By Walakira Geofrey
September 29, 2003
SOROTI - The war in Teso sub region has ended and people are back to their usual business, the Minister of State for Security, Ms Betty Akech has said.
Akech accused the media and some politicians of blowing the situation in Teso and the north out of proportion.
"But the region is now safe, the people in Teso and Gulu are on normal businesses," she said.
Akech said the few incidences of LRA attacks in Teso and Gulu are in Pader district where the rebels are still hiding.
She said rebels move 200 to 300 kilometers to invade Teso. She said the government has worked hard and Teso and Gulu are safe.
The minister was last week answering why the northern insurgency has persisted. Akech said the few remnants of LRA rebels would soon be eliminated completely in Pader and Sudan by the UPDF.
The northern insurgency has spent 17 years and about 500,000 people have died.
Akech said she would take journalists to war ravaged areas to see for themselves.
"I want Ugandans to sleep well, wake up in the morning and go to work without fear of being killed by rebels," the minister said at her Office in Kampala.
Akech said the media including the government newspaper; The New Vision misquotes officials on security matters.
"Recently the New Vision ran a story that Hon. Akech said Acholi support Kony," she said.
Akech said she only said that some Acholi support Kony. She said as soon the war ends, government would invest heavily in the north to develop the area.
� 2003 The Monitor Publications
