Open up these camps
Fr Carlos Rodriguez, a name that has become synonymous with the fight for justice and human rights for the people in the northern region, was recently in trouble again. It did not make news nationally, because it happened in one little corner of Teso.
Fr Carlos, with a Gulu Peace and Justice commission team, had paid a visit to the forgotten camps of Kapelepyong where thousands have been displaced by the cattle rustlers from Karamoja for the last decade, and where the Kony rebels added insult on injury a year go by attacking and killing hundreds in these camps.
The team from Gulu had come on a multi pronged mission. To heal, to reconcile and to show solidarity. They discussed a decent and ceremonial burial of the victims of Kony's atrocities, something they hope to do soon with Archbishop Odama of Gulu and other religious, political and cultural leaders.
This was a very good if not overdue visit, with potential not only to reconcile and heal these com
munities
but also to focus the limelight on the plight of these forgotten people.
The disturbing development we need to look into in the general trend of our politics is why Carlos and his team were threatened with arrest and forced to make a quick exit from Teso.
Allegations were made that they were on a reconnoitering mission and the place would soon be attacked. How could anyone believe this crap?
Speculation is rife that the order to arrest Fr Carlos and his team came from high up.
Some questions need to be asked:
Was it wrong to visit the camps on humanitarian and spiritual grounds? Who told the politician responsible that only the government has the monopoly to control the population? Whose interest was this politician serving?
I feel that all the camps, not only in Gulu, a region that has become one big camp of insecurity, but also those in Northern Teso, have become a sore spot in the country. They are the Achilles� heel in our government's record.
The way forward is not to hide them behind the iron curtain of silence but to open them up so that solutions can be sought to end the misery of so many. Let us address Fr Carlos� issues that prick the government whenever he raises them.
I invite the opposition to take up the challenge of fighting for the redress of the plight of these millions out of humanitarian grounds and not for political reasons. I invite the Churches to boost the voices of the likes of Fr Carlos till we find a solution.
Rev Richard Pius Okiria
Yale University
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