Call to "buy off" rebels rejected

The Ugandan army and leaders of a peace initiative have rejected calls to offer money to the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in a bid to stop its devastating insurrection. The Uganda Human Rights Commission suggested borrowing money to buy the rebels off in a desperate last ditch attempt to end the 17-year armed rebellion. But the army has dismissed the call, saying any money borrowed should be used to enhance its capability to tackle the rebels militarily. Army spokesman Major Shaban Bantariza said the move would be a “waste of time”, though he said the army understood the public’s frustrations. “The public is understandably annoyed at the continued disruptions of the terrorists and we understand this," he told IRIN. "But to suggest that government gets money to pay them off is absurd. The LRA has never even hinted that it wants money.” Bantariza said it was better to use force “to deny them the means to wage war”. David Achana, spokesman for the Acholi Religious Leaders’ Peace Initiative (ARLPI) also said the idea was unlikely to bear fruit. “I don’t see how this could work. [The head of the presidential peace team Salim] Saleh tried to offer them money before and it never worked,” he told IRIN. “These people are clearly not interested in money,” he added. “They think Kony was sent by God to fight for the people of Acholi. You can’t strike a bargain with that thinking.” Achana – who has had much contact with the LRA in his efforts to instigate dialogue with the government – said rumours of an emerging rift between LRA leader Joseph Kony and his second in command Vincent Otti, after Otti was allegedly sacked, were probably false. “As far as we are aware, the removal of Otti was just a formal change in the command structure," he said. "The LRA doesn’t traditionally have commanders, so they are reverting back to the old system. Otti is still very much the second in charge.”