By Badru D. Mulumba
Dec 25, 2003
KAMPALA - Acholi still applaud peace and not war even in the face of crumbling attempts at peace talks.
MP Jacob Oulanyah (Omoro) yesterday said there is no other way out of the devastating 17-year-old rebellion that has left more than a million people displaced from their homes.
Yesterday, Oulanyah was reported saying that the youth want to join local defence units so as to protect themselves against rebels, thugs and errant soldiers.
Oulanyah now distances himself from the report - saying that it unfairly exposes Acholi youth to increased risks of rebel attack.
"It undermines our main message to the [Lord's Resistance Army rebels] that a peaceful settlement of this conflict is the only way to end the war," Oulanyah said in a statement.
The war has left an estimated 30,000 people dead and sucked in an estimated $1.33 billion during the first 16 years of the conflict.
"I did not, could not and will never make any statement that would in any way mobilise the LRA against my own people, let alone against the youth in my constituency," he added.
"These people have suffered long enough, and exposing them to any further risks is very unfair," he said.
Oulanyah said he was not asked if the Acholi youth want to join the war.
He added that he did not say that many youth in his constituency are ready to take up arms against the LRA.
� 2003 The Monitor Publications
