Different Opinions As Govt Mounts Pressure On Lra
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African Church Information Service
January 12, 2004
Posted to the web January 12, 2004
Crespo Sebunya
Gulu
The Acholi community in northern Uganda woke up in 2004 surrounded by thousands of government-armed militia forces and army personnel determined to decimate Joseph Kony, the leader of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a notorious rebel group operating in the region.
Captain Mike Mukula, a Israeli trained anti-terrorist expert, and a government minister, who is also one of the leaders of Arrow Militia group, has confirmed that a 20,000-strong militia force is ready to combat Kony. A hardliner, Mukula has warned Kony that he (Kony) does not have monopoly on violence.
Another hardliner, Moses Ecworu has been posted to Soroti district in north-eastern part of the country, as a Commissioner. He is alleged to have called for the killing of Acholi who cross over into Soroti. Apart from Gulu district in the north, Soroti has occasionally been targeted by the LRA forces.
In his New Year message, President Yoweri Museveni warned that Kony will be defeated this year because the military has built up enough capacity.
He said amnesty to Kony and his second in command, Vicent Otti, was over.
Tribal militia fighters surrounding the Acholi include the Teso, Langi and the Karimojong.
In addition, relations between President Museveni and Tabani, a son of the late former president Idi Amin, has been warming up. Tabani has declared that he will bring Kony out of the bush.
The December 24, 2003 airlifting of 400 ex-rebel fighters belonging to Tabani, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) underlines this declaration.
The presence of Ugandan army in the Sudan, monitoring the northern sector of Uganda, reveals a plan that may seal off Acholiland.
However, the Roman Catholic Church is stepping up efforts to forestall the plan. On December 31, the church organised a mammoth demonstration in Gulu town, calling for peace. According to Carlos Rodriguez, a priest based in Gulu, 4,000 people attended.
Even though the Catholic Church abhors Kony's excesses, it criticizes the military solution as having resulted in a no win situation, but causing dramatic increase in violence in the region.
The Anglican Church is also not keeping quiet. The outgoing Head, Bishop Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo, wants the government to drop the military approach.
"Stop condemning them, forgive them so that you win them over," he told a congregation on January 1, arguing that Kony should be treated like a prodigal son. "Kony was once a good boy and it is from our breasts that he suckled. He went astray, but needs to be forgiven. So, the new year should come with a new song," he said.
But Museveni has taken an increasingly uncompromising stand. "Even if Kony is given a hand to come out of the mess, he will not accept the gesture," John Nagenda, a presidential advisor told a BBC journalist who sought to remind him that the arming of militia forces by the government would entrench concern that "Violence begets violence".
The government's position comes in the wake of mounting domestic and international pressure, calling for settlement of the conflict, which has cost the nation about US$ 1.6 billion in its 17-year period. The United Nations (UN), Commonwealth, Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and some western states see the prolonging of the conflict as unacceptable.
According to Museveni, the LRA has no political agenda. Their mission is mainly materialistic. "All these bandits are after is chicken and food," the president said recently.
Some legislators from the north allege that Kony is a government agent whose intentions is to disorganise the Uganda Peoples Democratic Army (UPDA), which was established in 1986 to fight against perceived marginalisation of Acholi people from political and economic spheres.
They had viewed Museveni's government as largely favouring southern tribes more than the north.
"In fact Kony's men used to attack UPDA camps and even killed some senior commanders of the group," said Dr Okullu Epak, one of the members of parliament from the area.
The legislators allege that Kony later fell out of favour, and turned his guns on the government. According to them, he did so after the government failed to pay him for his services.
--- Begin Message --- Different Opinions As Govt Mounts Pressure On Lra
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African Church Information Service
January 12, 2004
Posted to the web January 12, 2004
Crespo Sebunya
Gulu
The Acholi community in northern Uganda woke up in 2004 surrounded by thousands of government-armed militia forces and army personnel determined to decimate Joseph Kony, the leader of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a notorious rebel group operating in the region.
Captain Mike Mukula, a Israeli trained anti-terrorist expert, and a government minister, who is also one of the leaders of Arrow Militia group, has confirmed that a 20,000-strong militia force is ready to combat Kony. A hardliner, Mukula has warned Kony that he (Kony) does not have monopoly on violence.
Another hardliner, Moses Ecworu has been posted to Soroti district in north-eastern part of the country, as a Commissioner. He is alleged to have called for the killing of Acholi who cross over into Soroti. Apart from Gulu district in the north, Soroti has occasionally been targeted by the LRA forces.
In his New Year message, President Yoweri Museveni warned that Kony will be defeated this year because the military has built up enough capacity.
He said amnesty to Kony and his second in command, Vicent Otti, was over.
Tribal militia fighters surrounding the Acholi include the Teso, Langi and the Karimojong.
In addition, relations between President Museveni and Tabani, a son of the late former president Idi Amin, has been warming up. Tabani has declared that he will bring Kony out of the bush.
The December 24, 2003 airlifting of 400 ex-rebel fighters belonging to Tabani, from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) underlines this declaration.
The presence of Ugandan army in the Sudan, monitoring the northern sector of Uganda, reveals a plan that may seal off Acholiland.
However, the Roman Catholic Church is stepping up efforts to forestall the plan. On December 31, the church organised a mammoth demonstration in Gulu town, calling for peace. According to Carlos Rodriguez, a priest based in Gulu, 4,000 people attended.
Even though the Catholic Church abhors Kony's excesses, it criticizes the military solution as having resulted in a no win situation, but causing dramatic increase in violence in the region.
The Anglican Church is also not keeping quiet. The outgoing Head, Bishop Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo, wants the government to drop the military approach.
"Stop condemning them, forgive them so that you win them over," he told a congregation on January 1, arguing that Kony should be treated like a prodigal son. "Kony was once a good boy and it is from our breasts that he suckled. He went astray, but needs to be forgiven. So, the new year should come with a new song," he said.
But Museveni has taken an increasingly uncompromising stand. "Even if Kony is given a hand to come out of the mess, he will not accept the gesture," John Nagenda, a presidential advisor told a BBC journalist who sought to remind him that the arming of militia forces by the government would entrench concern that "Violence begets violence".
The government's position comes in the wake of mounting domestic and international pressure, calling for settlement of the conflict, which has cost the nation about US$ 1.6 billion in its 17-year period. The United Nations (UN), Commonwealth, Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and some western states see the prolonging of the conflict as unacceptable.
According to Museveni, the LRA has no political agenda. Their mission is mainly materialistic. "All these bandits are after is chicken and food," the president said recently.
Some legislators from the north allege that Kony is a government agent whose intentions is to disorganise the Uganda Peoples Democratic Army (UPDA), which was established in 1986 to fight against perceived marginalisation of Acholi people from political and economic spheres.
They had viewed Museveni's government as largely favouring southern tribes more than the north.
"In fact Kony's men used to attack UPDA camps and even killed some senior commanders of the group," said Dr Okullu Epak, one of the members of parliament from the area.
The legislators allege that Kony later fell out of favour, and turned his guns on the government. According to them, he did so after the government failed to pay him for his services.
--- End Message ---
