UN can end northern war
Tears roll down my cheeks when innocent people are killed by the LRA rebels day in day out.
And while this happens, the African Union and the United Nations are just watching.
Yet the number of people who died in some war-torn African countries like Liberia and Siera Leone where the UN peacekeepers intervened was not necessarily more alarming than the casualties of Kony’s war.
Our own government has failed to bring the war to an end and the Members of Parliament are so impotent (at least on this one) that they cannot show government the way forward.
President Yoweri Musevevi has been reduced to a war lecturer, always explaining to whoever cares to listen, why the war has lasted so long.
The only solution to this war therefore is peace talks. Peace talks, not as have been done before, but real peace talks.
The UN peacekeepers should be deployed in the war-torn areas as a neutral venue for face-to-face talks between the protagonists is arranged.
The Sudanese government should be given more pressure (by the UN) to compel Kony to accept talks by attending in person.
Kony, with the Sudanese government controlling him fully, is as good as a tamed beast.
And when he accepts to come to the talking table, Gen. Museveni should likewise accept defeat and concentrate on seeking a peaceful resolution.
His ego might be badly bruised, but for the good of the people.
International mediators chosen by government and the rebels should be used to build confidence in both parties.
Bishop Odama and other Acholi leaders should explore another dimension (of this nature) because the old approach has apparently failed. Ponder this suggestion.
Maasa Abraham Nick,
Makerere University.
