Monday, July 14, 2003
JOACHIM BUWEMBO
Forget Mercenaries, Just Call in the US Marines...
If there is one problem that has dogged the steps of Uganda�s government, it is the Lord�s Resistance Army of warlord Joseph Kony. There are all manner of explanations why Kony has not been eliminated, but none of them changes the fact that he has never ceased wreaking havoc in the north and, of late, the east of the country.
Mr Kony started his grisly business sometime late in 1987. The new government, which had taken power in 1986, had just quashed two major rebellions.
The first, which started in August 1986, was led by soldiers of the defeated armies. The second was launched by the self-proclaimed prophet Alice Lakwena. It was called the Holy Spirit Movement.
When Kony took over from Lakwena (as if an insurgency leadership vacuum were some kind of anathema that nature could not tolerate) he first called his outfit the Holy Spirit Movement Part Two. Then, at some point, it became the Lord�s Resistance Army.
The LRA is the longest surviving rebel group in Uganda�s modern history. Kony, who legend has it was once an altar boy, has survived several government army commanders. Believed to be in his late 30s, Kony is now on his sixth UPDF commander.
There have been several serious initiatives to eliminate him, but the sly fellow somehow lives on. At one time, there were rumours that he was dying of Aids. For once, Ugandans had cause to smile at the destructive power of HIV.
But it was not to be. Either he stole a huge cache of anti-retroviral drugs along with the lab equipment and manuals to administer them, or he never had HIV in the first place. That would mean he does not participate in the mass rapes that his group conducts with such regularity.
Anyway, besides surviving Aids, so far at least, Kony has survived serious assaults by the government forces, including the Operation North of the late 1980s that was led by Gen David Tinyefuza. The general went back to school, secured a master�s degree in law, fought a long court battle against being "enslaved" by the UPDF which was refusing to allow him to retire, mended fences with the state and became a presidential advisor. And now, he is back in the north, trying to eliminate Kony.
More recently, Kony appears to have survived Operation Iron Fist, which had looked likely to eliminate him once and for all. It involved the co-operation of the Sudan government, which allowed the UPDF enter its territory in pursuit of the man. But the fellow, which was once described by Uganda�s government as a jigger � a mere irritant � somehow survived.
Now guess who�s jumping into the fray! The United States of America! US ambassador to Uganda Jimmy Kolker has talked of his country starting "a modest programme of military training and assistance" to improve Uganda�s capacity to protect and defend the civilian population. We can only hope that the "modest programme" is only modest by American standards. For what we need now is an ambitious programme to end the Kony menace.
Recently, some Members of Parliament in desperation called on the government to hire mercenaries to kill Kony and close the chapter. The government was infuriated by the suggestion, and called the MPs some choice names. Other MPs said Uganda�s neighbours Kenya and Tanzania should asked to assist eliminate Kony. Retired general Salim Saleh has made a multimillion dollar proposal on how to solve the problem. Many generals, many suggestions, one enemy.
There have also been calls for divine intervention. His Holiness the Pope has more than once prayed for an end to the insurgency. You see, Kony has a penchant for harassing Catholic institutions. Aboke Girls, from where he abducted 100 girls of whom a dozen have never been found, is a Catholic-founded school. He attacked another Catholic school in similar fashion recently. And during the recent attacks in Teso, it is ironical that a Catholic radio station that had been running news of the rebel approach was closed, this time by the government.
The Pope this time might have to do more than pray. Since Kony claims to do all these things in the name of God, the Pope should summon him to the Vatican and tell him to stop it. A Catholic cannot reject a call from the Pope.
Uganda should ask the Vatican to step in. If the Pope can assure Kony of immunity if he stops the insurgency, maybe the altar boy in him will listen. Papal intervention is not as ridiculous as hiring mercenaries. Why can�t government give it a shot?
Joachim Buwembo is Editor of the Sunday Vision of Kampala.
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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