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THE MONITOR, 19TH DECEMBER 2002
Resign, MPs Tell Kazini
--12 days to Kony deadline
BY Felix Osike
and Hamis Kaheru
WHEN Army chief Maj. Gen. James Kazini swore earrly this year to resign if the Lord�s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels of Joseph Kony were not decimated by December 31, few took it as a joke given the weaponry and personnel he had gathered in the north.
Now it is 12 days to go and Kony and his men are still alive and kicking, unleashing terror on the civilian population. And the MPs are not amused about the general�s vows.
�What is Kazini up to?� some MPs asked on Tuesday and reminded the army chief to respect his deadline.
The MPs sounded the calls on Tuesday while debating President Yoweri Museveni�s speech delivered to Parliament on November 21.
The minister for the presidency, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, moved the motion to thank Museveni for his speech on the security situation in the country.
�Kazini should be told to respect his deadline and I hope he will resign come December 31,� Omara Atubo (Otuke) said.
Museveni urged the MPs to support an increase in defence spending limited by the donors to 2% of GDP.
�The problem is not money. The issue lies in the efficiency, manpower and corruption in the army,� said Atubo.
He said insurgency in the country would not end unless human rights were guaranteed and the political space opened up.
Maj. John Kazoora (Kashari) wondered why the army was buying heavy weaponry to fight a guerrilla warfare.
�Those days in the bush we were told that we didn�t need heavy weaponry to win the war. I don�t know if this military science has now changed.�
He said the army was complaining of bad terrain as if they were trained �to fight in Kololo airstrip.� Kazoora said press headlines like �Kony escapes by a whisker� and �Opoka trapped in Pader district� were suspect.
Magoola Zirabamuzale (Iganga) said Museveni and his commanders should keep deadlines to themselves.
Museveni has also said that Kony will be !
finished
by March.
�When they give deadlines which they don�t honour, we lose confidence in them. What miracle will happen between now and December 31?� she asked.
Justine Lumumba (Bugiri) said the deadlines were unrealistic. �Are we really going to follow these deadlines. If it doesn�t happen, what are we going to tell the people? If Opoka is trapped in Pader, why can�t the army get him? she asked.
State minister for housing Francis Babu urged politicians to advise the government on the best method to achieve peace in the region. Prof. Tarsis Kabwegeyere said the attendant war situation in northern Uganda had been underestimated.
Ends
Published on: Thursday, 19th December, 2002 |
