Elusive rebel is only the tip of northern Uganda’s woes

KAMPALA – Uganda’s most notorious rebel leader is on the run, the army says, hounded through the grasslands of southern Sudan by troops and helicopter gunships.

But even if the army finally deals a death blow to dreadlocked Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army, Ugandans are painfully aware that resolving the tensions his 18-year revolt has come to symbolise may be a far harder task. Kony’s uprising has exposed a deep rift between his impoverished northern homeland and the more prosperous south of Uganda, while the legacy of a devastating conflict that has uprooted a generation will take many years to heal.For President Yoweri Museveni, who critics accuse of seeking to extend his rule beyond present constitutional limits, the war has created a scepticism about the head of state among Ugandans wary of his mantra that Kony is finished.In recent weeks the army has stepped up its claims of advances, with Museveni himself breaking out his coloured markers to brief reporters on the latest operations.But even Museveni, himself a former bush fighter, concedes eliminating Kony will not necessarily finish the uprising.”What matters is what happens to the group — is it getting weaker or stronger?” Museveni told a news conference.THE ACHOLISKony initially said he was fighting to free his northern Acholi tribe from what he said was oppression by the southern-based government, although his exact aims are unclear.Feeling that his own people had failed to support him, he later unleashed a campaign of massacres, mutilations and abductions designed to “cleanse” the Acholi of “sinners”.Since then, tens of thousands of people have died of violence or disease.The irony is that despite the violence very few in the community, once the country’s political and military elite, are well-disposed to Museveni after what they see as neglect and discrimination by southerners since he took power in 1986.Some suggest the tensions are so great that a new Acholi rebel leader could emerge if Kony is killed, pointing to a precedent which exists in the rebel’s own family.Kony’s aunt, Alice Lakwena, led an uprising almost immediately after Museveni took power — before it was crushed in 1988, prompting Kony to launch his own revolt with a similar blend of Christian symbolism and traditional African mysticism.SOMETHING TO GAIN?For some observers, the key unanswered question is why the army has failed for so many years to crush the LRA — a paradox they say raises suspicions over its real level of commitment.Kony claims to take orders from a Holy Spirit and commands a force of abducted children — theoretically no match for Ugandan troops with tanks, artillery and aircraft, prompting analysts to point out the wider political implications of ongoing war.”As long as the situation in the north is dominated by security matters, the monopolisation of power and wealth by southerners is not put into question,” said a report by the International Crisis Group think-tank issued in April.The government denies it is prolonging the conflict, while Museveni says he could do better if donors lifted spending curbs on defence, pointing to progress since Sudan allowed Ugandan forces to raid LRA bases in its territory under a 2002 accord.Beyond the military challenges of vanquishing the LRA, the problems of rehabilitating northern Uganda remain vast.U.N. officials say the number of people living in refugee camps has tripled to 1.8 million in the last two years, while some 40,000 village children still seek the safety of Gulu town each sunset, “night commuters” who sleep on the streets.WHO IS WORST?”People in the camps talk cautiously but openly of sexual violence,” the top U.N. official on AIDS said last week.”The situation is so desperate, the soldiers are so omnipresent.”Emmanuel Lutukumoi, programme director for a Gulu-based community group, United Youth Action, wrote in New Vision: “To date, it is still hard for the Acholi to distinguish who is their worst enemy.They see no difference between Kony and the state that has failed to give them protection and failed to address the root causes of the conflict.””For all these years they reaped massive loss of lives, underdevelopment, disease.These are mostly blamed on the state and the army, especially the spread of AIDS.The people feel they are deliberately left behind to sink deep into moral and institutional alienation in abject poverty.”- Nampa-ReutersKony’s uprising has exposed a deep rift between his impoverished northern homeland and the more prosperous south of Uganda, while the legacy of a devastating conflict that has uprooted a generation will take many years to heal.For President Yoweri Museveni, who critics accuse of seeking to extend his rule beyond present constitutional limits, the war has created a scepticism about the head of state among Ugandans wary of his mantra that Kony is finished.In recent weeks the army has stepped up its claims of advances, with Museveni himself breaking out his coloured markers to brief reporters on the latest operations.But even Museveni, himself a former bush fighter, concedes eliminating Kony will not necessarily finish the uprising.”What matters is what happens to the group — is it getting weaker or stronger?” Museveni told a news conference.THE ACHOLISKony initially said he was fighting to free his northern Acholi tribe from what he said was oppression by the southern-based government, although his exact aims are unclear.Feeling that his own people had failed to support him, he later unleashed a campaign of massacres, mutilations and abductions designed to “cleanse” the Acholi of “sinners”.Since then, tens of thousands of people have died of violence or disease.The irony is that despite the violence very few in the community, once the country’s political and military elite, are well-disposed to Museveni after what they see as neglect and discrimination by southerners since he took power in 1986.Some suggest the tensions are so great that a new Acholi rebel leader could emerge if Kony is killed, pointing to a precedent which exists in the rebel’s own family.Kony’s aunt, Alice Lakwena, led an uprising almost immediately after Museveni took power — before it was crushed in 1988, prompting Kony to launch his own revolt with a similar blend of Christian symbolism and traditional African mysticism.SOMETHING TO GAIN?For some observers, the key unanswered question is why the army has failed for so many years to crush the LRA — a paradox they say raises suspicions over its real level of commitment.Kony claims to take orders from a Holy Spirit and commands a force of abducted children — theoretically no match for Ugandan troops with tanks, artillery and aircraft, prompting analysts to point out the wider political implications of ongoing war.”As long as the situation in the north is dominated by security matters, the monopolisation of power and wealth by southerners is not put into question,” said a report by the International Crisis Group think-tank issued in April.The government denies it is prolonging the conflict, while Museveni says he could do better if donors lifted spending curbs on defence, pointing to progress since Sudan allowed Ugandan forces to raid LRA bases in its territory under a 2002 accord.Beyond the military challenges of vanquishing the LRA, the problems of rehabilitating northern Uganda remain vast.U.N. officials say the number of people living in refugee camps has tripled to 1.8 million in the last two years, while some 40,000 village children still seek the safety of Gulu town each sunset, “night commuters” who sleep on the streets.WHO IS WORST?”People in the camps talk cautiously but openly of sexual violence,” the top U.N. official on AIDS said last week.”The situation is so desperate, the soldiers are so omnipresent.”Emmanuel Lutukumoi, programme director for a Gulu-based community group, United Youth Action, wrote in New Vision: “To date, it is still hard for the Acholi to distinguish who is their worst enemy.They see no difference between Kony and the state that has failed to give them protection and failed to address the root
causes of the conflict.””For all these years they reaped massive loss of lives, underdevelopment, disease.These are mostly blamed on the state and the army, especially the spread of AIDS.The people feel they are deliberately left behind to sink deep into moral and institutional alienation in abject poverty.”- Nampa-Reuters