Introduction 

The President of the FPA

All the Executive Members of the FPA

All Members of the General Meeting of the FPA

All the Invited Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen 

I greet you all in the Name of God and in the name of whole humanity in the world.  Humanity is universal and every human-being, all over the world, is created in the image of God. There is therefore absolute necessity for the whole humanity to live in peace, stability, harmony, and peaceful co-existence with one another throughout the world. The necessity for peace with one another is based on the principle of our oneness in One God and in our oneness in the universality of humanity. Humanity is not based on color or on geographical locations under the Sun, but on the fact that every human-being is created in the image of God. 

I thank you all for your love of peace and stability in Africa and in the world at large. Thank you for your courage and visionary leadership that has given you the power to stand up and speak against all forms of injustices in the world, especially in African Countries where children of Africa are dying in millions due to poverty and malnutrition every year.

The greatest challenge you have, therefore, as members of the FPA, is to stand up for the truth and speak the truth without fear or favor. All of you must know that visionary leadership means taking all the risks whenever, as visionary leaders, you reach out beyond yourselves.  However, humility will enable all visionary leaders always to see beyond selves. This is the kind of risk and the kind of challenge I am talking about as one takes the role of visionary leadership in society.  Once again thank you very much for your confidence and trust in me by inviting me as your Guest Speaker to the FPA General Meeting of 2006. 

GENOCIDE IN NORTHERN UGANDA. 

As a spiritual leader put in-charge of God’s people, not only in the Diocese of Kitgum, but also in Uganda, Africa, and the world at large, I have the challenge to stand even alone with God and speak the truth in the Name of God and humanity for the world to hear.  Thus, I have come to tell you and the peoples of the world to know that genocide has been unfolding in Northern Uganda for the last 20 years, while the world turns a blind eye to it. I have come to tell you that the world is not yet ready to call the unbelievable situation in Northern Uganda by its rightful name – GENOCIDE. 

As we are all aware, the world did the same thing to the people of Rwanda who suffered terrible genocide of 1994 in our modern time.  Both the world and the Church of Christ in the world kept quiet about it.  Consequently over a million innocent people were massacred in Rwanda by the Hutu Power in 1994.  The act of genocide in Rwanda was carried out within a period of three months on the watch of the international community.  

I have come to tell you that the peoples of Northern Uganda haven framed as demonic, backward, primitive, killers, swine, anyanya (deadly snake), but worse still as collaborators of the LRA rebels who are killing our own children.  The people have been demonized and dehumanized by their own Government in Kampala, so that the world may not see us as good people. Thus, the people have become invisible people in the eyes of the world.  Consequently the world seems to care the least about the pain, suffering, and death of the peoples of Northern Uganda.  Hence, both the international community and the Church of Christ in Uganda are guilty of the conspiracy of silence about the genocide in Northern Uganda.  For example, when Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala, a man of God of the Catholic Church Kampala Archdiocese, talked about the genocide in Northern Uganda in his Christmas message of December 2004, to the people of God in Uganda, the Catholic Church in Uganda did not stand together with him. As a spiritual leader, Cardinal Wamala spoke as the prophetic voice of Christ in Uganda for the voiceless, the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, and the underdog of the world in Uganda, especially in Northern Uganda. Whenever Archbishop John Baptist Odama of the Catholic Church, Gulu Archdiocese, speaks about the unspeakable situation in Northern Uganda, he is also alone like Cardinal Wamala.  The faithful of the Catholic Church in Uganda are not yet together with their spiritual leaders like Cardinal Wamala and Archbishop John Baptist Odama, concerning the genocide that is taking place in Northern Uganda on the watch of all Ugandans. Genocide in Northern Uganda is an international problem that needs an international answer urgently.  

The truth of the matter is, children of Northern Uganda have been dying at the rate of over 1000 children every week due to squalid conditions prevailing in the IDP camps.  Malnutrition is one of the major killers of the children of Northern Uganda in the IDP camps today. However, it is to be noted that malnutrition has never been a problem to the children of Northern Uganda who used to live in a world of plenty in Northern Uganda. But today, they say, Northern Uganda is the worst place in the world for a child to be born there and live there.  

Children of Northern Uganda have been denied the rights to life, growth, and development of their God-given potential, like any other normal children in other parts of the world. The UN Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Jan Egeland described the situation in Northern Uganda as the worst forgotten humanitarian crisis in the whole world today.  It is even worse than the situation in Darfur in West Sudan which has already caught the attention of the international community.  The eyes of the world are now focused on the situation in Darfur, and interestingly the world calls the situation in Darfur by its rightful name-genocide against humanity with impunity. And yet the situation in Northern Uganda is far worse than the one in Darfur in West Sudan.  The unspeakable situation in Northern Uganda is not yet called by its rightful name – genocide, by the international community. Why international community has this double standard. What are the specificities for all this double standard? Are the peoples of Northern Uganda part of the universal humanity?  Do the peoples of Northern Uganda have the right in sharing our human oneness in One God of the Universe? 

The problem facing the peoples of Northern Uganda is the problem of demonization. The peoples of Northern Uganda have been demonized as demonic and killers by their own Government in Kampala.  Thus, all Northerners have been framed, by the NRA/M Government, as demonic and killers like the LRA rebels.  The whole purpose of demonization is to destroy our identity and humanity as a people, so that we become no longer human-being in the eyes of the world. Thus, our people have been degraded, humiliated, dehumanized, demonized, and stigmatized in the eyes of the world.  This is a deliberate policy of the NRA/M Government towards the peoples of Northern Uganda for the last 20 years. This is an act of genocide against humanity in Northern Uganda. 

The Nazis in Germany first called the Jewish community names, as a mechanism for demonizing and dehumanizing them in the eyes of both the German people and the peoples of the world. Thus, the Nazis successfully demonized and dehumanized the Jewish people and killed them in cold blood without mercy, while the world was looking on. Today the world still lives with the shame of the Jewish holocaust that took place during the Second World War 1939/45. The Jewish holocaust will remain a disgrace on the face of humanity here on earth. 

The Hutu Power in Rwanda have also committed genocide against humanity and against the Tusi minority with impunity in 1994, in our modern time. Once more the world continues to live with the shame of the Rwanda genocide of 1994, which should have been prevented if the peoples of the world had become a keeper of one another. The world continues to commit the sin of conspiracy of silence against humanity, as it is evident in the case of Northern Uganda in our modern time. The unbelievable situation in Northern Uganda where children are dying at the rate of over 1000 children per week in the IDP camps due to inhuman and appalling conditions is a litmus test to the world about its commitment in the UN Conventions to stop genocide happening in the world again on the watch of the international community. 

Once the identity and humanity of a people are destroyed, such people become non-entity in the eyes of both the world and those who have demonized them. Thus, it does not matter any more when they are being killed or slaughtered by those who wanted to eliminate or wipe them out from the face of the earth. The people of Northern Uganda have been called names by their own Government in Kampala.  Every Northerner has been framed as primitive and collaborator of the LRA, already marked as a terrorist organization. Thus, all Northerners are killers and terrorists who deserve to be eliminated from the face of the earth without mercy. That is why the world no longer sees the peoples of Northern Uganda as a people who really matter in the world today.  We have therefore become forgotten people and our children have become Night-commuters and invisible children in the world today. These are new phenomena showing how the Government of Uganda in Kampala has successfully demonized and dehumanized the peoples of Northern Uganda in the eyes of the world for the last 20 years. 

I have come to tell you and the peoples of the world that we are not killers and primitive as our Government in Kampala claims. The Lwo people in Northern Uganda are peace loving people in the world.  For instance, the Lwo people have a culture of non-violence, forgiveness and reconciliation.  We are the only community in the world who do not pass death sentence to a criminal based on the principle of mercy and forgiveness in our culture.  There are five guiding principles that have been developed over the centuries from the time immemorial to guide the daily lives of the Lwo people in the world. 

The Five Guiding Principles in life.  

(a)    Do not commit the first offense to anybody in the world.

(b)   Have respect for all without any discrimination.

(c)    Speak the truth at all times.

(d)   Never, never under all circumstances tell lies, even if your neck is being cut off. It is better for you to die for the truth than to tell lies.

(e)    Do not steal. 

The Model of Leadership in Lwo Culture. 

The Model of Leadership in Lwo Culture is based on respect for human rights, respect for human dignity, and respect for the sanctity of human life. For example, whoever eats your food or drinks your water or enters into your house, he or she becomes part and parcel of your life instantly. All this is based on the principle of mercy and forgiveness which is enshrined in the Lwo Culture of Mato Oput (Reconciliation). Thus, the power of the Rwot (Lord or King) must always stop at the door step of every household of the individual person in the kingdom among the Lwo communities in Northern Uganda. An individual person is ‘arwot ki oda’, when he is inside his house.  The Rwot has no power over an individual person who is within the confinement of his house or household. However, the Rwot can still regain his power to lead, but not to rule, over the individual person whenever the royal drum is sounded. Everybody is expected to respond to the call of the Rwot whenever the royal drum is sounded by the order of the Rwot only. Thus, there is the usual saying in Lwo that, ‘Rwot dong loya ki bul keken’.  This simply means that there are certain moments in life when an individual person among the Lwo community claims that the Rwot has authority over him only because of the royal drum. These are rare moments of happiness and freedom an individual person enjoys within the confinement of his household. The sense of rulership is foreign in Lwo Culture where a leader is expected to lead, but not to rule over other people. Hence the reason why a large clan, like, Payira clan is not allowed to dominate other small clans, like, Patiko or Palaro, according to Lwo Culture of respect. 

The principle of ‘Lapir’(Justification). 

The Lwo people are equally very democratic community who cannot be ordered by anybody to go to war without the ‘lapir’ (justification).  There must be a just cause why the people must go to war. For example, if one of their member has been killed and the perpetrator community has refused to accept responsibility for their crime against humanity with impunity. Under such circumstances the Lwo people will be much obliged to go to war only as the last resort. The other thing that marks the Lwo people as a non-violent community is the simple door called ‘kika’ to a house.  The simple kika is not meant for burglary proof or for protection against violence. Kika is a symbol of peace and stability among the non-violent Community. 

I have come therefore to tell the world that we are not killers or primitive as the Government of Uganda in Kampala has been telling the world to believe. We are very decent and peace loving people in the world.  The peoples of Northern Uganda are very patriotic who love our beloved Country, Uganda, as much as anybody else in Uganda. 

We are therefore not Kony or LRA rebels, but loyal citizens of Uganda who deserve to be treated with respect and human dignity, like, any other citizens in other parts of Uganda.  Kony is an individual person who is responsible for all his actions or crimes against humanity with impunity.  The peoples of Northern Uganda should not be finalized for the crimes committed against the people of Uganda by either Kony or the LRA rebels. It is true, Kony is an Acholi, but the people of Acholi are not Kony and they cannot be punished for the atrocities committed by Kony or the LRA rebels in Uganda.   

Secondly, let the world know that the peoples of Northern Uganda are not the past leaders of Uganda some of whom happened to come from the North.  Those past leaders are or were individual persons who must be held responsible for all their failures or crimes committed against the people of Uganda.  The peoples of Northern Uganda cannot be held responsible or punished for the mistakes made or the crimes committed against humanity and against the people of Uganda by the past leaders of Uganda.  

For example, the Government of Uganda had, on many occasions, displayed the human skulls along the Road at Luwero leading to North from Kampala and put all the blame of  the killing of innocent people in the Luwero Triangle on the Acholi people.  This is how the Government of Uganda has successfully demonized and dehumanized the peoples of Northern Uganda for the last 20 years since 1986. The Acholi people have never crossed the Nile at Karuma- Bridge, to come and kill people in Luwero.  The individual persons who served in the Uganda Army during the Luwero Triangle guerrilla warfare where crimes against humanity took place, their records are all available at the Military Headquarters in Bombo.  Let the Government of Uganda appoint an independent Commission of Inquiry into the crimes against humanity with impunity at Luwero Triangle in 1980/86. Government of Uganda should not put the blame of the crimes committed by Ugandan Armed Forces during the Luwero Triangle guerrilla warfare on the innocent of Northern Uganda.  To demonize and dehumanize the innocent peoples of Northern Uganda for crimes they have not committed is genocide against humanity with impunity. Please stop it for God’s sake as well as for the sake of humanity, democracy and human freedom in Uganda. 

I have come therefore to tell the world to know what the peoples of Northern Uganda have been dreaming about, crying about, and singing about during all these years of agony, pain, suffering, and death, in the IDP camps. The people have been dreaming about peace and freedom to support and feed themselves in the world of plenty in Northern Uganda. The people have been dreaming about how to get rid of poverty and malnutrition that has claimed the lives of many children of Northern Uganda who have been dying at the rate of over 1000 children every week in the IDP camps for over a decade. The people have been dreaming about regaining their self-reliance and self-supporting in life through hardworking in the fields. The people have been crying about the mercy of God that has the power to transform human heart across the political, religious, and tribal spectrums. The people have been crying about our human communality where respect for human life and human dignity stands supreme in the heart of every human-being for one another. The people have been singing about the love of God that continues to sustain their lives in the midst of all these insurmountable difficulties and hardships in the IDP camps for the last 20 years.

In conclusion, I call upon all Ugandans to love peace and to build Uganda that will be much more relevant for the future destiny of all the children of Uganda regardless of their geographical areas in the Country. Let us all join hands to stop the genocide in Northern Uganda.  As my dear brother, Ugandan journalist Elias Biryabarema, has said, “There is no justification for the cruel genocide that has been taking place in Northern Uganda by the minute, by the hour, and by the day, for the last two decades”.   My dear brother Timothy Kalyegira, another Ugandan journalist, summarizes the whole situation in Northern Uganda in this word,  “No people in East Africa have suffered in the last 100 years what the Acholi people have been made to suffer in the last 20 years”.  No doubt, this is clear evidence that genocide has been taking place for the last 20 years, while the world turns a blind eye to it.  Uganda needs a leader with a compass in his or her head and a magnet in his or her heart.  The Middle East saying summarizes it all in one sentence as follows. “When a child is born, a child cries and the world rejoices”.  May all of us live our lives in such a way that when we die, the world will cry, and we will rejoice for leaving a legacy of peace for the future posterity of Uganda.  

Thank you all for listening. 

Rt. Rev. Macleord Baker Ochola II

Retired Anglican Bishop of Kitgum Diocese/ in Residence