As you probably swa in the excerpt of the UN report I posted here yesterday, the full report is available at
http://daccess-ods.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N02/621/79/PDF/N0262179.pdf
On reading the whole report, you'll see that it states in paragrapgh 122 on page 23 the $25K is merely a ruse to allow elements of the UPDF top-brass to continue looting the DRC:
�122. UPDF have created the conditions that require the
presence of troops and their continued involvement in
commercial operations. This has entailed providing
arms to both sides in the ethnic conflict, the Lendu and
the Hema. The consequent increase in ethnic fighting
has resulted in UPDF being urged to assist in furthering
the peace process in Bunia. This function was
formalized in an official Protocole d�Accord signed on
22 February 2002 by Mbusa Nyamwisi and John
Tibasima as President and Vice-President of RCDK/
ML and by Colonel Noble Mayombo as an official
representative of the Government of Uganda. The
Protocole d�Accord gave UPDF official responsibility
for reducing the conflits arm�s inter-ethnique en Ituri
and for assisting in bringing about a retour de la paix
by keeping a contingent in place for observation and
for negotiating an eventual long-term solution. In
exchange, UPDF were promised a monthly stipend of
$25,000 from the RCD-K/ML public treasury, and all
Ugandan enterprises that were approved by UPDF were
accorded exoneration from all duties and taxes due to
the rebel administration. This has given UPDF a
legitimate cover for continuing military support for the
elite network�s activities in the area.
economic and personal insecurity reach extreme levels.
Large numbers of young men join one or another
armed group because they have no other means of
finding food or medicine or because they have no one
to care for them. The young men in the Arm�
Patriotique Congolaise are unpaid but are provided
with weapons and a uniform giving them the tools for
menacing others. Widespread armed activity is
characterized by opportunistic and chaotic encounters.
Children are killed, adult victims are eviscerated,
women are raped, property stolen, houses burned,
churches demolished and whatever infrastructure exists
is laid waste.�
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: ugnet_: UGANDA'S CHIEF MILITARY INTELLIGENCY THREATENS UN
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 19:29:07 -0500
"That is an insult to the UPDF, to say that we can keep a whole battalion in an area for just $ 25,000," Wapakhabulo said. That, as the saying goes, is just the tip of the hippo's nose. When Wapa seizes on it, he is merely diverting attention from the ugly body of the beast.
We shouldn't doubt the UPDF's capacity for making losing deals (Bichupuli choppers, etc) whose logic can only be explained by individual beneficiaries. Cost-benefit analysis isn't the Ugandan army's strong point or institutional objective, as has been proven time and again. Across northern Uganda, even village urchins know of UPDF officers (some are dead but others are still alive), who were busy running guns, smuggling stolen fuel, and generally looting the resources of Sudan years before they dreamed up their Hollywood-esque thuggery/adventurism in D.R. Congo.
vukoni
----- Original Message -----
From: Mulindwa Edward
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 5:31 PM
Subject: ugnet_: UGANDA'S CHIEF MILITARY INTELLIGENCY THREATENS UN
Mayombo promises action against UN
By Richard M. Kavuma
Chief of Military Intelligence Col. Nobel Mayombo has said he is considering
taking action against the United Nations for tarnishing his name.
Mayombo, one of the Ugandan army officers facing a travel ban and financial
restrictions over alleged plundering of Congo's natural resources, said the
five-member UN panel used forged documents to implicate him.
"I am studying how individuals can respond when they are persistently
defamed especially by a body that is supposed to be of international
repute," Mayombo told a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference at
Workers House in Kampala yesterday.
"My public record is known and it is beyond reproach," Mayombo said.
Government would wait for the report of the Porter Probe before commenting
on allegations against specific UPDF officers, said James Wapakhabulo, the
minister of Foreign Affairs.
Army Commander Maj. Gen. James Kazini, Reserve Force Commander Lt. Gen.
Salim Saleh are among the officers allegedly involved in 'criminal networks'
of plunder and tax evasion in war-torn eastern Congo.
In May 2001 government established a commission of inquiry under Justice
Porter to find out whether Ugandan army officers plundered the Congo. This
was at the recommendation of the UN panel in its first report.
Wapakhabulo, who also is third deputy prime minister, said Uganda was the
only country in the region to take up the UN's advice.
He said the report had several positive aspects such as recognising that the
Uganda government was not involved in plundering the Congo. He said where
nationals or companies of countries such as Rwanda and Zimbabwe were
mentioned, the state also often surfaced.
Wapakhabulo, however, generally dismissed the report, accusing the panel of
relying on hearsay.
He gave the example of the Protocol d'Accord allegedly signed by Mayombo in
which UPDF was promised $25,000.
"That is an insult to the UPDF, to say that we can keep a whole battalion in
an area for just $ 25,000," Wapakhabulo said.
The Mulindwas communication group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"
---
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