84 British MPs sign Kony bill
By Badru D. Mulumba
March 7, 2004
KAMPALA â British Prime Minister Tony Blair told President Yoweri Museveni to negotiate peace during his recent visit to London, a British minister has revealed.The revelation comes as a key parliamentary motion calling for a peaceful resolution of the northern insurgency gains momentum.
There are now 84 British MPs who have appended their signatures to the motion.President Yoweri Museveni visited the UK in January where, in a diplomatic coup against the insurgents, he got the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to announce during a joint press conference that it would investigate the Lordâs Resistance Army, the first such decision at the request of a government.
â[The] Prime Minister and I discussed the situation in northern Uganda with President Museveni during his visit to London on 29 January,â Chris Mullin, Parliamentary under-secretary of state for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs told the House of Commons last week.âWe urged the President to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict, but we recognise that it is extremely difficult to negotiate with a terrorist organisation that has no known political agenda,â
Mr Mullin added.âThe conflict in northern Uganda is probably the largest unresolved conflict in Africa at the moment. Some of the events occurring, such as the recent massacre at Lira, are unspeakable. We repeatedly impressed on the Ugandan government our view that there is no purely military solution to the conflict.âAnn McKechin (Glasgow, Maryhill) sparked off the debate, asking what recent discussions UK has had about peace and human rights in northern Uganda.
Ms McKechin revealed that she visited Uganda last month and met Ugandan MPs working for peace and reconciliation who âimpressed on me that the conflict is largely about children, who are abductedâ by rebels and made part of the âkilling machineâ.The debate followed a February 23 letter to lawmakers by Mr Sam Akaki, European coordinator for International Lobby for Reform in Uganda, calling on MPs to press Uganda to talk peace following the Barlonyo massacre.
The Early Day Motion 432 - the conflict in northern Uganda, tabled by Valerie Davey on January 15 calls âon the Government (of Blair), as a major donor to Uganda, to continue to encourage all sides to arrive at a peaceful resolution of the conflict in order to end the unspeakable suffering by the civilian population.â An Early Day Motion is meant to express opinion and garner support for an issue.
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