer supporting Kony, let us wait and see how long they will last. You should also know that Kony/LRA has never had bases in Uganda, that is also telling. Even those fighting in LRA are coarsed into fighting. Vukoni you need to educate yourself on the antics of Kony and how he runs the LRA, which have been well documented, not just by the Ugandan government, but by foreign NGOs and goverments. Don't fool yourself that Kony is fighting for anybody's freedom, the man is a pyschopathic killer.
I sympathize with the innocent people in Acholi who are baring the brunt of this tragedy. I personally don't think that a tragedy of this magnitude belongs in the political arena, but some of you keep pushing it there...this should be one of those situations that should unite us as Ugandans, irrespective of ethnicity or religion to stop the carnage. Rather some of you who desperately want the present government to fail, are using this tragedy to score cheap political points at the expense of innocent human lives. None of you who claim to have the victims interest at heart, blame the LRA/Kony for there criminality. Rather you seem to be justifying LRA/Kony attrocities just apparently for the sake of making the President look bad. You say the President is obssesed with hatred for Obote, apparent you guys are obssessed with hatred for President too. Besides dislike for Obote in Uganda, is wide spread.
...yes i agree that the conflict has taken far too long to resolve, but how can it be resolved when even those calling for a peaceful resolution don't know what Kony wants. From the little that has been gathered, he talks about a pure Acholi state, which he and his thugs are breeding in the bush to rule Uganda.....other times he talks about a nation ruled by the ten commandements, some ex-rebels now say he has converted to Islam, others say it's a mixture of Christianity/Islam. Even foreign NGOs have failed to establish contact with Kony. Father Rodriguez who has clandestinely been making contacts with the LRA has refused to corperate with government. How can you negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict without involving government, meanwhile you yourself (Father Rodrieguez) are a foreigner...that is madness....even if we want to believe that Father Rodriguez had good intentions when he secretly made contact with the LRA, the question that follows, though is, on whose behalf was he negotiating peace...Kony/LRA is fighting government, you go behind the government's back to negotiate "peace"...for whom?...and then you refuse divulge to government what transpired between you and the rebels...does that make any sense? Vukoni common sense will tell you that, that is unlawful behaviour.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: ugnet_: Acholi clergy defends fr. Rodriguez Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 15:04:29 -0700>
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--- Begin Message ---My dear Musaazi,Obviously, you need to re-read carefully your earlier contributions on this topic. They're dripping with innuendos and inferences about who you think is really to blame for the war that has made Acholiland and its immediate neighborhood a living hell for all its inhabitants and others within striking distance.I can't really help you to get a grip on the ramifications of your pronouncements on the crisis in northern Uganda. But I can provide clues. So answer the following questions for yourself.1. Why is it that 18 years and counting, UPDF has failed to defeat the insurgents in northern Uganda?2. Who is supporting the LRA?It is not practicing tribalism to mention that nearly a million Acholi people are the primary victims of the LRA. That's a fact. But I understand where you're coming from. To hide a crime that by commission or ommission has genocidal implications, you must employ euphemisms and geographical references that don't betray the identity of the victims. Also, to be a monkey-on-the-string for the NRM, you must possess the curious mentality that can support odious laws aimed at abolishing independent initiatives that fault or counter the "correct line."I see you mention UPC, the Movement's other bogeyman, in your latest posting. Boy, do you love innuendos! For the record, I have never been and never will be a member of UPC. A party I despise for its excesses, UPC owes its resurrection to ex-member Yoweri Museveni's compulsive-obsessive hatred of Dr. Milton Apollo Obote.You say: "A southern member of perliament has even suggested bringing children in IDPCs
to the south to continue there schooling until the crisis ends, all at government's cost." -- So, each child born in Acholiland will have to be moved to another part of Uganda. How about the parents? Older siblings? Other relatives? Mon ami, relocation is as effective as treating cancer with vaseline. What's needed is ending the war that the NRM/UPDF has failed to.If a Rodriguez or an Odama can help move the peace process forward, why invoke the law or chicanery to prolong the status quo? Or is there a hidden agenda to let the LRA kill off the Acholi and whomever else falls in their hands?vukoniPS. BTW, could you please quote the law(s) that crimininalize nongovernmental initiatives for peace? I think we need to remove it/them from the books. Thanks.
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