Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kampala (Agenzia Fides) - “A peace accord has been reached. We are only waiting for the signatures of President Yoweri Museveni and LRA leader Joseph Kony. The ceremony was expected to take place this week, however it has been postponed until April 5,” local Church sources in Kampala (Uganda’s capital city) told Agenzia Fides. In Kampala, it seems that the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is willing to finally place an end to the 20-year war in the northern part of the country (see Fides 25/2/2008) that has caused a mass exodus of over 2 million people to leave the area, as well as the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians.
On March 26, representatives from the government in Kampala and from the guerrilla army met in Juba, the capital of South Sudan (whose President is working as mediator between the two parties), to sign a second accord for guaranteeing and implementing the peace agreements, completing the last step needed prior to the signing of the final accord by the Ugandan president and the leader of the rebel army. It is doubtful that Kony himself will make an appearance in the signing ceremony, as the LRA leader demands guarantees of his security if he emerges from his hiding place, first and foremost being the assurance that he will not be arrested. There have been, in fact, arrest warrants issued by the International Crime Court for the leader and chief cohorts of the LRA, for charges of crimes against humanity. In efforts to resolve this impasse, on February 19, 2008, the Ugandan authorities and the LRA signed an accord that states that the war crimes will be judged exclusively by a special delegation within the High Court of Uganda, thus side-stepping the International Crime Court.
In spite of the justice accord, Kony fears having to face charges in The Hague and wishes to sign the accord in Ri-Kwangba, a town located about 100 km from Juba that has become a meeting point for the LRA rebels, as has been previously agreed to in prior settlements. In efforts to convince him, talks continue in Juba, where according to Fides sources, Archbishop John Baptist Odama of Gulu has become one of the leading active religious leaders of the Acholi, who have been working for peace for years now. The Acholi people are the main ethnic group in northern Uganda. Both the guerrilla rebels and their victims are for the most part Acholi. The religious and civil leaders of the Acholi play an important role in the peace-making process, which takes into account the social and cultural context of the area.
According to the local press, five African heads of state will be present at the peace signing: Mwai Kibaki (Kenya), Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania), Armando Guebuza (Mozambique), Thabo Mbeki (South Africa), Joseph Kabila (Democratic Republic of Congo), and Omar El-Bashir (Sudan).
The agreement calls for the deployment of peace-keeping force of mostly South African troops from the African Union, in northern Uganda. The presence of foreign soldiers in Uganda, however, has already become a topic of open debate in the country.
The work of the African Union, after a 20-year civil war that has been greatly ignored by the international community, is certainly a positive sign and perhaps, as well, a sign that the LRA warfare has become a regional problem. There have been Ugandan guerrillas spotted in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Central Africa, and there is thought to be ties between the LRA and the Sabaot Land Defense Force (SLDF) of Kenya (see Fides 11/3/2008). (LM) (Agenzia Fides 28/3/2008; righe 46, parole 594)
