Tag Archives: in the news

“LRA victims to sue over compensation,” Daily Monitor, 7 March 2011

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“LRA victims to sue over compensation,” Daily Monitor, 7 March 2011

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1120350/-/c4222wz/-/index.html

By Cissy Makumbi

 

Gulu

Victims of the Lord’s Resistance Army and West Nile Bank Front rebellions have threatened to drag the government to international courts for failing to compensate them for losses they incurred as a result of the wars.

The victims said the government failed to protect their properties and lives of their loved ones during the wars that resulted in destitution and increased number of orphans.

The chairperson of the group, Mr Sam Buti, during a memory sharing meeting organised by Justice Peace and Reconciliation Project held in Gulu on Friday, said many of their members have become amputees and can no longer engage actively in productive activities, which therefore calls for their compensation. “Bomb blast victims in Kampala have been compensated swiftly, why not us who have equally been permanently maimed due to government’s reluctance? ” Mr Buti asked.

The Presidential Adviser for northern Uganda, Mr Richard Todwong, said the government will compensate all those who lost their property and asked them for patience. He revealed that the government is already supporting many war victims including paying for their medical bills in hospitals. Over 6,000 maimed and mutilated war victims have already registered under the organization, many of them with no lips, ears and noses.

“Victims of LRA demand compensation,” Daily Monitor, 7 February 2011

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“Victims of LRA demand compensation,” Daily Monitor, 7 February 2011

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1102898/-/c58m75z/-/index.html

By Warom Felix Okello

 

West Nile

Hundreds of people living near Murchison Falls National Park who survived attacks by the Lords’ Resistance Army rebels are demanding compensation from government.

Some of the residents suffered bullet wounds, lost their property while others had their relatives killed during numerous ambushes in the park- the epicentre of the attacks in West Nile.

Under the West Nile Kony Rebel War Victims Association, they are demanding that financial compensation and support be given to them. The association chairman, Mr Sam Buti, said: “Even though we suffered tremendously, we have not received any substantial support from the government which should have ensured our protection,” he said.

Records by the association indicate that Nebbi has 500 victims, Arua 400, Zombo 300, Yumbe 200, Koboko 250 and Adjumani 600. Mr Buti said the over 2,750 war victims are mainly from the urban areas.

“We lack finances to enable us trace those in rural areas. If bomb victims can be compensated within days, why not us?” he asked.

Awaiting return
Ms Norah Fuathuma, whose child was abducted, said she is still waiting for the return of his son whether dead or alive. “I think the ICC should come to our rescue because I think our leaders are not mindful of compensating us. The LRA leaders should in fact be taken to ICC because the use of force is not yielding any fruit,” she said.

Joseph Kony has led the LRA in its guerrilla-style war against the government forces, leaving civilians in northern Uganda caught up in the war. Thousands of people were killed, houses burnt, children and women abducted, as the government sent hundreds of residents into internally displaced camps.

A peace effort between the two groups, mediated by South Sudan’s Riek Machar yielded no fruit in 2006. As the sound of guns fell silent, residents are returning to their villages and rebuilding their lives.

“The actor becomes the protector,” The Independent, 14-20 January 2011

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“The actor becomes the protector, The Independent, 14-20 January 2011

http://www.independent.co.ug/features/features/3826-the-actor-becomes-the-protector

By Matthew Stein

Focus on stability could be Museveni’s ticket to the region

Towards the end of November, just as nominations for parliamentary flag bearers were to begin, Gulu, once home to the country’s worst internal insurgency, was brimming with election fever. In the streets, pedestrians, some wearing shirts bearing the face of the Son of Kaguta, others with the Son’s of the North—Mao and Otunnu—danced and pummeled on drums in rallies across the city. From loud speakers they pronounced their party slogans. The words “change,” “justice,” “corruption,” were thrown around time and again, until it became difficult to discern which party was saying what.

After the nominations were held, the Inter Party Cooperation (IPC) held a large party to herald the onset of serious campaigning. Supporters ate, danced and spoke excitedly about their prospects for the election season. Ojara Martin Mapenduzi, the energetic and promising IPC chairman in Gulu district recounted his party’s principal platform: rebuild the health centres and facilities destroyed by war; bring back hope to the war’s victims; and heal the wounds of the conflict.

Nearby, Jolly Irene Anyeko, 23, sat quietly watching the spectacle unfold. “Why do you support the IPC?” she was asked. After acknowledging that she knew little of the other parties, she said: “I like them because they bring people together.”

And just like that, the IPC had Anyeko’s vote.

Anyeko’s ambiguous response is not uncommon in the north, where many people still sound uncertain on why they are supporting a particular candidate. In Kamdini, Nam Kizito, a 22-year-old student in one breath says he is disappointed that Museveni has not created more jobs or spurred more development. “Museveni fulfills very few things.” However, a second later, paradoxically he adds that “Museveni is the only one you can trust.”

Democracy, elections, manifestos are all still relatively new in this country, and its understandable that voter decisions are still governed by gut or perception of basic things such as access to healthcare, stability and security. Issues of corruption, infrastructure, foreign policy, do not play a visible role in the life of the common Ugandan and are consequently not defining election concerns. In the north, there is the additional variable of the war and its lingering impact on the population. In the 2006 election, with tens of thousands still stuck in squalid IDP camps, Museveni garnered a small margin of the northern vote. Today, with his dominance shrinking in previous strongholds such as the Buganda region, it is critical for the president to fare much better. To do so, he’ll have to find a way to appeal to voters like Anyeko and Kizito—or at least hope that the opposition does not.

Sitting in a small roadside restaurant in Kyandongo, three ardent NRM supporters have little doubt the opposition will succeed. “They are weak and desperate people,” says one man. “Otunnu was relaxing during the bush war and Mao is still young.” They brush off suggestions of lingering criticisms of a war many say Museveni did not do enough to stop. To them what is important is the current stability: “Obote built hospitals in every corner of the country but he couldn’t command the army. Even the muzungu knows that Museveni has disciplined the army.”

Further north in the town of Karuma, once the frontier for the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency, security also dominates the discussion. People here are content that peace has arrived and they are hesitant to experiment with anything that can disturb it. “It’s hard for me to be convinced that the opposition is going to provide the same thing,” explains Norbert Mawa, a part-time nurse at a local clinic. “I haven’t seen the opposition run the country or their leadership qualities. Museveni I’ve seen.”

“New people can bring new confusions,” echoes Immaculate Asianzu, a former staff member with the Norwegian Refugee Council. “The current government is still in the position to address the situation at hand.”

It is within this reserved environment that individuals like Emmanuel Mwaka, an aspiring MP for the Democratic Party in Gulu, needs to compete. Mwaka, who at one time was a school dropout and drug addict, found inspiration in his mentor and current party leader, Norbert Mao. After seeing Mao campaign in his village, Mwaka returned to school and kicked his destructive habits. Today, he is attempting to use his experiences to instill in the people of his constituency that they too, after decades of hardship and dependency on outside aid, can become, “the authors of their own lives.”

“There is a negative peace here,” says Mwaka. “There’s silence of the gun but livelihood is not up to date.” Mwaka attributes this to rampant corruption. Both the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF), funded by the World Bank, and the Peace Recovery and Development Program (PRDP), funded by the government and development partners, he says, have not been utilized properly for the benefit of the people.

And if these instances of corruption are not enough to sway voters into the opposition’s corner, explains Mwaka, there is also the explosive issue of the two-decade long conflict. Resentment over the government’s militaristic approach to ending the violence in the north, the military’s involvement in human rights abuses and the limited reparations that have made since all have the potential to play a pivotal role in this election.

According to Lindsay McClain, the communications officer for the Justice and Reconciliation Project (JRP), an NGO that promotes sustainable peace in the Great Lakes region, there is still a lot of frustration in Acholi sub-regions on why the International Criminal Court (ICC) has limited their war crimes investigations to the LRA. McClain says victims don’t want to bring the perpetrators to court, but they do want acknowledgement that a crime took place through a truth-telling commission. Even in the cases of LRA abuse, says McClain, the people still believe the government is responsible because it failed to protect them. “And the people don’t see the current projects as proper reparations,” she adds.

These projects, which include the PRDP and other informal channels, have not created the justice many victims are seeking. “There’s no accountability, no compensation. There’s bribery and money being thrown around,” says James Otto, the director of Human Rights Focus in Gulu. “We’re pushing for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation committee but the government is not interested.”

Otto says there are currently 44 cases concerning torture by the UPDF pending in the high courts of Gulu and the six cases that have been heard so far have all been disposed of in favor of the victim.

It remains to be seen how such issues will factor into the minds of the electorate on February 18. According to the latest Afrobarometer poll if elections had taken place between Nov. 18 and Dec. 6, Museveni would have won 59 percent of the northern vote.

“People still see [Museveni] as a conflict author, but this is changing; the positions are not as tough anymore,” explains Lioba Lenhart, a professor in the Peace and Conflict Studies department at Gulu University. “He presents a better option for stability no matter what happened in the past.”

And in the end, this might be the president’s most important campaign asset.

“Reparation need grows in Northern Uganda,” Daily Monitor, 6 December 2010

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“Reparation need grows in Northern Uganda,” Daily Monitor, 6 December 2010

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1067192/-/ckisgiz/-/index.html

By Sam Lawino

 

The need for the government to plan for reparation for people who suffered in the LRA war in Northern Uganda continues to grow with leaders in the region calling for swift action to enable total reconciliation take place.

The leaders said the government’s neglect to include reparation in its program for rehabilitating the region could stagnate other recovery efforts as communities still divisions stemming from the conflict to overcome.

The Assistant Chief Administrative Officer of Gulu, Stephen Oloya, during a conference on justice and reconciliation in Gulu last week said without reparation, the region could again be plunged into more violence.

 “The war is a manmade disaster which means if we do not reconcile there is tendency of recurrence to violence,” Oloya said.

The Arch Bishop of Gulu Arch diocese, John Baptist Odama in a separate meeting said the time has come for the government to do more to help the people reconcile through helping those who lost their relatives and properties recover from their trauma.

Bishop Odama observed that focusing on the well being of the tormented people would not only help them reconcile but can let them sustain peace.

Meanwhile the acting LCV chairman, Makmot Kitara called for both the psychological and economic redress of the people to forget their past gruesome experience to focus on the future.

The government has budgeted for nearly Ugshs30bn under the Peace, Recovery and Development Program (PRDP) for Northern and Eastern parts of Uganda, with no specific attention on reparation for families of those who lost their lives in the wars.

“Compensate northern war victims,” Daily Monitor, 4 December 2010

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“Compensate northern war victims,” Daily Monitor, 4 December 2010

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1065988/-/ckk0twz/-/index.html

By Sam Lawino

 

Gulu

The government has been asked to take the views of war victims in Acholi and Lango Sub-region for urgent reparation.

The call was made by the Gulu assistant Chief Administrative Officer Steven Oloya on Thursday while closing a two-day dialogue on Justice Peace and Reconciliation in Gulu.

He said said without reparation for the people of northern Uganda, the region could still slip back into war because people’s memory of loss of their property and lives of their dear ones is still fresh in their minds. “The war was a manmade disaster which means if we do not reconcile there is tendency of recurrence to violence,” Mr Oloya said. He said forgiveness among the affected communities and paying for lives and property destroyed would bring lasting peace in the region.

The meeting was aimed at enhancing grassroots involvement in transitional justice with support from the South African-based Institute for Justice and Reconciliation. “If government insists to go ahead with building schools, hospitals and roads as a collective life repair of its citizens who suffered in the war without addressing the reparation aspect, the region could recede into more problems in the near future” he noted.

Ms Milly Amoi, the chairperson of Rwot Lakica, a group of 23 formerly abducted women in Lira said government should apologise and address collective needs of its citizens. “We need land to erect houses and keep orphans born in captivity but we have been made poor,” she said.

“Encuentro del Grupo de Memoria Historica con investigadores de Uganda y Canada,” Memoria Historica, mid-November 2010

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“Encuentro del Grupo de Memoria Historica con investigadores de Uganda y Canada,” Memoria Historica, mid-November 2010

http://memoriahistorica-cnrr.org.co/s-noticias/articulo-56/

 Por: Laura Natalia Cruz Cañón, pasante del área de divulgación e impacto público-MH

Note: To download the English translation, click here.

El pasado 27 de octubre, el Grupo de Memoria Histórica de la Comisión Nacional de Reparación y Reconciliación (MH) recibió en sus instalaciones a dos investigadores del Proyecto de Justicia y Reconciliación (JRP) de Uganda y a la profesora Erin Baines de la Universidad de Columbia Británica de Canadá, quienes adelantan la fase colombiana del proyecto de investigación e intercambio “Contra las atrocidades masivas, estrategias comunitarias de documentación”, liderada por la profesora Baines y Pilar Riaño, investigadora de MH y relatora del informe Bahía Portete: Mujeres Wayuu en la mira. 

El proyecto en mención surgió de la necesidad de comprender las condiciones bajo las cuales organizaciones comunitarias de base recogen evidencia sobre abusos de derechos humanos y las memorias de las víctimas en contextos de conflicto. Las iniciativas comunitarias de este tipo son muy poco conocidas y estudiadas, por lo que el objetivo principal del proyecto es entender, desde una perspectiva comparativa entre el caso ugandés y el colombiano, cuando y por qué las comunidades adoptan estrategias específicas para documentar y recordar.

Como parte de este intercambio, los gestores locales de memoria Leyner y Delis Palacios, que apoyaron el proceso de investigación para la elaboración del informe Bojayá: la guerra sin límites, visitaron la ciudad Ugandesa de Gulu en julio del presente año.

A su vez, los investigadores, Boniface Ojok y Ketty Anyeko, del JRP de Uganda, un grupo formado en 2005 por la ONG Forum, del distrito de Gulu, y el instituto Liu de Asuntos Globales de la Universidad de Columbia Británica, visitaron Colombia entre el 21 y el 30 de octubre de 2010. La razón de ser de JRP, es analizar cómo los mecanismos de justicia transicional pueden ser implementados efectivamente en procesos locales por medio de la creación de una sociedad civil informada e involucrada. Los procesos de justicia transicional que son dirigidos por las comunidades se consideran elementos críticos para la justicia y la reconciliación después de la guerra. JRP brinda ayuda en estos procesos a través de tres áreas: documentación del conflicto con relación a las experiencias y memorias de los individuos; movilización de la comunidad a través de procesos de documentación participativos; e investigación y promoción.

Ojok y Anyeko conocieron junto con la profesora Baines el contexto en el que se enmarca el trabajo de MH, así como las metodologías emplea para la realización de los informes sobre casos emblemáticos. Asimismo, realizaron un intercambio con grupos y organizaciones que trabajan a nivel local en la documentación de la memoria histórica del conflicto colombiano. Ellos le contaron al equipo de GMH sobre el proceso de violencia que ha vivido Uganda y el trabajo que adelantan con algunas comunidades del norte de este país africano.

El conflicto en Uganda azotó principalmente el norte del país durante cerca de 24 años. Inició con la conformación del Ejército de Resistencia del Señor (LRA, por sus siglas en inglés), un grupo de rebeldes liderado por Joseph Kony quienes combatieron contra el gobierno ugandés. En palabras de Boniface Ojok director de JRP, una de las características de este conflicto es el rapto de niños entre 7 y 12 años, a los cuales entrenaban para el combate. Algunos fueron obligados a matar a otros menores e incluso a miembros de su propia familia si querían seguir con vida. Los milicianos del LRA también raptaban niñas a las cuales esclavizaban sexualmente, las obligaban casarse y a tener hijos con hombres mayores que ellas. Aunque en el 2004 se decretó el cese al fuego, el JRP considera que la presencia del Ejército de Resistencia del Señor (LRA, por sus siglas en inglés) continúa con las hostilidades en países vecinos como Sudán y la República democrática del Congo.

Si bien el Estado ugandés creó los “campamentos para desplazados internos”, en los cuales se refugiaron miles de familias durante el conflicto, esta medida no resolvió el problema de los raptos de menores. Ejemplo de ello son los “caminantes nocturnos”, niños que en la noche recorrían más de 20 kilómetros para llegar al centro de las principales ciudades para protegerse de los raptos del LRA. Según el director de JRP este hecho también constituye un acto de resistencia frente a las hostilidades.

Ojok fue enfático en afirmar que la complejidad de este conflicto estriba en la doble condición de los niños y niñas combatientes, pues no puede establecerse con claridad si son víctimas o victimarios porque han cometido crímenes atroces, pero al mismo tiempo han sido raptados de sus hogares, sometidos a múltiples vejaciones y obligados a combatir. Ante ese dilema, el investigador planteó la pregunta sobre a quien debe considerarse victimario en el conflicto del norte de Uganda, sobre todo cuando hay pruebas de la participación del Estado en violaciones a los Derechos Humanos; a lo que extendió la pregunta sobre qué clase de justicia es necesaria en este caso. Esta es una pregunta que Uganda aún no ha respondido: ¿qué hacer con los victimarios que tienen que rendir cuentas sobre sus actos si no existe claridad para catalogar a los actores del conflicto como víctimas o perpetradores?

El debate no toma lugar únicamente en Uganda; las violaciones cometidas en este conflicto fueron presentadas ante la Corte Penal Internacional y sobre ellos también recae la pregunta por los victimarios. Solucionar este dilema, afirma Ojok, permitirá sanar heridas e iniciar procesos de justicia y verdad que ayuden a reconstruir la sociedad. Precisamente, JRP intenta comprender cómo la justicia transicional puede operar en estos contextos, pero además, cómo puede conectarse este tipo de justicia con la justicia tradicional de la región. En el norte de Uganda muchos líderes tradicionales han pedido la amnistía para sus niños y niñas, pero las organizaciones internacionales de derechos humanos creen inviable esta medida por la magnitud de las violaciones a los derechos humanos. El objetivo detrás de la amnistía es motivar a los niños y niñas combatientes para que depongan las armas y puedan regresar a sus comunidades. Para Ojok, las iniciativas locales de justicia son muy importantes para promover la reconciliación por lo cual deben ser tenidas en cuenta. El director de JRP, concluye que la justicia ha fallado pues es necesario darle un tratamiento particular a estas personas para que puedan reintegrarse a su comunidad.

El JRP también ha constituido una línea de “historias de vida y mujeres” liderada por Ketty Anyeko, quien también compartió sus experiencias con MH. Para Anyeko el caso de Uganda presenta una problemática de género muy grave: además de raptar niñas y obligarlas a combatir, a casarse y tener hijos, las violaciones y la desnudez forzada fueron prácticas habituales del LRA. Las mujeres que han logrado sobrevivir al conflicto, y que han intentado regresar a sus comunidades, por lo general lo hacen con los hijos que nacieron durante su permanencia en las filas del LRA. Las comunidades del norte de Uganda tienen una cultura patrilineal, es decir vía el padre de los hijos,  y al retornar muchas mujeres desconocen la línea tribal y naturalmente la comunidad a la que pertenecen sus hijos. El acceso a la tierra también se adquiere por herencia patrilienal, por lo cual las mujeres a que retornan se ven obligadas a vivir a las afueras de las ciudades. Sus hijos, además de no tener acceso a la tierra, deben soportar el estigma que las comunidades les imponen por ser hijos del “enemigo”.

Anyeko y Ojok coinciden en que el conflicto en el norte de Uganda aún está por contarse y ha sido muy difícil documentar su magnitud e impacto porque el miedo y el silencio persisten. Por ello, el trabajo con la comunidad y especialmente con las mujeres ha sido fundamental para reconstruir la historia y fortalecer sus capacidades. El acceso a algunas metodologías empleadas por GMH, que fueron presentadas al JRP por Pilar Riaño en diferentes seminarios de capacitación, ha permitido que las mujeres víctimas del conflicto en el norte de Uganda puedan contar con mayor libertad lo que sucedió.

A través  de herramientas metodológicas como los mapas de lugar, los mapas del cuerpo o las líneas de tiempo las mujeres han descrito experiencias traumáticas nunca antes verbalizadas, tales como las violaciones de las que fueron víctimas.  La profesora Baines cuenta cómo gracias a la elaboración de mapas de lugar, fue posible reconstruir la vida en cautiverio, la organización del campamento, el modo de entrenamiento de las tropas e incluso la estructura jerárquica con la que funcionaba del ejército del LRA.

Para Anyeko, las metodologías de GMH han sido muy útiles para su investigación y han ayudado a que algunas mujeres se animen a escribir libros y memorias sobre su vida, aunque muchas también se han reencontrado con un pasado que preferirían olvidar.    

Durante su tiempo en Colombia, este equipo de investigación recorrió las poblaciones del río Atrato entre ellas Bellavista y Bojayá; también visitaron la capital del departamento de Chocó, donde tuvieron oportunidad de conversar con diferentes comunidades afrodescendientes.

El intercambio de experiencias entre Uganda y Colombia, incluyó diálogos y discusiones sobre las estrategias de documentación por parte de organizaciones comunitarias como Cocomacia, ADOM o COVIJUPA en Chocó, el grupo Rwot Lakica (grupo de mujeres que fueron raptadas) en Gulu Uganda, o centros de investigación como el CINEP y el Grupo de Memoria Histórica en Bogotá; y visitas a las comunidades de Pogue y Bellavista, y la organización de sobrevivientes de la masacre de Atiak y Lukodi en Uganda. 

“Northern Uganda asks tough questions,” Daily Monitor, 29 November 2010

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“Northern Uganda asks tough questions,” Daily Monitor, 29 November 2010

http://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/Elections/-/859108/1061936/-/jm0k70/-/index.html

By Lino Owor Ogora

 

The time has come round again when the entire country is caught up in the election frenzy; campaign convoys paint the streets in all the colours of the rainbow depending on what party one belongs to; when accusations are traded left and right and all candidates believe they are the best for the job and make all sorts of promises.

Most candidates are promising the usual things that appeal to the ears of the common man; economic revitalisation and an end to poverty; modernisation of agriculture and loans to the rural poor; infrastructural development and good roads; support to the health sector; free education for all and creation of jobs for the youth.

The sad fact with most of the election manifestos that have been unveiled thus far is that they offer a ‘one size fits all’ solution for all regions in Uganda regardless of the current context on the ground.

Northern Uganda, for example, is just emerging from conflict after over 22 years of civil war, which started in 1986, and has had disastrous impacts on the population. Between 28,000 and 38,000 children are believed to have been abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to serve as child soldiers, sex slaves and porters. It is estimated that over 1.8 million people were displaced and forced to live in squalid conditions of the IDP camps.

With the launch of Operation Lightning Thunder in November 2008 by the UPDF, however, the LRA were forced to relocate to the Central African Republic and Southern Sudan. Many people were therefore able to leave the IDP camps, many of which have been officially declared closed.

On June 22, local government officials in Gulu held a ceremony to close Cwero IDP Camp, which was one of the last remaining camps in the district. People finally have access to their farmlands after several years of conflict. Children are able to go to school. The infrastructure, much of which was destroyed, is slowly being refurbished. Economic activity has also picked up again, with northern Uganda acting as the gateway to the booming trade between Uganda and Southern Sudan.

The above is an indicator that Northern Uganda has entered that crucial stage of post conflict recovery. A lot remains to be done before the region can fully recover, with the timing being right for the implementation of post conflict transitional justice interventions. Election candidates need to be mindful of this fact.

The guns may be silent, but a lot remains to be done to ensure that there is a steady level of post conflict recovery in the coming years. The post conflict period calls for the implementation of a variety of programmes aimed at mitigating the negative impacts of the conflict. And yet few, if not none, of the election manifestos that have been unveiled thus far are showing any promise of holistically attaining this.

There is need to consolidate security. The LRA are still a potential threat and are currently reported to be continuing with atrocities in Southern Sudan and the Central Africa Republic. For example one article published on the BBC website reported that “not a week goes by without reports of the LRA, notorious for its brutality, attacking a village and that more than 25,000 people have been forced from their homes in South Sudan by the LRA since January.”

The LRA is also reported to have kidnapped almost 700 people, a third of them children, during attacks in the DR Congo and the CAR since February 2009, according to a report published in mid-August by the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Consolidation of state security is a must if lasting peace is to prevail in northern Uganda. Otherwise many people will run back to the IDP camps at the first sign of news that the LRA has re-entered Ugandan territory.

This will jeopardise plans for rehabilitation of the region which are already underway. The revitalisation of the economy in northern Uganda is also another factor that requires attention.

To the outsider who visits Gulu for example, the situation may look good on the surface. Judging by the many banks that have opened shop here recently, and the large number of trucks laden with merchandise on their way to Southern Sudan, it looks deceptively good. However, after several years of encampment with many relying on food handouts from humanitarian agencies, the situation for many war survivors is far from desirable.

While programmes like the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund have been launched by the government to help, they have done little to solve the micro-economic needs of the people, and have been riddled with massive corruption scandals.

Others such as NUREP and the PRDP have focused on infrastructural development such as roads, health centres and schools, and done little to address individual needs of survivors of the conflict.

And yet there are several categories of people with special needs that require urgent and special remedies due to the unique experiences they underwent. Take the case of formerly abducted children and children born in captivity. While several initiatives have been put in place to provide them with psycho-social support and income generating activities, many have simply been unable to cope with life after captivity.

Many girls who were abducted are currently shouldering the burden of not only having to single-handedly take care of their children, but are also being re-victimised by their communities. Many are not able to sustain marriages because of their abduction experiences. Many formerly abducted youth cannot be engaged in formal employment because they missed out on education.

And as many of the people leave the IDP camps for good, it is not uncommon to find the elderly stranded in IDP camps because they lack the means to build themselves new homes. All these categories of people need to be helped to resume life in the post-conflict phase. This cannot be attained within the existing government programmes.

The social services sector requires massive investment, especially in education and health. In 2009, it was not surprising that northern Uganda performed worst in the primary leaving examinations held that year. Northern Uganda also currently has the highest prevalence of HIV/Aids prevalence and is home to a host of other diseases and health conditions. Incidence of mental illness here is highest in the country.

While most election manifestos are promising better education and health services, they are not considerate of the fact that northern Uganda has lagged behind. They need to go the extra mile in addressing this gap in education and health.

Meanwhile, many people in northern Uganda are looking forward to post-conflict peace building, reconciliation and accountability mechanisms. This will be the ultimate determinant to whether northern Uganda experiences lasting peace or not.

In terms of reparations, people still hope for the implementation of both collective and individual reparations. Many people have not forgotten the losses they suffered during the conflict, especially in f cattle and other valuable property. As a manifestation of this, many victims groups in northern Uganda are engaged in struggles to receive compensation from the government.

In West Nile, a group called the West Nile Kony Rebel War Victims’ Association, composed exclusively of survivors of the Karuma-Pakwach ambush by the LRA on March 8, 1996, is engaged in seeking compensation amounting to Shs60 billion.

In Teso there is the Mukura Massacre Survivors’ Association which advocated for compensation for several years, and only succeeded recently when President Museveni delivered Shs200 million in cash on October 12, 2010.

In Gulu there is the War Debts Claimants Association and other groups seeking compensation for lost cattle.

Other reparations mechanisms need to be pursued with the aim of achieving accountability and reconciliation. Several massacres were committed in places such as Atiak, Barlonyo, Mucwini, Lukodi, Omot, Bucoro, and Dziapi. People in northern Uganda therefore want perpetrators of war crimes and human rights violations to be brought to book.

There is also need for the construction of proper memorials and monuments in areas where massacres occurred, to honour memories of people who died. At the moment, most of the memorials which exist are either dilapidated or vague concrete and wood structures that do not resonate with the magnitude of crimes committed in those areas. In many places where massacres occurred, memorials simply do not exist.

Furthermore, many people still want to understand the root causes of the conflict, and they believe that one of the best ways in which this can be attained is by establishing a national truth seeking process. Truth seeking among the war affected populations would also help in fostering reconciliation between victims and perpetrators.

Presently, many children who were abducted and forced to commit atrocities within the LRA ranks have returned and are living in the very communities in which they committed atrocities. This situation cannot be allowed to remain as it is.

In moving forward, national development programmes need to be specific in addressing regional imbalances and other specific needs created as a result of conflict. If we are talking about economic revitalisation and poverty eradication for example, would we address it in northern Uganda the same way we would address it in central Uganda? Would we pursue implementation of education programmes in Karamoja in the same way we would do it in Kampala? Would we make equal budgetary allocations for the construction of roads and other infrastructure for all the regions?

After several decades of conflict and instability, the different regions are at different levels of development and therefore require different remedies using different strategies. What do the different political parties intend to do in this regard if elected?

Mr Ogora is a research, advocacy and documentation Officer, Justice and Reconciliation Project, Gulu.
ogoralino@gmail.com

“Letter to presidential candidates,” Daily Monitor, 8 November 2010

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“Letter to presidential candidates,” Daily Monitor, 8 November 2010

http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/Letters/-/806314/1048938/-/yqhoey/-/index.html

By Lino Owor Ogora

 

The time has come when the country is caught up in the election frenzy; when election campaign convoys paint the streets in all the colours of the rainbow depending on what party one belongs to; when accusations are traded left and right and all candidates believe they are the best for the job; when candidates make all sorts of promises.

Most candidates are promising the usual things that appeal to the ears of the common man: economic revitalisation and an end to poverty; modernisation of agriculture and loans to the rural poor; infrastructure development and good roads; support to the health sector; free education for all and creation of jobs for the youth. The humour in all these election promises is that most of them are hardly kept and are forgotten the moment the election passes. Even political parties that will lose the elections will focus more on demonising the incumbent regime than in pressurising it to implement its election manifesto.

The sad fact with most of the election manifestos that have been unveiled thus far is that they offer a ‘one size fits all’ solution for all regions in Uganda regardless of the current context on the ground.

Northern Uganda for example is just emerging from conflict after over 22 years of civil war, which has had disastrous impacts upon the population. Between 28,000 and 38,000 children are believed to have been abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to serve as child soldiers, sex slaves and porters; it is estimated that over 1.8 million people were displaced and forced to live in squalid conditions of the IDP camps.

I am yet to see a manifesto that seeks to holistically deal with the problems of northern Uganda. In the wake of conflicts, there is always an overwhelming need to pursue a wide variety of post-conflict mechanisms aimed ushering in lasting peace, stability and reconciliation. Perpetrators of war crimes and human rights violations need to be brought to book. There is need for acknowledgement and apology to victims, including a guarantee of non-occurrence. There is need for individual and collective reparations to victims, including compensation for property. There is need for reconciliation. We need proper memorials and monuments constructed in areas where massacres occurred to honour memories of people who lost their lives.

In addition, national development programmes need to be specific in addressing regional imbalances created as a result of the conflict. If we are talking about economic revitalisation and poverty eradication for example, would we address it in northern Uganda the same way we would address it in central Uganda? Would we pursue implementation of education programmes in Karamoja in the same way we would do it in Kampala? Would we make equal budgetary allocations for all regions?

We need to be mindful that after several decades of conflict and instability, the different regions are at different levels of development and therefore require different remedies using different strategies. What do the different political parties intend to do in this regard if elected?

Lino Owor Ogora,
ogoralino@gmail.com