| Don't let Kony build new army |
| President Yoweri Museveni now knows that his poor election performance in northern Uganda could increase if he does not act quickly to end the Kony rebellion that has been raging there for the last 18 years. Voters in the region where rebellion has led to the death of thousands and the displacement of over 1.4 million people rejected him at the polls. Mr Museveni's new government should woo them with a strategy to defeat the rebels that should include ensuring that the rebels do not recruit and train new fighters. Already, about 70 of the over 400 inmates who escaped from prison in Arua just a day after Mr Mus
eveni
was proclaimed winner of the 2006 presidential election are now feared to have joined Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Garamba National Park in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Unfortunately, some of the escapees are suspected trained rebels, including one Hassan Yerego, a former commander of the rebel West Nile Bank Front (WNBF). Reports that the Arua jailbreak has boosted Kony's recruitment drive are critical because, as Brig. Gen. Robert L. Caslen, the US Pentagon's deputy director for the war on terrorism told a journalist, terrorists win if they are ahead in two critical areas: recruitment and training. Since Uganda's war on Kony has been closely linked to the American War on Terror we could learn from Gen. Caslen's observation. In the past, we have introduced US-inclined anti-terrorism laws despite wide criticism for their infringement on the human rights of many, including journalists. In
return,
President Museveni has received support from the US government. The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant of arrest for Kony and several of his commanders. But international goodwill and support is not endless and US militarists are conceding that it is not winning the so-called "war on Terror" as 30 new terrorist organisations have emerged since the September 11, 2001 attacks. Mr Museveni must, therefore, support Betty Bigombe's efforts to talk peace and ensure that Kony does not recruit and train new fighters. |
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