(1)  North-South Divide

It is to be noted that, Uganda, as a Country, has been divided into two, namely, one peaceful and prosperous South, and another war-ravaged poor and insecure North. The North has been neglected for the last 20 years, and it has been forced to live in extreme poverty and suffering.  All this goes back to the colonial days when the North was deliberately and completely neglected by the Colonial Masters. For instance, the people of the South were given education and economic empowerment by the Colonial Masters. Coffee growing was strictly allowed only to be grown within the areas of the South. All the Institutions of Higher Learning, such as Makerere College, which later became the first University of East Africa, King College Budo, Kisubi College, Namilyango College, Busoga College, and Gayaza High School for Girls, were all built in the South.  But there was no single Secondary School to be found anywhere in the North. Hence, there has always been educational disparity and economic imbalance between the South and the North, at national level. Thus, the needs and rights of the people of Northern Uganda have been terribly neglected and ignored for too long, right from the time of the colonial era.

(2)  Women and Children as Targets  

Right from the beginning the civilian population, the children, and the women have been the primary targets of this protracted war which has claimed the lives of many innocent people in Northern and Northeastern Uganda. According to Save the Children’s report, over 30,000 children have been abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), since 1994.

The abducted children have been forced and used, as child-soldiers, as sex-slaves, and as instruments of death against the civilian population, by the LRA. Many of these children have been killed or disappeared during their captivity in Southern Sudan, and have not been accounted for. As the situation in Northern Uganda intensified hundreds of thousands of children have become not only Night-commuters, but also invisible children in the eyes of the Government of Uganda as well as in the eyes of the international community. Thus, children of Northern Uganda have been denied the right to life, the right to growth, and the right to develop their God-given potential to its fullness through education, like any other children in other parts of the world.

The women too, as the primary target of this war, have been raped or gang raped together with their own daughters, in some cases, by the different warring factions fighting in Northern Uganda. The LRA rebels, the UPDF soldiers, and the Karimojong warriors, are all guilty for killing people and raping women and girls in Northern Uganda. Rape and sexual exploitation of women has become a weapon of war against the women and the community who have become very vulnerable in the hands of those who have the power to hold the gun. Rape or sexual exploitation of women, as a weapon of war, has been used, not only to humiliate, stigmatize, and dehumanize, the victims, but also the whole community who have become very vulnerable.  For example, women and their daughters have been raped or gang raped, on many occasions, in the open where their husbands and children were forced to watch such horrific dramas from the position of helplessness and hopelessness. Thus, rape and sexual harassment against the women has been used, as weapon of war, for the purposes of humiliation, dehumanization, and stigmatization, of the whole vulnerable community in the war-affected areas. Thus, it is evidently clear that the principle of respect for human dignity, for human rights, and for the sanctity of human life, of the peoples of Northern and Northeastern Uganda, has not been observed by all the warring factions fighting in the war-affected areas.

(3)  Conspiracy of Silence

The war in Northern Uganda has been characterized by wanton killings, ambushes on the roads, and abduction of the innocent children from schools and in the villages.  At the peak of the war of insurgency, over 2.0 million people have been uprooted from their homes and villages and forced to live in the Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) Camps. Over 1.8 million people are still languishing in the Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) Camps, in which over 1000 children had been dying every week due to inhuman and appalling conditions prevailing in the IDP Camps. Children of Northern Uganda have become not only Night-commuters, but also invisible children from the eyes of the Government of Uganda as well as from the eyes of the international community. Worse still the children of Northern Uganda have also become invisible children from the eyes of the Church of Christ in Uganda. The Church in Uganda, as an Organization, is very vibrant, lively, and powerful in terms of membership, attendance, and economical viability. The Church in Uganda is very evangelical and proclaims the Ministry of Evangelism with such enthusiasm and zeal that has no comparison in the world. However, while the Church is very evangelical in   Uganda, the Church has shamelessly neglected and miserably failed to carry out the Prophetic Ministry of Christ, as the prophetic voice of Christ for the voiceless, the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, and for the under-dog of the world. The prophetic ministry calls for the Church of Christ everywhere in the world, to speak boldly, on behalf of the voiceless, whether the time is right or out of season (2 Timothy 4:2). Most unfortunately, the Church in Uganda, like the Government of Uganda, and the international community, have deliberately remained completely silent or turned a blind eye to the pain, suffering, and death of the people of Northern Uganda for the last 20 years.

Thus, the Church in Uganda, like the international community during the genocide of 1994, in Rwanda, has committed the sin of the conspiracy of silence against humanity. The pain, the suffering, and death of the children of Northern Uganda, for the last 20 years, due to unspeakable conditions in the IDP Camps or as a result of gun shot by either the LRA rebels or the UPDF soldiers, has loudly sounded the alarm telling the whole world that genocide was unfolding in Northern Uganda on the watch of the Church of Christ in Uganda. This has been the pain most people of Northern Uganda, if not all, have been carrying in their hearts for the last 20 years, when the Leadership of the Church has been saying, ‘peace, peace, peace’, to the suffering people of Northern Uganda. Silence in a situation, like the one in Northern Uganda, or in Rwanda, or in Darfur west Sudan, is a denial of the gospel of Christ (Matthew 25:40).

(4)  Means of Livelihoods

The people have lost their means of livelihoods, self-reliance and self-supporting, and hope for their future destiny. There are already several generations of children who are without education, especially in Acholi sub-region. Northern Uganda is the world’s worst forgotten humanitarian emergency.  It is also Africa’s longest running war in the South of the sub-Sahara of Africa.  The people of Northern Uganda have failed to benefit from the Uganda’s development miracle of economic boom or prosperity, and peaceful atmosphere that prevails in Southern Uganda. The North has ever more been marginalized with each passing year. Thus, the pain of Northern Uganda has been forgotten by the rest of humanity for the last 2o years.  For instance, the major donors, such as, the US and the UK, to many African Countries, have shown their unwillingness to acknowledge Uganda, as a Country at war. HIV/AIDS pandemic is a time bomb in Northern Uganda, even if, the war comes to an end today or tomorrow.

(5)  The on-going Peace Talks

The on-going Peace Talks in Juba, the Capital City of Southern Sudan, has unfortunately collapsed. This is due to the refusal by the LRA delegation whose members have refused to go back to Juba to resume the on-going Peace Talks. The members of the LRA delegation have claimed that their lives would be in danger, if they go back to Juba. The members of the delegation further claimed that the President of the Sudan, Mr. Omar Hassan al-Bashir has vehemently vowed to get rid of the LRA rebels from the Sudan. Thus, the LRA delegation has demanded for a change of the venue for the on-going Peace Talks between the Government of Uganda and the LRA. The LRA delegation prefers either Kenya or South Africa, as the new venue for the on-going Peace Talks. However, what is important, not the venue, but the commitment and the seriousness of all the key stakeholders, to the on-going Peace Talks between the Government of Uganda and the LRA. Let all the key stakeholders to peace in Northern Uganda put the emphasis and the focus on the suffering people of Northern Uganda in order to reach the ultimate goal- peace for all people of Uganda.

(6)  The Way Forward

The on-going Peace Talks in Juba has been between the Government of Uganda and the LRA only. The Government of Uganda has been represented in the Peace Talks by Government delegation led by Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, the Minister of Internal Affairs.  On the other hand, the LRA has been represented in the Peace Talks, by its delegation led by Martin Ojul.  However, the majority of the members of the LRA delegation have come from the Diaspora in Europe and North America. It is not yet very clear whether these members of the delegation are also members of the political wing of the LRA, who are still living in the Diaspora. Interestingly, some interests have also been represented in the on-going Peace Talks between the Government of Uganda and the LRA. The political Leaders at both local and national levels, such as LCV Chairpersons and the RDC from the war-affected areas have been invited to attend the Juba Peace Talks occasionally by the Government of Uganda.  Members of the Core Team of Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI), and the Acholi Kal Kwaro Cultural Leaders (AKKCL), have also been invited to attend the Juba Peace Talks, as Observers and Consultants. Unfortunately, however, the major stakeholders for peace in Northern Uganda have been left out from the on-going Peace Talks between the Government of Uganda and the LRA.  The key stakeholders for peace in Northern Uganda, who have been left out are the suffering people of Northern Uganda, the people of Northern and Northeastern Uganda who are living in the Diaspora, and the UN Secretary General, the US peace Envoy and the UK Peace Envoy, for Northern Uganda. These are the primary stakeholders for peace in Northern Uganda. Thus, their involvement and active participation is of utmost importance and urgency, if we all want genuine and lasting peace in Northern Uganda, in particular, and in Uganda, in general.

However, this has always been the trend in the Peace process through the peaceful dialogue between the Government of Uganda and the LRA. There have been many attempts to bring about peace in Northern Uganda through peaceful dialogue between the Government of Uganda and the LRA. The first one was in 1994, when Hon. Betty Bigombe successfully won the heart of the LRA Leader, Joseph Kony to come out of the rebellion.  However, Betty Bigombe’s peace effort was utterly frustrated when President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni gave the LRA rebels Seven Day Ultimatum to come out of the bush, if not, they would be flushed out.

The second attempt was in March 2003, when the religious and the cultural leaders succeeded in arranging a meeting between the Presidential Peace Team (PPT) and the LRA Second Commanders, at Koyo Lalogi, Lapul sub- County in Pajule, Pader District. Most unfortunately, however, the military Unit at Pajule barracks bombarded the very venue where the meeting was going to take place that very morning. The LRA was very angry and accused the religious and the cultural leaders for allowing themselves to be used, as bait, by the Government of Uganda, in order to kill them in cold blood. Consequently, both the Government of Uganda and the LRA went on the military offensives against each other. Unfortunately, the LRA rebel activities spread from Acholi and Lango sub-regions up to Teso sub-region in Eastern Uganda. The LRA violent activities increasingly intensified in Teso sub-region from March 2003 until December 31, 2004. As a result, many people were killed, many school children were abducted, and people of Teso witnessed the destruction of their homes and villages. Their property and food from the granaries and fields were thoroughly looted.  All these horrendous atrocities on the people of Teso have created bitter ethnic sentiments against the Acholi people.  Some of the local political leaders in Teso sub-region thought that the LRA rebellion was Acholi war against other ethnic groups within the war-affected areas.  They vigorously persuaded the Central Government to create local militias in the sub-regions. In Teso sub-region, there was the Arrow Group, in Lango sub-region, the Amuga (Rhino) Group, and in Acholi sub-region the Elephant Group in Gulu, but the idea was utterly rejected by Gulu District Council. The Government created the Frontier Guard for Kitgum District, and the Home Guard for Pader District. Thus, the whole region was highly militarized with the potential for genocide to happen anytime among the different ethnic peoples within the war-ravaged zone.

The problem of militarization of the region is that many of these local militias do not have loyalty to other parts of Uganda, except loyalty to their own ethnic peoples. Hence, the imminent danger of militarization of the war- affected areas.  It is, therefore, absolutely necessary to put the emphasis and the focus, first and foremost, on the suffering people of Northern Uganda, the people of Northern Uganda, who are currently living in the Diaspora, the civil society of Uganda, and on the UN Secretary General, the US Peace Envoy and the UK Peace Envoy, for Northern Uganda. However, it must be noted that bringing peace in a violent conflict situation is, as difficult as castrating a male dog (tek calo kolo man gwok). Thus, for those who are called to be the peacemakers and change-makers, must always stand for the truth, forgiveness, and reconciliation with great patience and love, in order to achieve the ultimate goal- peace for all.  If we all stand together in solidarity and identification with the suffering people of Northern Uganda, we can stop the unfolding genocide and save many innocent lives, especially of the children, in Northern Uganda. Another world is possible, if we can listen to the cries of the children of Northern Uganda. What so ever you do to the little of my brothers and my sisters, you do unto me. (Matthew 25:40).

I say all these for God and my beloved Country Uganda

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