Juba talks imported Ugandan war to Sudan
By Steve Paterno
October 21, 2006 — The Ugandan war, perpetuated by the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) resembles a brand of the typical African wars, due to the fact that it manages to spill over beyond its original boundaries. In Africa, a war of one country could also be a war of other countries. This is probably because of African inherit generosity of sharing, which includes sharing even tragic things like a war. A classic example of African sharing wars of one another is the recent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo where African war-sharers convened in one of the African largest countries to battle each others war out.
By observing refugees resettlement pattern in Africa, one will really be puzzled by the fact that the country of Ethiopia hosts Sudanese refugees, and the country of Sudan also hosts Ethiopian refugees. And if one goes further with observing the patterns, African continent becomes a confusing tangling web of refugee-hosting countries, and one will begin to wonder that if Sudan can host Chadian in its country, why can it not host its own citizens of Darfur for that matter? Anyway, that is the question for Sudan and other African countries to answer.
In the case of the LRA war, it started in Northern Uganda two decades ago, and spilled to South Sudan and then entered into Democratic Republic of Congo, and now it is potentially spreading over to the Central African Republic. The war supposed to be a Ugandan civil war. But it is quite complicated. The LRA fled to Sudan to register the support of the Khartoum regime so that it can wage a successfully war in Uganda. However, the situation was a little bit complicated because the Khartoum regime was also waging its own war against the people of the South Sudan and the people of the South Sudan were supported by the Ugandan government, so it was logical that the Khartoum regime allied with the LRA in waging a one war against both the people of South Sudan and the government of Uganda. And for over a decade that had been the case, the Khartoum regime along with the LRA terrorizing the citizens of South Sudan and Northern Uganda with a war that include killing, mutilation, raping, kidnapping, looting, and displacement of the population.
Nonetheless, luck had its way for the people of South Sudan in the year 2005 as they signed a peace treaty with the regime in Khartoum—the peace treaty to stop Khartoum regime from waging the war against them. As a result of that peace agreement, the LRA felt like they should expand the horizon of their war even further than they already did. The LRA then entered from South Sudan, which was their base, into the Democratic Republic of Congo. Now the LRA war engulfed three countries, two large ones and a small one.
Since the people of the South Sudan just signed the peace, and African that they are, they became eager in sharing their peace with the people of Northern Uganda and all those people whom the LRA are disturbing. The self ruling government of South Sudan initiated the peace talks between the LRA and the government of Uganda. The peace talks, have thus far achieved one thing, the truce between the LRA and the Ugandan government. In the truce, all the LRA fighters from wherever they could be must gather into designated locations in South Sudan. In other words, it means the LRA should all come to South Sudan so that their war is exhausted there.
But no sooner than the LRA begin gathering in the South Sudan, the war broke down once again in South Sudan. People are being killed execution style and burn beyond reorganization. Vehicles are ambushed, looted and destroyed on the roads. Ensuing battle and confrontations between the LRA and the Ugandan People Defense Force (UPDF) begin to take shape in the soil of South Sudan resulting into casualties in both sides. In other words, the South Sudan becomes the battleground of LRA and UPDF. The UPDF is now setting up road blocks inside South Sudan to impound the vehicles belonging to the government of South Sudan and they are even arresting the citizens of South Sudan including the soldiers of South Sudan. In short, the war that was supposed to be a Ugandan war is now being concentrated and practiced in South Sudan, and has become a South Sudan war where the South Sudanese are not the participants but the victims.
In conclusion, the peace talks that suppose to bring peace in Northern Uganda have actually just transferred the war from Northern Uganda into South Sudan. And generous as the people of South Sudan are, they must as well share the brand of the war and exhaust it once and for all in South Sudan. After all, they have been living in the war their entire life, and why not just embrace this war of Ugandans.
* Steve Paterno is a Sudanese residing in the U.S.A., and he can be reached at [email protected]