Memorial service for victims of Barlonyo attack

The Ugandan government is to hold a prayer service on Saturday for hundreds of victims of a recent attack by rebels on an internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp in Barlonyo, near the northern town of Lira, 380 km from the capital, Kampala. Government sources told IRIN that President Yoweri Museveni, who is currently encamped in Lira town, was expected to preside over the ceremony. Kirunda Kivejinja, the minister for the presidency, said that "the president will be overseeing the service. He is there to comfort people and ensure the dead get a proper burial." "It should be happening at 10:00 GMT on Saturday. The purpose is to show solidarity with the victims," Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness Christine Aporu told IRIN on Wednesday: Local leaders, however, warned that relatives of the dead and the people of Lira District would be "unenthusiastic" about the service. "People here feel that this is just making political capital out of a tragedy," Father Sebhat Ayele, a Catholic priest in Lira, told IRIN. The 21 February attack on the IDPs camp by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army was one of the most serious they have perpetrated in their 18-year-old war against Museveni's government. Local leaders said 337 people were killed, but the government disputes the figure, saying the number of those killed was far lower. Meanwhile, World Vision Uganda and Christian Children's Fund are to start a joint programme for the IDPs in Lira district. Worth US $221,272, the programme will provide blankets and tarpaulins for temporary shelter to around 50,000 IDPs in some 8,300 households in Lira District, the NGOs said in a joint statement. The beneficiaries will include some of the survivors of the Barlonyo attack.