Matovu
One of the things I made perfectly clear, was that I have not decided to
carry out this discussion for I am looking for a person to blame. But to see
that human beings in Gulu Kitgum Apach and so on have the same rights as
any other Ugandan. This is not about Konny it is not about Your government,
it is about two people who have messed up our nation so bad and in the
process they became what our president calls politically bankrupt. Mwaami
Matovu your government claims that if the population is left in the
villages, Konny comes and terrorises them, therefore the introduction of IDP
camps, which are in a way safe places to keep Ugandans free from the Konny
terror, in a way it makes sense and I agree with the logic. But then after
the population puts trust in their government and they come into those
camps, the army comes and feeds on their wives and daughters. Many are
pregnant and very many have babies with out known fathers, for in essence
they were raped by the army that was supposed to protect them. So who is
better, the army or Konny? That is why you see I started by stating that let
us not start by blaming. I am in this discussion to find a solution which
you and I need and very desperately. For at least you have publicly called
for peace in Northern Uganda.
Just how will your government facilitate the rebels with food clothing and
medicine, when it can not deliver those items to Ugandans? You see to me all
those are gimmicks which have all but failed. But there is more blame to
your government for it has an upper hand, and a responsibility of putting
peace in every Ugandan home, if LRA has refused the offers and this problem
had gone on for a full year, then the right thing again as I said in my
first posting, would have been to get out of power. But we are talking about
20 years here. Mwaami Matovu we have a population of more than 22 million
people, let us ask them who they need for a leader. I strongly believe that
there is a Ugandan out there who can put peace in Uganda. A mission your
government has failed to achieve.
In one of your postings, you claimed to have achieved peace in Eastern
Uganda and in West Nile, and I ask, why are you arresting politicians from
those areas? You see one of the thermometers to find out how good or bad is
a government, you check on a case laid page . The moment you see that there
are more treason cases laid than petty thefts, then you know the government
has failed. I am sorry to inform you that your government is now in that
category.
In the meantime as this discussion is taking place, we have children who
need a roof on top of their heads, we have pregnant women who need to attend
clinics that they do not have, we have schools which are empty, but we have
people dying of malnutrition. Mwaami Matovu this call is very urgent, we
need a solution and we need it now. Let us get a new blood in the leadership
of our nation. Let us inject in some new thoughts. Look here we have a
leadership which can all but die of heart attack in one week any way, Yoweri
Museveni, Appolo Nsibabi, Eriya Kategaya, Chair man Kigongo, Ruhakana
Rugunda, on and on. May be they have ran out of ideas as well. What is wrong
with putting in new ideas? Mwaami Matovu your government and Konny must give
Ugandans a chance to have a government they so desperately need and today.
Em
The Mulindwas communication group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lutimba Matovu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2003 3:40 PM
Subject: Re: ugnet_: LRA war a health disaster
> Mulindwa,
>
> I think you are being unfair on me. I have
> consistently deplored the suffering of the people of
> Northern Uganda and I totally agree with you this
> suffering is unexcusable.
>
> However you still back the wrong horse by shifting
> blame away from Kony and his LRA. The one source of
> this suffering is Kony. The government has made many
> overtures to LRA rebels including an Amnesty, a
> ceasefire, and proposed areas for them to assemble and
> be facilitated with food, clothing and medicine while
> peace talks start, all these have been shunned and
> thrown back in the face of govt.
>
> I do not agree with you that the government has to
> step down before we achieve peace. There is no
> guarantee kony will ceasefire. This government is the
> best placed to bring peace as it has done in West
> Nile.
>
> Let Kony swallow his pride and agree to end the
> suffering of the people. Kony war will not end unless
> Kony ends it. He started it afterall so he has the
> power and capacity to end it.
>
> LM
> --- Mulindwa Edward <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Matovu
> > One of the solution on this never ending problem, is
> > to assess where your
> > government is coming from, is Northern Uganda better
> > today than let us say 5
> > or even 10 years ago? And I will say no. I one time
> > wrote a piece that you
> > laughed at which had a heading Northern Uganda a
> > liability to Uganda. What
> > are you sensing in this posting? There is no sign of
> > light any where and
> > there has never been any.
> >
> > So I think let us get out of the blaming game, I do
> > not care whether it is
> > Your Government or Konny, the fact of the matter is
> > that the suffering in
> > Northern Uganda is totally un-excusable and we all
> > must find a solution for
> > it. Personally I think you have started to do a very
> > great job for you have
> > moved from the Lutimba Matovu who was scorning at
> > every thing we posted
> > showing the sufferings of the people in Northern
> > Uganda, to now a new
> > Madonna who actually accepts that there is human
> > suffering in Northern
> > Uganda, although 20 years down the road. That is a
> > bold move.
> >
> > So why don't we take both Your government and Konny
> > out of Uganda's picture?
> > For if your government is not in power there can
> > never be a Konny. Then we
> > take these matters to Ugandans them selves and they
> > elect a government which
> > has the strength and good will of the population to
> > stop this tragedy! For
> > your government has lost both, and you and I know
> > it. I think that if both
> > of you take this step you can go in history as
> > people who care about the
> > sufferings of your fellow men. Just think about that
> > my fellow Ugandan.
> > Em
> > The Mulindwas communication group
> > "With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Lutimba Matovu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2003 7:56 AM
> > Subject: Re: ugnet_: LRA war a health disaster
> >
> >
> > LRA war a health disaster
> >
> > Victims of war: Displaced children in a protected
> > camp
> > clamour for food. Overcrowding and malnutrition
> > prevail
> >
> > By Caroline Lamwaka
> >
> > In 2002, the number of patients admitted at Lacor,
> > Pabo and Opit health centres in Gulu exceeded
> > 25,000.
> > This was a sharp increase from 19,000 in 2001.
> >
> > Dr. Bruno Corrado, the deputy director of Lacor
> > Hospital, attributes this increase to the Kony war.
> > He
> > says that due to insecurity, the living conditions
> > of
> > a large part of the population in Gulu had
> > deteriorated and more people got sick. Children
> > constitute 64% of all admissions.
> >
> > The most common illnesses are malaria, diarrhoea,
> > colds, coughs, malnutrition among children, and
> > HIV/AIDS related illnesses. Most of these are
> > related
> > to poor hygiene, overcrowding and poor feeding.
> >
> > "The need for health services in the district is so
> > great that not even two big hospitals can cope. When
> > life becomes hard, the first to suffer are children.
> > These children are vulnerable to disease,
> > malnutrition, poor hygiene and displacement," says
> > Corrado.
> >
> > At Lacor, children pay sh2000 for admission as flat
> > rate, while adults pay sh25,000. This includes
> > everything they might need during their stay in the
> > hospital.
> >
> > Lacor, a missionary hospital, charges patients about
> > 20% of the total cost of treatment. Government
> > contributes 20% while donations, mostly from Italy,
> > cover the remaining 60%.
> >
> > At the Gulu Government Hospital, patients are not
> > required to pay. However, the Government funding is
> > not sufficient to meet their requirements. The
> > hospital has 250 beds but it has 350 to 400
> > in-patients at any one time.
> >
> > Improvements were made on the hospital from the mid
> > 1990s and it resumed carrying out major operations
> > after services were disrupted by insecurity. With
> > the
> > coming of medical consultants in 1999, there has
> > been
> > tremendous improvement in the delivery of services.
> >
> > The medical superintendent, Dr. Felix Kaducu says:
> > "Most of the diseases we treat are communicable and
> > preventable. They are related to aspects of poor
> > sanitation and hygiene, malnutrition due to poor
> > feeding, poverty and poor social life."
> >
> > The hospital is understaffed and over-loaded. Kaducu
> > says they have only half the recommended number of
> > staff. This means the existing few are over-loaded.
> >
> > Because of the war, fewer medics are willing to come
> > and serve in the district.
> >
> > "Those who are on the ground find that they are able
> > to cope with the situation. They just need some
> > support to be able to perform better," says Kaducu.
> >
> > The Gulu Independent Hospital, which opened in
> > September 2001, has boosted health services in the
> > district, with new services that did not exist there
> > before. Matthew Lomoro, marketing manager, says they
> > are introducing new technologies to help women who
> > cannot conceive naturally.
> >
> > "We are expecting that anytime from January 2003. If
> > the staff have completed the different phases of
> > training, then we will start. Also, we are in the
> > final stages of installing the machines," he says.
> >
> > However, insecurity in Gulu is drawing back some of
> > their plans. "There are so many specialists we have
> > engaged who would wish to work with us, but fear to
> > come to Gulu. They include expatriates and
> > Ugandans,"
> > Lomoro says.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
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