It is a pity that peace and justice are mutually exclusive for the
citizens of Acholi in the current conflict that has lasted some 18 years and
counting.
For whatever reason, the government is unable and/or unwilling to
adopt the easiest solution: negotiate for peace. The recent tragic death of
Mr. Garang, which was predictable to some extent, also complicates matters
further.
Glancing through Mr.
Branch's paper one comes to realize the woeful Catch-22 situation the Acholi
peasantry are in. They are
cought in a relentless and cruel cross-fire between the UPDF and the LRA,
who each regard the peasantry with suspicion, each having failed to
cultivate popular support amongst them. The result is that the Acholi
peasantry is perennially brutalized by both
sides.
In an earlier work, Prof. Kasfir came
pretty much to the same conclusion about the NRA and the peasants of Luweero
during the protracted
war that was supposed to usher in
fundamental change. In reality, peasants just switched
one set of tyrants for another set, never mind that the incumbent dictator (
and his sycophants) bristles about the similarities between him and his
former protagonist(s). I dont recall seeing Kasfirs talk being cited in
Branchs paper. Perhaps in my next glance at
it.
Nelson Kasfir 2002 Dilemmas of popular support in guerilla war: The
National Resistance Army in Uganda 1981-86, presented to LiCEP6 at
UCLA.
Note:
LiCEP
is an inter-university research group named Laboratory
in Comparative Ethnic Processes, hence LiCEP,
devoted to understanding causes and consequences of ethnic mobilizations.
They meet bi-annually at various campuses to exchange ideas. LiCEP 6 was the
6th such conference. If I am not mistaken, last year they met at
Columbia U, where Mr. Branch is getting his PhD.
LiCEP
conferees produce some thought provoking papers, a fact not nearly as well
known amongst us Africans as might be desirable. Recent faves of mine
include:
Ferree
2004 Demographics and electoral volatility in Africa (Uganda doesnt seem to
have made the cut for inclusion).
Quinn,
Hechter & Wibbles 2004 Ethnicity, insurgencyand civila war
revisted
Etc.
General
info on LiCEP: www.duke.edu/web/licep/OO wrote:
Neither
Peace nor Justice: Political Violence and the Peasantry in Northern
Uganda , 1986-1998
Adam
Branch
African Studies Quarterly, Volume 8, Issue 2 Spring
2005
http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v8/v8i2a1.htm