Uganda - another humanitarian crisis brewing.

Since 1986, the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) of self-styled mystic Joseph Kony, who many consider clinically insane, has carried out merciless attacks across the north of Uganda, ostensibly in an attempt to overthrow the government of President Yoweri Museveni and to have Uganda ruled in accordance with the Biblical Ten Commandments.

For 17 years the Acholi people of northern Uganda have been the victims of a brutal, unrelenting rebel insurgency.According to recent estimates from the UN World Food Programme (WFP), over 800,000 people in the three northern Ugandan districts of Gulu, Kitgum, and Pader have now been forced from their homes and are living (and being fed) in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

This represents 70 to 80 percent of the entire Acholi population.

The Ugandan army does not recognize the LRA as a bona fide rebel group, denouncing it simply as a terrorist organization. There is some support for this view; the group has been denoted a terrorist organisation by the US government, and has been included on the US State Department's 'Terrorist Exclusion List' since December 2001.(See footnote re pic)

The UN estimates, some 8,400 children have been registered as abducted by the LRA during raids between June 2002 and June 2003. This represents a sharp increase in the level of abductions, and brings to over 20,000 the total number of registered child abductions since 1990. Fewer than 100 children were reported to be abducted during 2001, a period when hopes were high that the conflict was slowly dying out.

Once captured, abducted children are often forced to take part in horrifying initiation practices, including the torture and murder of others. Many other children are forced to watch helplessly the beatings, killings, abductions, rape and murder of other people, who are sometimes their close relatives. Whilst girls are taken as sex slaves by the LRA leaders.

Apart from the Ugandan army's troubled campaign against Kony, there have been some, so far unsuccessful, attempts to bring a peaceful end to the war. These peace initiatives have included a presidential peace team, which was established by Museveni with a view to starting serious negotiations.

It was therefore interesting to see that on the 18th July 2005 Rochdale Liberal MP Paul Rowen took the opportunity to ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs “what assessment he has made of the security situation in northern Uganda.” Ian Pearson was able to tell him that, “ the security situation has deteriorated since the expiry of the cease-fire in February and the onset of the rainy season. The Lord's Resistance Army continue to attack and loot for food and supplies.” Furthermore the Noble Lord Triesman of Tottenham, (David T as was, now adorning benches of the House of Lords and whom many will remember when he was in the Communist Party in the 70’s as a raving Trotskyite) discussed this with President Museveni on 4 July, although he remained silent upon what they discussed and any resulting actions the UK Government might make.


Dorcus Inzikuru won the first world women’s 3,000 metre steeplechase title in Helsinki this week to get Uganda its first gold medal ever in the 22-year history of the World Athletics Championship >>>

It is therefore fascinating to see the interest the Liberal MP has in the Dark Continent …which continues to trouble those intent on providing aid …in the case of Uganda, British Aid accounts for half the Government revenues, yet In April, Britain cancelled £5 million out of £40 million in aid to Uganda, and Norway followed suit 10 later, denying Uganda £2.4 million... after the President made slow progress in moving away from a one-party state….To put it into perspective The buildup of the Ugandan external debt under President Musaveni coincided chronologically with the Rwandan and Congolese civil wars which Musaveni was (at the behest of the US) very active.

With the accession of Musaveni to the presidency in 1986, the Ugandan external debt stood at 1.3 billion dollars. With the gush of fresh money, the external debt spiraled overnight, increasing almost threefold to 3.7 billion by 1997. In fact, Uganda had no outstanding debt to the World Bank at the outset of its "economic recovery program". By 1997, it owed almost 2 billion dollars solely to the World Bank.Those anxious to cancel African nation’s indebtedness may well ask, “ Where had the money gone ?”

Of course multiparty politics, was banned when Musaveni came to power in 1986, and the ruling National Resistance Movement has since been the only recognized political group. Internal and international pressure mainly from US , the EU, and Germany for more democracy, have it appears forced his hand and the president now says he supports a return to multi-party politics and a referendum was held on July 29th resulted in a low turnout of 47% (the opposition called, remarkably for a boycott) but a 92.5% majority to restore multi-party politics. But both internal and international pressure for more democracy seem to have forced his hand and the president now says he supports a return to multi-party politics.

The referendum is only partly about democracy. It’s also aimed at enhancing political power, in allowing Musaveni to stand in forthcoming (?) elections next year.

Diplomatic gossip tells of 1,000 killings per day, many of them by the boy soldiers armed (by whom ?) with AK 47's. It is evident that we have another "humanitarian crisis" beginning to boil in the Heart of the Dark Continent.The British High Comission in Kampala strongly advise against travel to, or transiting by road, the following areas in northern Uganda: Gulu (including Murchison Falls National Park, the northern section of which lies in Gulu district), Kitgum, Pader, Adjumani, Apac and Lira districts. These are all areas where LRA activity has been the highest and most recent.

In July 2005, there was an armed attack on a vehicle in the northern part of the Murchison Falls National Park. Vistors are strongly advised not to visit this park.

For this reason, the region known as West Nile (Nebbi, Arua, Moyo, and Yumbe districts in Uganda's far north west) should only be approached by air. Most visits to West Nile are trouble-free, but you should note that two US missionaries were murdered in Yumbe in March 2004.

PICTURE FOOTNOTE Lokeria Aciro recovers at a hospital in northern Uganda. She had her lips and ears cut off by an 11-year-old soldier of the LRA when she and other women left a refugee camp to gather firewood. The other women were taken by the rebels.Photo Ann Orr for more see Los Angeles TimesAug 9th © 2005