Uganda’s LRA: Are we back to square one?
By Sisto Olur *
Dec 1, 2006 — Are we back to square one or what? Recent media reports suggest that the LRA are planning or have already decided to bid farewell to the Juba peace talk being mediated by the South Sudan Government Vice President, Dr. Riak Machar. If what we read from various sources prove to be true, then one would say that the LRA and the government of Uganda will not sign any peace agreement at all no matter how long it takes. The Juba talks seen as the only hope for peace to return to Northern Ugandan which has been severely affected by the 20 years of insurgency has witnessed a considerable amount of diplomacy from various stakeholders that want to see peace return to the region. However, as outsiders the only contributions we are able to make is plead to the warring parties to seize the opportunity of the Juba talks and find a political settlement to the crisis.
Unfortunately, both the LRA and Ugandan government seem to be interested only to see that the peace talks or agreement that may come out should be based on their terms and conditions without putting due considerations to the suffering of innocent civilians caught in the middle. Peace is a very expensive commodity, and they should talk to the SPLA/M how they went through at Naivasha. There were gains and losses from both sides, the result was CPA. Other serious matters that may contribute to the collapse of the Juba talks is the repeated accusations by the LRA,s second in command, Vincent Otti that they do not trust the Chief Negotiator, Dr. Riak Machar because his partiality, and that he is siding with Uganda government. The second accusation is about the presence of UPDF in East of the Nile adjacent to Owiny ki Bul, the designated assembly point.
While, some people may agree or sympathise with the LRA,s demand that UPDF should pull out from the assembly point, the issue of replacing the Chief Negotiator may be questionable and impossible to consider for several reasons. I believe the LRA are aware that no country as far as we know is prepared to listen to them, leave alone accepting to host another parallel peace talks separate from the one currently being chaired by Dr. Riak Machar. The South Sudan came in at last and has an interest and wants to see peace in Northern Uganda because peace in Northern Uganda also means in South Sudan.
One more thing for the LRA to note is the issue of the ICC arrest warrants which is beyond the prerogative of the delegation in Juba, and indeed the entire Peace Secretariat. The issue is complex, and the blame or failure to convince the ICC headquarters to withdraw the warrants cannot be put on Dr. Riak Machar. Even the Acholi traditional method called “mato oput” may not be sufficient to yield or put to rest the kind of agony and sufferings the people sustained as a result of the 20 years of LRA rebellion. So what is the alternative left? If I were in the position of the four indicted war criminals, and in order to save the live, culture of Acholi, which has been destroyed, I would do the following:
– Sign peace with the government;
– Seek asylum in a non-ICC member country, but
– First release women and children under captivity
The issues of captured children, chopping of hands and cooking human flesh are serious matters that made the entire world disgusted. I am not even sure if the affected families are ready to forget and forgive those responsible for the vandalism and this is probably why they want to remain in the bush and die there. Another way of looking at the ongoing situation is that they are counting on the fragile peace in Sudan and are planning to resume cooperation with Khartoum and join the various militia groups operating in the South Sudan bushes to cause chaos and make it ungovernable.
* The author is based in Norway. He can be reached at
[email protected]