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Busia hit by rebel scare
By Mwanguhya Charles Mpagi
September 10, 2003
KAMPALA -- Busia district is under a fresh rebel scare. Suspected rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) are circulating leaflets warning of attacks.
The local members of Parliament told The Monitor yesterday that the scare is real.
Mr Simon Mayende (Samia Bugwe South) said that some rebels have infiltrated Busia. He said that the leaflets are written in bad English and warn of imminent attacks.
"I read one [leaflet] on Friday when I was in the district to attend the council [meeting]. As the chairperson of the Defence and Internal Affairs committee of parliament, I briefed the district council. I asked them to tell the public to be careful and look out for strangers," he said yesterday.
Mr Aggrey Awori (Samia Bugwe North) said: "It is true they [LRA] have been sending scouts to Pallisa, Tororo, Mbale and Busia. It is a serious danger".
The Resident District Commissioner, who is also the chairperson of the district security committee, Lt. Ssebirumbi Kisinziggo, confirmed that the leaflets are being dropped in the district.
He however dismissed reports of any rebel infiltration. "There are leaflets yes, but there are no rebels," he said by phone from Busia.
Ssebirumbi said that the people circulating the leaflets are alarmists who want to exploit the Kony rebellion to engage in dubious trading and looting.
"These are imposters trying to cause alarm. There is no cause for alarm," he said.
The Joseph Kony-led rebels moved into the nearby Teso sub region in June.
Thousands of people have been displaced because of the fighting between the rebels and government forces in northern Uganda and Teso.
Thousands more have been abducted and killed or maimed since the rebellion began 16 years ago.
� 2003 The Monitor Publications
