Uganda would continue to respect a landmark truce with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) that expires tonight, ahead of a review this week, the government’s chief negotiator said.
Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda told a press conference in Kampala on Tuesday that the truce would remain in force until his team met the LRA in Juba this week.
"Government has proposed that both parties continue to respect the agreement until a review meeting later this week. We still respect the provision of the agreement ... hostilities will not resume," Rugunda told reporters just hours after the deadline by which all LRA fighters should have assembled in specific areas had passed.
The minister added that the agreement had been a success, though there had been delays in implementing some aspects. These mainly related to the LRA appointing two representatives to a monitoring team that evaluates adherence to the agreement, but noted that LRA negotiators were consulting with LRA commanders on the issue.
Under the truce, LRA fighters had until 19 September to gather at one of two neutral camps in south Sudan, where they are to remain for the duration of the peace talks. Top rebel leaders are among those who have not yet come to the camps.
"The monitoring team has yet to put in place administrative structures at assembly points and the LRA has yet to appoint its representatives to the team," Rugunda noted.
The Ugandan official, however, was at pains to reiterate that his government was committed to the peace process and did not intend to set up any trap for the rebels as had been reported in the Ugandan media on Tuesday.
Local newspaper reports had quoted the LRA’s second-in-command, Vincent Otti, as alleging "a potential conspiracy between Uganda and south Sudan to delay the LRA peace delegation, which is now in Ri-Kwangba. The government of south Sudan is working with the government of Uganda to make us fall into a trap … they want to delay us," the paper quotes Otti as saying, adding that his fighters should be prepared to "disappear" should the process falter.
"There is no trap whatsoever, no hidden agenda and everything is in the open," Rugunda said, adding that his team would return to Juba later this week and that the first meeting would review the agreement.
To show the government’s commitment, the minister announced that President Yoweri Museveni would soon appoint a team of "eminent lawyers and leaders", who would seek to put into practice the local traditional justice system that is proposed to replace the International Criminal Court indictments against the five LRA commanders, including Joseph Kony.
The minister said he had had telephone interaction with Otti and "to my judgment these contacts have been very important and to me there is an increased level of cordiality during our discussions. They have been very good discussions. There is more confidence and more hope."
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Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda told a press conference in Kampala on Tuesday that the truce would remain in force until his team met the LRA in Juba this week.
"Government has proposed that both parties continue to respect the agreement until a review meeting later this week. We still respect the provision of the agreement ... hostilities will not resume," Rugunda told reporters just hours after the deadline by which all LRA fighters should have assembled in specific areas had passed.
The minister added that the agreement had been a success, though there had been delays in implementing some aspects. These mainly related to the LRA appointing two representatives to a monitoring team that evaluates adherence to the agreement, but noted that LRA negotiators were consulting with LRA commanders on the issue.
Under the truce, LRA fighters had until 19 September to gather at one of two neutral camps in south Sudan, where they are to remain for the duration of the peace talks. Top rebel leaders are among those who have not yet come to the camps.
"The monitoring team has yet to put in place administrative structures at assembly points and the LRA has yet to appoint its representatives to the team," Rugunda noted.
The Ugandan official, however, was at pains to reiterate that his government was committed to the peace process and did not intend to set up any trap for the rebels as had been reported in the Ugandan media on Tuesday.
Local newspaper reports had quoted the LRA’s second-in-command, Vincent Otti, as alleging "a potential conspiracy between Uganda and south Sudan to delay the LRA peace delegation, which is now in Ri-Kwangba. The government of south Sudan is working with the government of Uganda to make us fall into a trap … they want to delay us," the paper quotes Otti as saying, adding that his fighters should be prepared to "disappear" should the process falter.
"There is no trap whatsoever, no hidden agenda and everything is in the open," Rugunda said, adding that his team would return to Juba later this week and that the first meeting would review the agreement.
To show the government’s commitment, the minister announced that President Yoweri Museveni would soon appoint a team of "eminent lawyers and leaders", who would seek to put into practice the local traditional justice system that is proposed to replace the International Criminal Court indictments against the five LRA commanders, including Joseph Kony.
The minister said he had had telephone interaction with Otti and "to my judgment these contacts have been very important and to me there is an increased level of cordiality during our discussions. They have been very good discussions. There is more confidence and more hope."
vm/mw/eo
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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