Rikwangba in Southern Sudan remains open as assembly area for LRA rebels

Posted: 29 Dec 2008 09:19 AM CST

Article from Sudan Tribune December 15, 2008 (JUBA) by James Gatdet Dak:
SOUTH SUDAN VP CONFIRMS ATTACKS ON LRA REBELS

The Government of Southern Sudan’s Vice President and Chief Mediator of the Uganda peace process, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, confirmed on Monday that military offensive against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) was under way inside DR Congo.



Photo: LRA Joseph Kony is shaking hand with southern Sudan’s vice president Riek Machar. (Reuters).

A regional joint force carried out a surprise attack on LRA positions in eastern DR Congo on Sunday.

Machar said as mediators they were aware of the offensive shortly before it was announced in Kampala by the Ugandan government.

He blamed the LRA leader Joseph Kony for not signing the peace deal.

“We understand the frustration involved because Kony has failed to sign [the final peace agreement] five times,” he explained.

He further explained that Kony failed his arrangement to sign twice, former Mozambican President Joachim Chissano’s once, northern Ugandan leaders’ once and lastly failed to talk to President Museveni on the phone despite Museveni’s offer to dialogue with him directly.

Machar added that his government has closed its borders and would not allow the renewed fighting with the rebels to over spill into Southern Sudan again.

He however said the Government of Southern Sudan has made an important decision that incase Joseph Kony reconsiders to sign, Rikwangba in Southern Sudan remains open as assembly area for the rebels.

He said he considered the military offensive as a pressure on Kony to sign.
- - -

Article from Sudan Tribune by James Gatdet Dak December 20, 2008 (JUBA)

CHIEF MEDIATOR CALLS ON UGANDAN REBELS TO ASSEMBLE TO DE-ESCALATE HOSTILITIES
The Chief Mediator of the Uganda peace process, Government of Southern Sudan’s Vice President, Riek Machar Teny has called on the rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to assemble in Ri-Kwangba to “de-escalate” the ongoing hostilities with regional forces.



Photo: Riek Machar

A joint regional force launched offensive against the LRA bases inside north-eastern DR Congo last week and still escalating.

In his 2nd report on the status of the Juba peace process, dated 15th December and of which copy the Sudan Tribune received today, the Chief Mediator stated that it was the Ugandan army that carried out the attacks on LRA on 14th December in Garamba forests, but was to be joined by Congolese forces while the SPLA would deploy along Southern Sudan borders to prevent the LRA from infiltrating into the semi-autonomous region.

He urged the LRA rebels to assemble in Ri-Kwangba area, respect the terms for assembling, sign and implement the peace deal.

The Government of Southern Sudan’s Vice President further stated that the military action was neither intended to destroy the Juba peace agreements nor abrogate the Ugandan government’s commitments towards the peace process.

Machar blamed the LRA leadership for not signing the Final Peace Agreement (KPA), which prompted regional military offensive against the rebels and called on them to assemble.

"I would therefore invite the LRA to signal its readiness to return and assemble in Ri-Kwangba in order to expeditiously conclude the Juba process,” he stated.

Some of the rebels were already reported to have infiltrated into Southern Sudan following the fighting and were accused by government officials of killing two civilians yesterday in Western Equatoria state.

He said the LRA should contact the Mediator who would, through the Cessation of Hostilities Monitoring Team, work with the relevant forces, to arrange for safe passage to Ri-Kwangba at Sudan/DR Congo border.

Machar said the mediators were aware of the concerns raised by the LRA on the ICC which they said were impeding the signature of the FPA, but he stated that these would be addressed within the framework of the peace agreement and "should therefore not delay this process any longer."

"The LRA must act swiftly and in good faith to conclude this chapter of violence so that peace can return to this region," he concluded.
Cross posted today at Congo Watch and Sudan Watch.
Kony tapped UPDF radio - Museveni

Posted: 23 Dec 2008 09:36 AM CST

From the Monitor Kampala by Rodney Muhumuza 23 December 2008:
President Yoweri Museveni has said at least four battalions of Ugandan troops are closing in on Joseph Kony in DR Congo’s forested Garamba area, over a week after a joint force bombarded the rebel leader’s camps and forced him to flee.

Mr Museveni, who described the attack as very successful, said the reclusive rebel leader may have escaped because he acquired a gadget that he used to monitor the radio conversations of the pilots manning the helicopter gunships.

“We found that there was a manual of a certain gadget Kony may have used to monitor the radio conversations of the pilots,” Mr Museveni told a press conference in Kampala yesterday. “We captured the manual but we did not capture the gadget itself. The gadget only becomes useful if the pilots do not maintain radio silence.”

Mr Museveni, who regretted that his government spent time negotiating peace with the Lord’s Resistance Army, said the UPDF would seek to block Kony from crossing into the Central African Republic, where his troops have sometimes sneaked to recruit and cause havoc.

“The force on the western side of Garamba has detected a group of 100 fighters trying to go to the Central African Republic,” Mr Museveni said. “We shall get them before they go there.”

Mr Museveni said the operation had been successful despite delays in putting the ground forces into action.

Ugandan commandos entered Garamba last Tuesday, two days after the initial assault.

Although there have been no casualties from the attack, Mr Museveni said yesterday that LRA fighters may have returned to bury their dead. “It was a very successful operation…we attacked Kony’s main camp and devastated it,” Mr Museveni said.

“Kony only understands one language--- the language of the gun.”

Kony, indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2005 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, in April refused to sign a peace deal negotiated under the mediation of the South Sudan government.

Kony has said he will not sign the peace deal until the ICC withdraws arrest warrants for him and his top lieutenants.

The offensive on Garamba, where Kony had be holed up for nearly three years, was the first direct confrontation between the UPDF and the LRA since a ceasefire agreement was signed in August 2006.

“I don’t think that it was ever correct to beg Kony for peace as some groups were doing,” Mr Museveni said. “We had no other option but to act against these criminal acts.”

A section of Acholi elders, reacting to the offensive, said aerial bombardment of the LRA camps was the wrong tactic against a rebel group that still holds many women and children, most of them forcibly recruited.

Mr Museveni said yesterday he had asked the Police to examine whether the recent statements of MPs Reagan Okumu and Livingstone Okello-Okello, who claimed that the allied forces had hit empty camps, were not potentially criminal.

Mr Museveni suggested that the Ugandan contingent would stay in Garamba for an extended period as it tries to capture or kill Kony.

“If Kony tried to settle in any other region, he would be exposed to more danger than in Garamba,” he said. “I would like to assure Ugandans that this is the end of Kony as the terrorist of Uganda… As an old fighter, I wouldn’t want to be in Kony’s position. The combined operations are about to decimate him.”

Meanwhile, the LRA yesterday set new demands for talks with the government and called for a ceasefire.
Addressing a press conference in Nairobi, the leader of the LRA peace delegation, Mr David Nyekorach Matsanga, said the LRA will not go back to Juba for the completion of the talks and signing of the Final Peace Agreement (FPA).

He added LRA want a different person other than vice President of South Sudan, Dr Riek Machar, to chair the talks.
If possible, Dr Matsanga said, a UN appointed envoy should take over the process as Dr Machar “has lost credibility to mediate in the conflict.”

He termed Dr Machar as a traitor especially after the Sunday attacks. Mr Matsanga said the UN appointed envoy should report directly to the UN Security Council at every step made.

The rebel group demanded the inclusion of Sant. E-Gideo, an international NGO in Northern Uganda in the peace talks.

Kenya-Uganda-LRA-Peace talks

Posted: 22 Dec 2008 09:53 AM CST

From APA-Nairobi (Kenya) 22 December 2008:
UGANDA'S LRA REBELS DEMAND FRESH TALKS WITH GOV'T WITH UN ENVOY AS CHAIR

Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) on Monday said that they were ready for peace talks with the Ugandan government if only the chair of the peace talks, Riek Machar who is also the Vice-President of Southern Sudan steps down, and they also demanded that a special United Nations envoy be appointed to take over as chair of the peace talks.

Addressing a news conference in Nairobi, the LRA spokesman, David Matsanga said that LRA has already lost confidence in Machar.

“He has lost credibility in the peace talks”, he said and accused him to be the stumbling block to the peace process.

He accused Machar of being sympathetic to the Ugandan government and called him a traitor in regard to the military attacks on LRA on December 14 code-named “Operation lighting thunder”.

He said that the special UN envoy will report directly to the Security Council and brief the Council on every step of the peace talks.

The spokesman said that the LRA was committed to the peace talks despite the government attacks.

Matsanga said that the LRA leader Joseph Kony has proposed a change of the venue of the peace process, saying that either Tanzania or South Africa could host the talks.

He called an end to the tripartite air raids on LRA bases by Congolese, Ugandan and Southern Sudanese forces adding that the attacks have instead intensified the long drawn 22 year-old conflict.

He further maintained that the signing of the Final Peace Agreement(FPA) has been impeded due to the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC)) against Kony.

UN Security Council strongly condemns attacks by LRA in DR Congo, Southern Sudan

Posted: 22 Dec 2008 09:49 AM CST

Security Council strongly condemns attacks by Lord's Resistance Army in Democratic Republic of Congo, Southern Sudan

Source: United Nations Security Council
Date: 22 Dec 2008 (via ReliefWeb )

SC/9555
Security Council
6058th Meeting (AM)

Presidential Statement also Condemns Repeated Failure of LRA Leader Joseph Kony to Sign Peace Agreement Negotiated with Uganda

The Council today strongly condemned the recent attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Southern Sudan, and demanded that LRA cease its recruitment and use of children and release immediately all women, children and other non-combatants.

In a statement read by this month's President, Nevin Jurica (Croatia), the Council also condemned the repeated failure of Joseph Kony to sign the Final Peace Agreement negotiated between the Government of Uganda and LRA.

Recalling that the International Criminal Court had issued arrest warrants for certain LRA leaders on charges of, among other things, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and the enlistment of children through abduction, the Council reaffirmed that ending impunity was essential for a society recovering from conflict to come to terms with past abuses and to prevent their recurrence.

The Council welcomed the re-establishment of peace and security in northern Uganda and encouraged the country's Government to honour its commitment to accelerate reconciliation, recovery and development in that region through rapid implementation of its Peace, Recovery and Development Plan.

The Council expressed its appreciation for the efforts undertaken by Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique, as the Secretary-General's Special Representative for LRA-affected areas, and agreed with his recommendation that the peace efforts should continue.

At the end of the meeting, the President bade farewell to the five outgoing members, Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, Panama and South Africa, and commended them for their hard work and contributions during their 2007-2008 term on the Council.

The meeting started at 11:51 a.m. and adjourned at 11:57 a.m.

Presidential Statement

The full text of presidential statement S/PRST/2008/48 reads as follows:

"The Security Council is grateful for the efforts undertaken by His Excellency Mr. Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique, as the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)-affected areas. The Council expresses its appreciation for his briefing of 17 December 2008, and agrees with his recommendation that the peace efforts should continue. The Council welcomes President Chissano's readiness to continue in his role for a further period.

"The Security Council reiterates its welcome for the Final Peace Agreement (FPA), negotiated between the Government of Uganda and the LRA, and reached through the Juba Peace Process. The Council commends the Government of Uganda for its continued commitment to the FPA and its investment in the peace process.

"The Security Council condemns the repeated failure of Joseph Kony to sign the FPA. It calls upon the LRA to sign and honour the FPA immediately and to begin the process of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration to ensure a peaceful, political solution.

"The Security Council strongly condemns the recent attacks by the LRA in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Southern Sudan, which pose a continuing threat to regional security. It demands that the LRA cease its recruitment and use of children and that it release immediately all women, children and other non combatants, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1612 (2005). The Council reiterates its deep concern at the long-running and brutal insurgency by the LRA, which has caused the death, abduction and displacement of thousands of innocent civilians in Uganda, the Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"The Security Council recalls the International Criminal Court arrest warrants for certain LRA leaders on charges of, among other things, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and the enlistment of children through abduction. The Council recalls its statement of June 2006 (PRST/2006/28), and reaffirms that it attaches vital importance to promoting justice and the rule of law, including respect for human rights, as an indispensable element for lasting peace. The Council reaffirms that ending impunity is essential for a society recovering from conflict to come to terms with past abuses committed against civilians and to prevent their recurrence.

"The Security Council commends the States in the region for their increased cooperation, and welcomes the joint efforts they have made to address the security threat posed by the LRA. The Council calls upon these States to ensure that all actions are carried out in accordance with international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law, and to take appropriate measures to protect civilians. The Council encourages these States to keep the United Nations missions in the region informed about their actions.

"The Security Council welcomes the re-establishment of peace and security in northern Uganda. It encourages the Government of Uganda, with the support of international partners, to honour its commitment to accelerate reconciliation, recovery and development in that region through rapid implementation of its Peace, Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) and relevant agenda items in the FPA and to disburse anticipated financing for the PRDP without delay.

"The Security Council will continue to monitor the situation closely."
LRA wants peace talks

Posted: 22 Dec 2008 09:46 AM CST

From New Vision by Reuben Olita 22 December, 2008:
LRA wants peace talks

LRA rebels have demanded the immediate halt to the UPDF attacks and resumption of peace talks, spokesman David Nyekorach Matsanga said in Nairobi yesterday.

The negotiations should be moved from South Sudan to Tanzania or South Africa, Matsanga added.

Addressing a press conference at Chester, Matsanga, flanked by another LRA activist, Justine Labeja, said chief mediators Riek Machar, the South Sudan’s vice-president, and former Mozambican President Joachim Chissano should be dropped from the talks because they are biased. Matsanga described Machar as a traitor and an enemy.

In a statement, Matsanga said the venue should be changed because the government of South Sudan “is not neutral in the conflict”.

Tanzania or South Africa , he said, were preferable given their “political stability and democratic” credentials and their capacity to “enforce the agreement”.

Matsanga said the new talks should address rebel chief Gen. Joseph Kony’s concerns about his indictment for war crimes at The Hague, which he blamed for his refusal to sign the agreement.

Uganda, Congo and South Sudan last Sunday jointly attacked Kony’s camps in the thick Garamba forest in the north-east of the DR Congo, where he had been holed up for about two years as the talks were going on in Juba, South Sudan.

The allies said the offensive, code-named Operation Lightning Thunder, was intended to push Kony into signing the final peace agreement, which he refused to do thrice this year after a painstaking process.

Operation Lightning Thunder spokesman Capt. Chris Magezi said the operation had been a success because Kony would not be able to mount serious war again.

He said weapons, Kony’s personal effects, including his wig and guitar, and household items were recovered and expansive gardens of food crops destroyed. Eight abductees have been rescued, Magezi said.

However, Matsanga insisted that Kony and his high command survived the bombardment. He would not say where he was or confirm reports that he had fled to the Central African Republic.

Matsanga said he spoke with Kony “very recently and his spirit was very high”.

President Yoweri Museveni yesterday said Kony was trapped in the forest and would not escape this time unless he signed the pact.

Kony hits dead time, says Museveni

Posted: 22 Dec 2008 09:42 AM CST

From New Vision 22 December, 2008:
Kony hits dead time, says Museveni

President Yoweri Museveni on Monday made a radio statement on the joint Sunday assault on the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels in the Garamba Park. Below are the excerpts....

Countrymen,

I greet you all and I congratulate you for reaching the end of 2008. 1 wish you a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year, 2009.

The purpose of this broadcast is to tell you that on Sunday 14th December 2008, at 1130 hours, we attacked Kony’s camp in Garamba Park. It was a very successful operation because our Air-force, operating with the support of the brother Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the brother Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS), attacked Kony’s main camp codenamed “Kiswahili”.

The gunships flew directly from Koboko (district), carried out the attack and refuelled in Southern Sudan. Later in the day of that same Sunday, our other assets, including MIG21 jet-fighters, landed on some airports in DRC. The airports in the three sister countries, DRC, GOSS and Uganda are now being used to end this shameful terror of Kony in the Great Lakes region. We are most grateful to the sister countries of DRC and Sudan for this correct stand on terrorism and unconstitutionalism.

We attacked Kony because of the following reasons:

1. Kony had refused to sign the agreement that had been negotiated for two years under the mediation of the Government of Southern Sudan for whom we are most grateful for the tireless effort they put in. This showed that Kony only understands one language — that of the gun. I do not think it was ever correct to beg Kony for peace as some groups were doing. We are ready to forgive Kony. It should, however, be Kony to beg for peace because he is the one that killed Ugandans, abducted women for sex-slaves, abducted children, mutilated Ugandans and other Africans, etc. Anyway, Kony proved that he was never interested in peace by refusing to sign the agreement when the signing was due, not once but many times.

2. Kony has never stopped abducting Congolese, Southern Sudanese and citizens of Central African Republic (CAR) ever since he entered Garamba over three years ago. Indeed, we are already rescuing children from these countries that Kony had abducted, including a 17-year-old girl from CAR, who is heavy with pregnancy - thanks to Kony’s thugs!

3. Kony continued to kill Ugandans even during the peace talks, including the killing of Otti. Why should Kony, who is so concerned about the International Criminal Court (ICC) indictment and always wants guarantees for his safety, kill other law-breakers like Otti? Why does he care about his life and not that of others? This impunity of Kony and those who support him must be brought to an end.

4. Kony had started dispersing his terrorists to the whole region (DRC, Southern Sudan, etc. and was trying to re-infiltrate some elements into Uganda) to ensure that in the coming dry season he causes terror in all these areas. Only yesterday the SPLA attacked a Kony group led by Kidega at Lanya in Southern Sudan. This had been sent by Kony long before the Sunday attack to disrupt Southern Sudan and possibly Northern Uganda. This group of Kidega was sent from Garamba on the 5th of December 2008 long before the attack of 14th December 2008. The aim was to start the killings in Southern Sudan and Northern Uganda.
We, therefore, had no option but to act against these criminal acts and we did with the support of the region and the international community. The region supports us through coordination, joint operations and sharing assets. The international community gives us moral support and some limited solidarity in some areas.

Was the attack mission successful? It was very successful in spite of some delays due to coordination challenges. The attack took place at 1130 hours (East African Standard time) instead of 0730 hours local time. On the first day of the attack we could not use all our assets: gunships, jets, infantry, etc, because they were not in position on account of coordination challenges, distances, weather, etc.

Nevertheless, it was a big success. Why do I say so? The following are the reasons:

I. Although we used only gunships, they were right on target. Kony’s people were on parade preparing to disperse in order to spread terror to the whole region. Many were killed and the rest scattered in the Garamba Park. Kony survived the attack because he left the camp five minutes before the attack. We suspect that somebody had given him a gadget for detecting conversation of pilots in flight. Indeed, we have captured a manual for that purpose that we are studying. This is a curable challenge. He might not be so lucky next time.

II. The Kony group was forced to abandon the huge amount of food they had got from Caritas, the huge gardens they had cultivated using slave labour and comfort of the Garamba territory they had turned into their own. They are now leading the life of fugitives in the park. Indeed, the Kony gardens are now feeding our troops, thereby saving on the costs for the airlift of food from Uganda. Without food the Kony terrorists are in great trouble.

III. On Sunday, we disrupted Kony’s cohesion and his simple supply system that was based on the locally grown food and that given to him by Caritas when he was deceiving Dr. Riak Machar that he was interested in the peace talks. We did this with the use of only one element — the gunships. The full force of the UPDF and our allies (FARDC and SPLA) is now being assembled in the region.
As an old fighter, I would not want to be in Kony’s position. The combined arms operations that are about to begin will decimate him.
This is exactly, what happened in Teso and Lango in 2003, when Kony’s notorious commanders — Tabuley, Nyeko, etc., died. That is why Otti and Kony fled to Garamba with very much reduced manpower — Kony had 120 and Otti had 120. Kony and Otti did not go to Garamba for tourism reasons. They were fleeing. I remember the battle of Apopong in Teso, in August 2003, where one of Kony’s commanders called Opio died. That was, actually, the turning point of this conflict. What happened in Teso is about to happen in Garamba unless Kony does the wise and simple thing — ask for safe passage to the Ri-Kwamba assembly area and sign the peace agreement.
That is the only safe course of action for Kony.

iv. If Kony tries to scatter in the region (Southern Sudan, other parts of DRC or tries to return to Uganda), he will be more exposed to danger than in Garamba. We have now gathered more intelligence on Kony’s activities and those who support him by entering Kony’s camps in Garamba. As we continue operating, we shall gather even more information against him.

If we could attack Kony from Koboko, 231 miles away, how will he survive if he is nearer in Southern Sudan or tries to re-enter Uganda?

Therefore, I would like to assure Ugandans that this is the end of Kony as a terrorist. We have ended cattle rustling in Karamoja precisely on account of this capacity.

There are the likes of Okello Okello and Okumu Reagan who try to cause panic in the population that Kony will come back to Uganda in order to resume his terrorism. They refer to the operation Iron Fist of 2002, when we flushed Kony out of the Kit Valley (Rubangatek, Kempaco, etc.) only for his group to go to the Imatong Hills from where we flushed them, They, then, re-entered Uganda and caused a lot of suffering until they were defeated in Teso in 2003 and, eventually, fled to Garamba. Operation Iron Fist was also a success because Kony was uprooted from his bases in Kit Valley. However, the problem we had that time was that, on account, of the interference in our defence budgeting by some external forces, our Army modernisation had lagged behind. We still relied only on infantry (Soldiers walking on foot). This one we cured when we cut 23% from budget lines of all the ministries and modernised the Army. Indeed, this was one of my campaign points in the 2001 general elections. The Army has now been modernised. It is now a bi-service force — Land forces and Air- force. This makes the Army lethal and prompt in its capacity to deal with un-constitutional e1emets. The defeat of Kony in Teso and Lango in 2003, was the first fruit of this modernisation. The pacification of Karamoja is the second big fruit from this modernisation. The Sunday 14th long jump operation into Garamba opened a campaign that will see the end of Kony either, peacefully, by him walking to Ri-Kwamba and signing the agreement or by being violently killed or captured together with those traitors that have been with him. This is how we shall liberate all the abductees as we are beginning to do. Those criminal politicians who encourage Kony to avoid peace maybe, paradoxically, God’s agents in bringing about Kony’s death. His continued failure to assemble in Ri-Kwamba will, I am almost certain, bring about his death. Kony should know how to save himself.

I would like to call upon our citizens to ignore Okello Okello and Okumu Reagan. Even Kony would be advised to keep a distance from them and their likes. Otherwise, Okello Okello and Okumu Reagan will cause the death of Kony just as they caused the deaths of Yardin, Nyeko, Tabuley, Lukwiya and even Otti. Any Kony terrorist who listens to their advice will have himself to blame. Victory is assured.

I thank you very much.

Yoweri K. Museveni
22 December 2008 - Nakasero

Security Council demands that Ugandan rebels sign peace accord

Posted: 22 Dec 2008 09:38 AM CST

From UN.org 22 December 2008 - Security Council demands that Ugandan rebels sign peace accord:
The United Nation Security Council today strongly condemned recent attacks by the rebel Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Southern Sudan, and demanded that it immediately sign a previously negotiated peace accord.

A presidential statement, read out by Ambassador Nevin Jurica of Croatia, which holds this month’s rotating presidency of the 15-member body, condemned the repeated failure of LRA leader Joseph Kony to sign the Final Peace Agreement negotiated between the Government of Uganda and LRA.

It recalled that the International Criminal Court (ICC) had issued arrest warrants for “certain LRA leaders” on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and the enlistment of children through abduction. The ICC issued arrest warrants for Mr. Kony and two other LRA leaders, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen, in 2005.

“The Council reiterates its deep concern at the long-running and brutal insurgency by the LRA, which has caused the death, abduction and displacement of thousands of innocent civilians in Uganda, the Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” the statement said. “It demands that the LRA cease its recruitment and use of children and that it release immediately all women, children and other non-combatants.”

Noting that “it attaches vital importance to promoting justice and the rule of law, including respect for human rights, as an indispensable element for lasting peace,” the Council reaffirmed that “ending impunity is essential for a society recovering from conflict to come to terms with past abuses committed against civilians and to prevent their recurrence.”

It called on the LRA to sign the peace accord immediately and begin the process of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration to ensure a peaceful, political solution to the 21-year-long conflict.

The Council welcomed the re-establishment of peace and security in northern Uganda, which has seen the LRA disperse into Southern Sudan and eastern DRC, and called on the Ugandan Government to accelerate reconciliation, recovery and development in the north by disbursing anticipated financing without delay.

Last week the Council voiced support for a joint military operation launched by the DRC, Uganda and Southern Sudan to flush the LRA out of a remote national park in north-eastern DRC.

Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has helped ship in 24 tons of food for 8,500 people in the DRC’s Dungu region affected by the LRA. “These people are very happy,” WFP programme manager Ibrahime Diallo said after helping to supervise the distribution. “They have been waiting a long time. Now they see that when we say we will do something, we will do something.”

Local men offloaded bags and cans of food bearing the logos of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), ECHO (European Commission Humanitarian Office) and other donors. WFP’s feeding programme in the area is expected to last two or three months.

Dungu town’s population has grown as internally displaced persons (IDPs) arrived. With the area outside Dungu now considered by many a no-go zone, hunger is on the increase.

“The harvest season begins in January and they are unable to go to their farms and fields,” WFP Dungu sub-station chief Charles Gemenze said. “There is no famine but IDPs, host families and returnees need to complement what little food they still have.”

THE AFRICA MUSIC AWARDS UK 2008

Dear Friend, The Democratic Party (DP) UK Leadership would like to invite you to an impromptu conference where you will have to interface with President Museveni's Spokespersons on: a) Developments on the Northern Uganda conflict; b) Myths, facts and implications of the Bill on Dual Citizenship (Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control (Amendment) Bill, 2008); c) Other current, pertinent and burning issues, including the matters surrounding the Land (Amendment) Bill 2007 will be the subject of discussion on the occasion The event will be transmitted on BEN TV and other media. Venue: 130 Upton Lane , Forest Gate, London E7 9LW Time: 1.30pm - prompt For further queries: 020 8595 36 00; 07939 22 79 58; 07951 65 25 90; 07950 21 38 06 Happy Holiday Season DP UK Chapter Leadership

The African Music Awards WAS an internationally broadcast event equivalent to the Brit or Grammy Awards, and ia provided a showcase for and celebration of Africa’s primary art form, music and the people who play it. The event was to to publicise and showcase African music to the largely untapped non-African population in Europe, Asia and America. It aims to maintain a strong presence of African music on the international stage and position it in the mainstream of the music industry. It would culminate in an annual awards ceremony, which had sought nominations in a variety of musical categories.And all this happened yesterday at the Troxy In London

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: +44 (0) 20 7482 2496http://uk.mc274.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=womenstrike8m@server101.com ATTENTION: LISTINGS & PLANNING DIARIES 31 JANUARY - 8 FEBRUARY 2009 The Struggle Against Sexism & Racism: an International Comparison Five major events open to the public with speakers from: BOLIVIA, CANADA, ENGLAND, GUYANA, HAITI, INDIA, IRAQ, IRELAND, PALESTINE, PERU, SPAIN, TANZANIA, TRINIDAD & TOBAGO, TURKEY, US, VENEZUELA. Grassroots Struggle Against Sexism and Racism: an International Comparison Saturday 31 January, 9.30am-5.30pmBolivar Hall, Venezuelan Embassy, 54 Grafton Way, London W1 5AJ Our Debt to Haitians - the First to Abolish SlaverySunday 1 February, 10.30 -5.30pmBolivar Hall Invest In Caring, Not Killing: Valuing the Work of Caring for People & the Planet Saturday 7 February, 9.30am - 5.30pmBolivar Hall. Rediscovering Tanzania's Ujamaa - Tribute to the Great Ntimbanjayo Millinga and the Ruvuma Development AssociationSunday 8 February, 1.30 - 5.30pmBolivar Hall. Rape and Prostitution - A Question of Consent Date & time tbcHouse of Commons Organised by the GLOBAL WOMEN'S STRIKE & INTERNATIONAL WOMEN COUNT NETWORK. For more information:www.globalwomenstrike.net/internationalgathering2009.htm+44 (0) 20 7482 2496womenstrike8m@server101.com MPAKA BAADAE (Until l8r in Swahili) FLEX ENTERTAINMENT UK WEBSITES & OTHER NETWORK SITES www.leeboyflex.com or www.myspace.com/leeboyflexinfo@leeboyflex.com or leeboyflex@hotmail.com www.leeboyflex.hi5.com Contact No: +44 (0) 7900 195 821 No.1 IN MILTON KEYNES,UNITED KINGDOM NOW ALSO OPERATING IN EAST AFRICA TANZANIA KNOW AS FLEX ENTERTAINMENT TZ Website: www.flexentertainment.org Email: info@flexentertainment.org Contact No: +255 (0) 713 600600 & +255 (0) 713 785543

When the financial crisis happened, I made it clear that the Conservative Party was ready to put aside party differences to help bring stability. That's why we supported the recapitalisation of our banks. I also said that we would not suspend our critical faculties over this Government's calamitous economic policy decisions - decisions that helped not only cause this crisis by encouraging government and personal debt to spiral out of control, but could also make the recession deeper and last longer. That's why we have set out a positive alternative, starting with immediate action to tackle the credit problems at the heart of the issue. It's clear the recapitalisation is failing to restart lending to the real economy, so we've proposed a National Loan Guarantee Scheme to underwrite loans to businesses. It is vital that this £50bn proposal - which has been welcomed by the business community - is taken forward by the Government right now. I can't promise it will save the world, but the sooner the Government swallows its pride the sooner we can get credit flowing again, and help Britain's struggling businesses. Conservatives have always understood and supported businesses, we know what they need to prosper. We also recognise that they make a difference not just by creating wealth, offering employment, and paying taxes to fund public services, but by making their money in a moral way, treating their employees right, strengthening communities, and playing a positive part in society. So we don't see the financial crisis as an excuse to bash capitalism, we see it as a challenge to make it work better in the future. As well as better regulation we need to reinforce the values of trust, integrity and responsibility - with strong institutions, and incentives to do the right thing. And just as importantly the Government should lead by being as prudent with the public finances as we expect banks to be with private finances, and by being as moral and responsible with the public purse as we expect business to be with consumers' cash. That's what a Conservative Government would do. Let's hope we get a chance to have one in the coming year. Thank you for all your support, and have a very Merry Christmas.

FHRI media freedom report factually inaccurate Foundation for Human Right Initiative (FHRI) on Monday, December 10, at Hotel Africana released a report on Press Freedom in Uganda covering the period between June and November 2007. Whilst Uganda Media Centre (UMC) shares their values for the existence of human rights in all aspects of life, the report is flowed with a lot of inaccuracies. FHRI dishonesty is seen in the report’s cover page which bears a picture of a Radio one journalist who was injured during the Mabira demonstration in Kampala, creating a sensational impression to the reader that the journalist was targeted as a reporter, yet he was an unfortunate victim of a demonstration gone nasty. The credibility of the report and FHRI in general is further questioned when it relies on allegations rather than citing facts in their investigations, ‘A case in point is The Daily Monitor newspaper, where government allegedly complained to the Agha Khan…’ – reads the report in part. Uganda Media Centre (UMC), that works towards consolidating government information and communication machinery has also been grossly misrepresented in the report - as an agent that stifles media freedom. It is utterly ignorant for FHRI to insinuate that UMC instructs talk show hosts on who should or should not appear on their programmes. If anything, media houses often take the initiative of asking UMC to field a policy maker or Minister in order that their shows have balanced views. In cases where there is bias towards government, UMC has rightly challenged it and has often come to amicable terms with the stations concerned. Given the global importance of the media today, UMC recognizes the need to create and sustain a harmonious relationship with media houses and journalists alike if it is to effectively disseminate government information and policies to the wider public. It would therefore be self-defeating for UMC to antagonize the tools by which it achieves its objectives. One of the fundamental tenets of media freedom is access to information, Uganda Media Centre, therefore, enhances rather than obstructs media freedom. Non Government Organisations like FHRI have had to be creative in order to keep themselves funded. By producing negative reports on a country’s human rights record regardless of its accuracy – it is trying to justify its means where they are bankrolled by their western counterparts. Given the time-frame of the report, FHRI recycled issues by publishing events that occurred over two years ago. Quite often, such reports never target Uganda’s readership but foreign nationals who still identify Uganda with Amin’s era. Whilst constructive criticism should be embraced, perhaps any self-worth Ugandan should wear a nationalistic hat that selfishly protects our country’s image - albeit internal debates on the challenges our country faces. Pressured by the age-old culture of subservience to the western donors, organizations like FHRI are simply feeding the appetite for negative publicity by the western media and NGOs about Africa. Since the era of rampant coups and instability, African governments, progressive organizations and individuals are working tirelessly to demystify the believe that Africa is incapable of sustaining stable governments with stable economies, security and social infrastructures. The magnamity of Uganda’s liberalization of the airwaves has enabled 144 radio stations to operate; this by itself demonstrates the NRM government commitment on the principles of a free media. It is such attributes that have made Uganda the envy of most African people and indeed the world, in the past 21 years. Our confidence as a people and as a nation continues to show no bounds as we all look forward to 2008. Fred Opolot Executive Director Uganda Media Centre

FHRI media freedom report factually inaccurate

Foundation for Human Right Initiative (FHRI) on Monday, December 10, at Hotel Africana released a report on Press Freedom in Uganda covering the period between June and November 2007. Whilst Uganda Media Centre (UMC) shares their values for the existence of human rights in all aspects of life, the report is flowed with a lot of inaccuracies.

FHRI dishonesty is seen in the report’s cover page which bears a picture of a Radio one journalist who was injured during the Mabira demonstration in Kampala, creating a sensational impression to the reader that the journalist was targeted as a reporter, yet he was an unfortunate victim of a demonstration gone nasty.

The credibility of the report and FHRI in general is further questioned when it relies on allegations rather than citing facts in their investigations, ‘A case in point is The Daily Monitor newspaper, where government allegedly complained to the Agha Khan…’ – reads the report in part.

Uganda Media Centre (UMC), that works towards consolidating government information and communication machinery has also been grossly misrepresented in the report - as an agent that stifles media freedom. It is utterly ignorant for FHRI to insinuate that UMC instructs talk show hosts on who should or should not appear on their programmes.

If anything, media houses often take the initiative of asking UMC to field a policy maker or Minister in order that their shows have balanced views. In cases where there is bias towards government, UMC has rightly challenged it and has often come to amicable terms with the stations concerned.

Given the global importance of the media today, UMC recognizes the need to create and sustain a harmonious relationship with media houses and journalists alike if it is to effectively disseminate government information and policies to the wider public. It would therefore be self-defeating for UMC to antagonize the tools by which it achieves its objectives.

One of the fundamental tenets of media freedom is access to information, Uganda Media Centre, therefore, enhances rather than obstructs media freedom. Non Government Organisations like FHRI have had to be creative in order to keep themselves funded. By producing negative reports on a country’s human rights record regardless of its accuracy – it is trying to justify its means where they are bankrolled by their western counterparts.

Given the time-frame of the report, FHRI recycled issues by publishing events that occurred over two years ago. Quite often, such reports never target Uganda’s readership but foreign nationals who still identify Uganda with Amin’s era. Whilst constructive criticism should be embraced, perhaps any self-worth Ugandan should wear a nationalistic hat that selfishly protects our country’s image - albeit internal debates on the challenges our country faces.

Pressured by the age-old culture of subservience to the western donors, organizations like FHRI are simply feeding the appetite for negative publicity by the western media and NGOs about Africa. Since the era of rampant coups and instability, African governments, progressive organizations and individuals are working tirelessly to demystify the believe that Africa is incapable of sustaining stable governments with stable economies, security and social infrastructures.

The magnamity of Uganda’s liberalization of the airwaves has enabled 144 radio stations to operate; this by itself demonstrates the NRM government commitment on the principles of a free media. It is such attributes that have made Uganda the envy of most African people and indeed the world, in the past 21 years. Our confidence as a people and as a nation continues to show no bounds as we all look forward to 2008.



Fred Opolot

Executive Director

Uganda Media Centre

liverpool by the DOCKS

My Trip to Liverpool for xmass holidays

A new UN Security Council piracy resolution; no peace-keeping for Somalia
On Tuesday [16th Dec], the Security Council met to address the situation in Somalia . The Council was considering a US draft resolution on piracy. It was passed unanimously as Resolution 1851. It calls on all states to take an active role against piracy and deploy ships and planes to seize boats involved in piracy or those for which there are reasonable grounds for suspicion. It encourages the establishment of an international co-operation mechanism to act as a point of contact between states on all aspects of action against piracy, and recalls that further recommendations for action will be produced by the Secretary-General within three months. It encourages member states to cooperate with the TFG in the fight against piracy and decides that for the next twelve months those involved in the fight against piracy and armed robbery at sea might take “all necessary measures that are appropriate in Somalia”, that is onshore, inside Somalia, to suppress these activities, consistent with applicable international humanitarian and human rights law. This is a considerable advance on the Council’s previous resolution on piracy, (Res. 1846, 2nd December 2008) which calls on states to provide technical assistance to Somalia to enhance coastal security, welcomes the efforts to escort ships, decides such ships can enter the territorial waters of Somalia and use all necessary means to repress piracy as long as authorization has been provided, calls on all to cooperate in investigating and prosecuting of those involved, and urges states to implement their obligations under the 1988 Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation. By contrast Resolution 1851 allows for all necessary means .... in Somalia , that is on land as well as at sea.
In connection with this, Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon, after reiterating that responsibility for peace and security in Somalia rested primarily with Somalis, and referring to the problems of humanitarian access to the estimated 1.5 million IDPs, outlined his unsuccessful efforts to investigate possibilities for the deployment of a Multinational Force in Somalia . He said he had approached 50 nations and three international organizations for contributions. No one had been prepared to play the lead role, and only thirteen countries had even agreed to provide anything at all. He therefore proposed three measures to provide security support for the Djibouti peace process. The first was to provide the AU with substantial and credible resources to reinforce AMISOM, including means to deploy the additional battalions pledged by Uganda and Burundi . He stressed that financing would be a major problem, but with the liquidation of UNMEE some assets could be donated to AMISOM. The Secretary-General emphasized that he thought the strengthening of AMISOM rather than any UN peacekeeping deployment was the current realistic option. Secondly the Security Council could consider provision of training for joint TFG/ARS forces, and capacity building for police and judiciary under an overall UN co-ordinated security sector reform strategy. The third suggestion was to add a quick reaction component to the current anti-piracy operations, to be able to launch operations into Somalia in support of UNPOS and AMISOM. The Secretary-General stressed that any such efforts should be placed in the context of a comprehensive approach which encouraged an inclusive peace process and assisted the parties to rebuild security and governance capacity. The UN, the international community, must, he said, send a positive signal that it was willing to provide a security path to complement the political consequence of the Djibouti peace process.
The significance of the Secretary-General’s suggestions is that any agreed UN commitment imposes a formal requirement on UN member states; anything else remains voluntary. This, in fact, underlines both the failure of the international community to agree on any policy for Somalia , and its lack of commitment. In the following Security Council discussions, it was clear that while a majority of those present agreed that piracy in Somali waters was a symptom of the problems and situation of Somalia, and while all classified this as extremely serious, it was not considered serious enough for the UN Security Council to authorise any UN force. It demonstrates yet again why Ethiopia decided to withdraw its forces by the end of the year. The current situation is a combination of neglect and disinterest by the international community and the total irresponsibility of Somali leaders. Ethiopia had hoped that any shortfall in Somali action would be made up for by international action. With that lacking, everything has to depend upon the Somali leadership. Somali leaders, both inside and outside the country must now rise to the occasion. They must take the lead, must be made to take the lead. The international community has consistently failed for the last two years to put its money where its mouth is. Piracy must be stopped, and on land where the origins lie. Real effort must be put behind the Djibouti peace process.
Somalia’s Foreign Minister, Mr. Ali Ahmed Jama, also addressed the Security Council, calling for a comprehensive and holistic strategy to cover piracy, terrorism and the humanitarian problem, and to include the authorization of a robust peace-keeping operation. AMISOM, he said, could be the nucleus of any such force. AMISOM’s mandate is, of course, to be reviewed on 22nd December by the AU Peace and Security Council’s ministerial meeting in Addis Ababa . The Peace and Security Commissioner, Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra, also addressed the Security Council. Noting that the announced withdrawal of Ethiopian forces was fully consistent with the Djibouti Agreement and should be seen as a significant contribution to the resolution of the conflict, he said it provided an opportunity to be taken advantage of. He underlined the importance of a robust mission capable of stabilizing the area. He therefore called on all friends of Somalia to pledge troops, logistics and equipment for a UN-authorized force to stabilize the country and be an integral part of a UN operation. Turning to piracy, Ambassador Lamamra underlined that piracy was part of the larger problem of lawlessness in Somalia . He stressed that AMISOM needed renewed political support and a clear vision from the international community. He wanted to see a strong and clear signal of the commitment of the international community to the peace and reconciliation process in Somalia and the full implementation of the Djibouti Agreement, authorization of a UN international support force in Somalia to include and complement an enhanced AMISOM, the necessary support for AMISOM to reach its authorised strength of 8,000, and assistance to put in place the national unity government and the expanded parliament envisaged in the Agreement. He looked to the Council to take firm and decisive action. This, he pointed out, would have a direct bearing on the ministerial meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council on the renewal of AMISOM’s mandate. This would be held next Monday [22nd Dec], the day after the IGAD Ministerial meeting to be held on Sunday. Kenya announced on Tuesday it would impose travel sanctions on President Abdullahi Yusuf and his family for obstructing peace, as threatened by the 29th October IGAD summit. These could include a ban on travel and a freeze on any assets in Kenya . Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula, announcing this on Tuesday, said a date for activating the sanctions had yet to be decided. It will be recalled that IGAD ministers will be meeting in Addis Ababa on Sunday.

“THE DP SOCIAL CLUB” - UK --

Invites You To The

END OF YEAR GET TOGETHER

@ 130 Upton Lane , Forest Gate, London E7 9LW


Program Runs From 5pm Till Late:

Boxing Day 26th December 08

Saturday 27th December 08

New Year’s Eve – 31st December 08

Come enjoy and have your say on:

1. Mr. Sam Lubega’s Presidential Bid.
2. “The rotten public health system in Uganda ” – as shown on the BBC Panorama Program

Good Music Will be Played All Night with Drinks, Nyama-Choma and Food @ the lowest possible prices

M7 at the 9th sssession of the AU

Young , black and talented

little Britain

Speech by
H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni President of the Republic of Uganda
At the
9th Ordinary Session of The African Union Summit
Theme: Grand Debate on the Union Government
Accra, Ghana 2nd July, 2007

1
"
Your Excellency, President John Kufour;
. , ; ,j
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Heads of Stctte and
, ';<. Government; Your Excellency, Mr. Alpha Konare; ',. Ladies and Gentlemen. " " Africa is both the cradle of Man (human kind) and the cradle , ~ of civilization. Archeology is continuing to confirm that for five million years or more all human beings were Africans and were living only in Africa. According to John Reader's book- "The Biography of Africa", it is only since 100,000 years ago that groups of human beings started leaving Africa to populate other continents. For instance, between pages 99 and 102 of this book: he writes as follows: “Several strands of evidence – fossil- genetic and. linguistic - point persuasively to the conclusion that every person alive today is descended from a population of anatomically modern humans that existed only in Africa until about 10~OOO years ago”. Therefore, when you see Europeans, Asians, Arabs, and such groups, you should know that all those are former Africans. They lost their melanin on account of living in areas with little sunshine. Melanin is for filtering out the harmful sun rays. It is the melanin that gives us our black colour. Secondly, Africa was the cradle of human civilization. The Egyptian civilization was an. African civilization. It started about 3500-3200 BC following the fusion of smaller states in both Upper Egypt, around Abgdos as well as on the Delta around Memphis (close to present-day Cairo). This African civilization thrived for about 2000 years until about 1025 BC that Egypt started being invaded by outsiders: Sea peoples from the Aegean Sea, the Libyans, the Persians, the Assyrians, the Greeks and, finally, in 30BC, the Romans. 2 Although the Egyptian civilization declined because of the invasion and, of course, some internal weaknesses, its influence endured and was copied by others - the Greeks, the Romans, the Babylonians, etc. The Great Pyramids, built 5000 years ago, are the only Wonders of the ancient World still standing. This is not to talk of the literature, the art, the hieroglyphics, the State system, the mythology, the religion, the Calendar system, weights and measures as well as quite a lot of the Science. However, the emigrants out of Africa multiplied more than the in-Africa population. According to John Reader's book, "The African Biography" on page 254, 100,000 years ago the African population was 1 million inhabitants. That is when a few hundred persons left for Asia and Europe. By AD 200, the African population was 20 million. 3 By 1500 AD, the African population was about 47 million. Yet, the out-of-Africa population had grown to 300 million. Why did the population in Africa grow slowly? It was because of the tropical diseases and the vectors that spread them: mosquitoes, tsetse flies, etc. Even by 1900, the in-Africa population was 133 Million while that out of Africa was 1,517 Million. The slow growth of the population of Africa had a negative impact on the evolution of durable centralized states. The small kingdoms, chiefdoms or segmentary societies of Africa were all conquered by 1900 except for Ethiopia. The Colonization was the culmination of the protracted attrition against Africa by the foreigners. It had started with the looting of resources, slave trade. and, eventually, colonization. We were colonized because we were organized in small tribal, clan or segmentary units. 4 The argument that we were colonized because of lagging behind in technology is not entirely correct. China and Japan were backward technologically when they confronted the European colonizers. Nevertheless, they managed to preserve their independence their technological backwardness notwithstanding. Therefore, in my opinion, their sub-optimal political organization was the main source of the weakness that caused the ignominious, eventual subjugation of our people. The colonization of Africa by foreigners was a Vote of no Confidence in the traditional, tribal, clan and segmentary systems. Africans were, however, lucky. In spite of the slave trade, in spite of the colonization, unlike the Red Indians, the Incas or the Aztecs, we survived extermination. In time, our elders (Kenyatta, Nkrumah, Nyerere, Sekou TouFe, Namdi Azikiwe, and others) regrouped and launched the anti-colonial movement. 5 Along with the anti-Colonial movements in Asia, supported by the Socialist Countries, the African Peoples, eventually, triumphed - we regained our Sovereignty. The first independent African Country was Ghana in 1957. The Imperialists had also rendered us a service with their intra­imperialists mega conflicts of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. The imperialist-on-imperialist conflicts (so-called World wars -meaning intra-imperialist wars) weakened them. This hemorrhage among the imperialist countries contributed to our victory. What is amazing is that 50 years after Ghana's independence and with the independence of all the African Countries, the causes of the African tragedy that engulfed our Continent since the collapse of the Egyptian Civilization 3000 years ago and the eventual Colonization of the whole continent by 1935, have not been addressed. 6 The major cause of the eventual collapse of all the African civilization was political balkanization on too small a scale to guarantee the survival and the sovereignty of the African people. Who is the guarantor of the freedom and survival of the Black race as well as other African Peoples? The Western system is underwritten by the United States of America. It is the USA and the USSR that saved Europe from fascism. The USA shielded Europe when they were in the contradiction with Communism. Who is our guarantor? Can Uganda guarantee the survival and sovereignty of African countries? Can South Africa do it? Can these countries stimulate growth and transformation of our economies and societies? ~ Huge China and India have had to work closely with the big Western economies to achieve the transformation they have. How can our individual countries achieve the transformation they need? How can our individual countries achieve this socio-economic transformation? Fifty years since independence, none of the African Countries achieved the transformation from the Third World to the First World like the Asian economies have done. This is regardless of whether these African Countries have been peaceful or violent, multi-party or dictatorship, free market or controlled economy. Only South Africa, currently, has a GDP of US$ 220 billion. This half a Century stagnation is because almost all the African countries lack the strategic stimuli that normally cause sustained growth and transformation in economies and society. Some of these strategic stimuli are: a big market that consumes what entrepreneurs' produce as is the case in China and India: an attractive investment destination by the very fact of big population size; rationalized and integrated resources (natural and 8 infrastructural) unlike many of the African Countries that are land-locked (Chad, Mali, Uganda, Rwanda, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Lesotho and Zambia in Africa) or do not have adequate access to the hinterland on top of divided rivers, lakes, mountain ranges, etc; we do not negotiate together when it comes to trade matters with outsiders; and, as already pointed out, the inability to guarantee our independence in decision-making because we are not strong enough by ourselves individually, we are not organized collectively to do so or we do not have one of our own as a guarantor for our freedom. We were able to fight the White racists and the Portuguese Colonialists with the support of the Russian and Chinese Communists. Did any serious African leader imagine that the antagonism between West and East was a permanent phenomenon? In fact certain hegemonistic interests in the World are. always working to achieve a Condominium arrangement with other emerging powers. 9 In any case, why should a people like the Africans, so well endowed historically, culturally and natural resources-wise, pin their hopes on outsiders? Why do the Africans get mesmerized by the strength of others but are always reluctant to build their own. power? Are present generations of African leaders going to repeat the mistakes of the post­independence leaders as well as those of the African chiefs whose myopia, greed and rivalry so enfeebled Africa that it was colonized by outsiders? It was on account of the points raised above that the Pan­African leaders: Nkrumah, Nasser, Nyerere, Kenyatta started talking about African integration. By the time of the Organization of the African Union (OAU) in 1963, there were three positions among the African leaders; 10 - the ones who wanted to form an all African Government led by Nkrumah; - the one who wanted to form regional federations like Nyerere and - the so-called conservatives that wanted to maintain the status quo i.e. maintain the present weaknesses of a politically, strategically balkanized continent. By now the mistakes of the so-called Conservatives are clear. Africa to-day has been left behind by the Asian countries that are not as endowed as Africa in terms of natural resources. The small Asian Countries like South Korea, Singapore and others that have transitioned from the Third World to the First World were, for Cold War purposes, linked to the USA market. The degree of access to the USA market could not be compared to the merely symbolic Lome arrangements between Africa and EU. 11 The conservatives, therefore, by working for the maintenance of the status quo were, in effect, working for the present state of perpetual weakness. Some of the countries in Africa that were being held up as models by the West have since collapsed. These include Uganda, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo ORC, etc. In the case of Uganda, we have reconstructed her on the basis of new revolutionary principles. We hope to deepen and accelerate our achievements through integration in the East African region as well as the rest of Africa. Now that the position of the conservatives has been discredited, we remain with the two Pan-African positions: Continental Government now or regional political federations where possible, in addition to continental economic integration as envisaged in the Abuja Treaty . 12 In Uganda, we are not in favour of forming a Continental Government now on account of a number of reasons. First, while economically I support integration with everybody, politically we should only integrate with people who are either similar or compatible with us. The whole of Africa has got some obvious incompatibilities when it comes to political integration. In East Africa we have, for long, talked about a political federation. It is part of our treaty ­Article 5(2). In fact, recently, we have been talking about fast-tracking that federating process in East Africa. 13 Why do we think that East Africa is similar or compatible? It is because all the people of East Africa are Bantu, Nilo­Hamitic, Hamitic, Nilotic or Sudanic. Their languages and dialects fall into two broad categories: the Nilo-Saharan group of languages and the Niger-Congo group of languages. In fact East Africa and Congo is where these two groups met many thousands of years ago. Their languages are linked. Above all, since about 1200 years ago, the People of the East African coast distilled a non-tribal dialect out of the languages of the area - Swahili. This dialect is spoken, in different degrees, in the whole of East Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi), in the whole of Eastern Congo, Northern Mozambique, some parts. of Northern Zambia and Northern Malawi. This is a population of about 150 million people. East Africa alone has got about 120 million people. These can and should integrate, not only 14 economically, but politically also. Other areas of Africa that feel that they have got a comparative degree of similarity or compatibility could also work for political integration. Insisting on political integration at the continental level will bring together incompatible linkages that may create tension rather than cohesion. This will, especially, be so if you bring together groups which want to impose their identity on others. I cannot give up my identity for anything. Even the European slave traders and colonialists failed to destroy our heritage-languages and way of Ufe. In my language we say ''Ija tuturane niyo ija twangane" – “when you invite somebody different to stay too closely with you/ it tantamounts to invite him to hating each other". In Uganda, we have a three language policy: . Local dialects in their respective areas; Swahili for regional communication; and English for international linkages. 15 Our wish is to continue enriching Swahili drawing from the hinterland dialects. In decades and centuries to come, the tribal dialects may merge with a much richer Swahili. I do not want this to happen in Africa. Therefore, our recommendation is that we take a functions-based, rational approach. We ask ourselves the question: "What function can most rationally be done at what level - village, district within Uganda, national, regional or continental?" There are definitely functions that can best be done at the Continental level. I can think of the following: . the environment, . Trade negotiations, . Managing a Defence Pact, and later on . Managing and promoting African Common Market. 16 If the African Commission could concentrate on these four, instead of being everywhere and nowhere, we would start moving forward. We are wasting too much time pushing unresearched positions. Some people have been disparaging OAU. Actually, OAU achieved a lot compared to the African Union. Precisely, because OAU was realistic and limited itself to what was feasible, i.e. co-ordinating support to the anti Colonial Liberation Movements in Southern Africa, Sao Tome and Guinea Bissau, we were able to liberate the whole of Africa in exactly 30 years (majority rule in South Africa in 1994). This was a remarkable achievement. Of Course, the Communist Countries helped us in that. The regional powers we build wherever possible could replace the Communist Countries in underwriting the freedom and continued forward march of Africa. 17 18 I salute the enthusiasm of those who advocate for Continental Government now. I, however, do not want us to move from one mistake - balkanization - to another mistake of oversimplification of very complex situations. I thank you. July 2/ 2007

M7 at the 9th sssession of the AU

Speech by
H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni President of the Republic of Uganda
At the
9th Ordinary Session of The African Union Summit
Theme: Grand Debate on the Union Government
Accra, Ghana 2nd July, 2007

1
"
Your Excellency, President John Kufour;
. , ; ,j
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Heads of Stctte and
, ';<.
Government;
Your Excellency, Mr. Alpha Konare;
',.
Ladies and Gentlemen.
"
"
Africa is both the cradle of Man (human kind) and the cradle
, ~
of civilization. Archeology is continuing to confirm that for
five million years or more all human beings were Africans and were living only in Africa. According to John Reader's book- "The Biography of Africa", it is only since 100,000 years ago that groups of human beings started leaving
Africa to populate other continents. For instance, between pages 99 and 102 of this book: he writes as follows:
“Several strands of evidence – fossil- genetic and. linguistic - point persuasively to the conclusion that every person alive today is descended from a
population of anatomically modern humans that existed only in Africa until about 10~OOO years ago”.

Therefore, when you see Europeans, Asians, Arabs, and such groups, you should know that all those are former Africans. They lost their melanin on account of living in areas with little sunshine. Melanin is for filtering out the harmful sun rays. It is the melanin that gives us our black colour.
Secondly, Africa was the cradle of human civilization. The Egyptian civilization was an. African civilization. It started about 3500-3200 BC following the fusion of smaller states in both Upper Egypt, around Abgdos as well as on the Delta around Memphis (close to present-day Cairo). This African civilization thrived for about 2000 years until about 1025 BC that Egypt started being invaded by outsiders: Sea peoples from the Aegean Sea, the Libyans, the Persians, the Assyrians, the Greeks and, finally, in 30BC, the Romans.
2

Although the Egyptian civilization declined because of the invasion and, of course, some internal weaknesses, its
influence endured and was copied by others - the Greeks, the Romans, the Babylonians, etc. The Great Pyramids, built 5000 years ago, are the only Wonders of the ancient World still standing. This is not to talk of the literature, the art, the hieroglyphics, the State system, the mythology, the religion, the Calendar system, weights and measures as well as quite a lot of the Science.
However, the emigrants out of Africa multiplied more than the in-Africa population. According to John Reader's book, "The African Biography" on page 254, 100,000 years ago the African population was 1 million inhabitants. That is when a few hundred persons left for Asia and Europe. By AD 200, the African population was 20 million.
3

By 1500 AD, the African population was about 47 million. Yet, the out-of-Africa population had grown to 300 million. Why did the population in Africa grow slowly? It was because of the tropical diseases and the vectors that spread them: mosquitoes, tsetse flies, etc.
Even by 1900, the in-Africa population was 133 Million while that out of Africa was 1,517 Million.
The slow growth of the population of Africa had a negative impact on the evolution of durable centralized states. The small kingdoms, chiefdoms or segmentary societies of Africa were all conquered by 1900 except for Ethiopia. The Colonization was the culmination of the protracted attrition against Africa by the foreigners. It had started with the looting of resources, slave trade. and, eventually, colonization. We were colonized because we were organized in small tribal, clan or segmentary units.
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The argument that we were colonized because of lagging behind in technology is not entirely correct. China and Japan were backward technologically when they confronted the European colonizers. Nevertheless, they managed to preserve their independence their technological backwardness notwithstanding. Therefore, in my opinion, their sub-optimal political organization was the main source of the weakness that caused the ignominious, eventual subjugation of our people. The colonization of Africa by foreigners was a Vote of no Confidence in the traditional, tribal, clan and segmentary systems.
Africans were, however, lucky. In spite of the slave trade, in spite of the colonization, unlike the Red Indians, the Incas or the Aztecs, we survived extermination. In time, our elders (Kenyatta, Nkrumah, Nyerere, Sekou TouFe, Namdi Azikiwe, and others) regrouped and launched the anti-colonial movement.
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Along with the anti-Colonial movements in Asia, supported by the Socialist Countries, the African Peoples, eventually, triumphed - we regained our Sovereignty. The first independent African Country was Ghana in 1957. The Imperialists had also rendered us a service with their intra­imperialists mega conflicts of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945. The imperialist-on-imperialist conflicts (so-called World wars -meaning intra-imperialist wars) weakened them. This hemorrhage among the imperialist countries contributed to our victory.
What is amazing is that 50 years after Ghana's independence and with the independence of all the African Countries, the causes of the African tragedy that engulfed our Continent since the collapse of the Egyptian Civilization 3000 years ago and the eventual Colonization of the whole continent by 1935, have not been addressed.
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The major cause of the eventual collapse of all the African civilization was political balkanization on too small a scale to guarantee the survival and the sovereignty of the African people.
Who is the guarantor of the freedom and survival of the Black race as well as other African Peoples? The Western system is underwritten by the United States of America. It is the USA and the USSR that saved Europe from fascism. The USA shielded Europe when they were in the contradiction with Communism. Who is our guarantor? Can Uganda guarantee the survival and sovereignty of African countries? Can South Africa do it? Can these countries stimulate growth and transformation of our economies and societies?
~
Huge China and India have had to work closely with the big
Western economies to achieve the transformation they have. How can our individual countries achieve the transformation they need?

How can our individual countries achieve this socio-economic transformation? Fifty years since independence, none of the African Countries achieved the transformation from the Third
World to the First World like the Asian economies have done. This is regardless of whether these African Countries have been peaceful or violent, multi-party or dictatorship, free market or controlled economy. Only South Africa, currently, has a GDP of US$ 220 billion.
This half a Century stagnation is because almost all the African countries lack the strategic stimuli that normally cause sustained growth and transformation in economies and society. Some of these strategic stimuli are: a big market that consumes what entrepreneurs' produce as is the case in China and India: an attractive investment destination by the very fact of big population size; rationalized and integrated resources (natural and
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infrastructural) unlike many of the African Countries that are land-locked (Chad, Mali, Uganda, Rwanda, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Lesotho and Zambia in Africa) or do not have adequate access to the hinterland on top of divided rivers, lakes, mountain ranges, etc; we do not negotiate together when it comes to trade matters with outsiders; and, as already pointed out, the inability to guarantee our independence in decision-making because we are not strong enough by ourselves individually, we are not organized collectively to do so or we do not have one of our own as a guarantor for our freedom. We were able to fight the White racists and the Portuguese Colonialists with the support of the Russian and Chinese Communists. Did any serious African leader imagine that the antagonism between West and East was a permanent phenomenon? In fact certain hegemonistic interests in the World are. always working to achieve a Condominium arrangement with other emerging
powers.
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In any case, why should a people like the Africans, so well endowed historically, culturally and natural resources-wise, pin their hopes on outsiders? Why do the Africans get mesmerized by the strength of others but are always reluctant to build their own. power? Are present generations of African leaders going to repeat the mistakes of the post­independence leaders as well as those of the African chiefs whose myopia, greed and rivalry so enfeebled Africa that it was colonized by outsiders?
It was on account of the points raised above that the Pan­African leaders: Nkrumah, Nasser, Nyerere, Kenyatta started talking about African integration. By the time of the Organization of the African Union (OAU) in 1963, there were three positions among the African leaders;
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- the ones who wanted to form an all African
Government led by Nkrumah;
- the one who wanted to form regional federations like
Nyerere and
- the so-called conservatives that wanted to maintain the
status quo i.e. maintain the present weaknesses of a politically, strategically balkanized continent.
By now the mistakes of the so-called Conservatives are clear. Africa to-day has been left behind by the Asian
countries that are not as endowed as Africa in terms of
natural resources.
The small Asian Countries like South
Korea, Singapore and others that have transitioned from the Third World to the First World were, for Cold War purposes, linked to the USA market. The degree of access to the USA market could not be compared to the merely symbolic Lome arrangements between Africa and EU.
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The conservatives, therefore, by working for the maintenance of the status quo were, in effect, working for the present state of perpetual weakness. Some of the countries in Africa that were being held up as models by the West have since collapsed. These include Uganda, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo ORC, etc. In the case of Uganda, we have reconstructed her on the basis of new revolutionary principles. We hope to deepen and accelerate our achievements through integration in the East African region as well as the rest of Africa.
Now that the position of the conservatives has been discredited, we remain with the two Pan-African positions: Continental Government now or regional political federations where possible, in addition to continental economic integration as envisaged in the Abuja Treaty .
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In Uganda, we are not in favour of forming a Continental Government now on account of a number of reasons.
First, while economically I support integration with everybody, politically we should only integrate with people who are either similar or compatible with us. The whole of Africa has got some obvious incompatibilities when it comes to political integration. In East Africa we have, for long, talked about a political federation. It is part of our treaty ­Article 5(2). In fact, recently, we have been talking about fast-tracking that federating process in East Africa.
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Why do we think that East Africa is similar or compatible? It is because all the people of East Africa are Bantu, Nilo­Hamitic, Hamitic, Nilotic or Sudanic. Their languages and dialects fall into two broad categories: the Nilo-Saharan
group of languages and the Niger-Congo group of languages.
In fact East Africa and Congo is where these two groups met
many thousands of years ago. Their languages are linked. Above all, since about 1200 years ago, the People of the East African coast distilled a non-tribal dialect out of the languages of the area - Swahili. This dialect is spoken, in different degrees, in the whole of East Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi), in the whole of Eastern Congo, Northern Mozambique, some parts. of Northern Zambia and Northern Malawi. This is a population of about 150 million people. East Africa alone has got about 120 million people. These can and should integrate, not only
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economically, but politically also. Other areas of Africa that feel that they have got a comparative degree of similarity or compatibility could also work for political integration.
Insisting on political integration at the continental level will bring together incompatible linkages that may create tension rather than cohesion. This will, especially, be so if you bring together groups which want to impose their identity on others. I cannot give up my identity for anything. Even the European slave traders and colonialists failed to destroy our heritage-languages and way of Ufe. In my language we say ''Ija tuturane niyo ija twangane" – “when you invite somebody different to stay too closely with you/ it tantamounts to invite him to hating each other". In Uganda, we have a three language policy:
. Local dialects in their respective areas; Swahili for regional communication; and English for international linkages.
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Our wish is to continue enriching Swahili drawing from the hinterland dialects. In decades and centuries to come, the tribal dialects may merge with a much richer Swahili. I do not want this to happen in Africa.
Therefore, our recommendation is that we take a functions-based, rational approach. We ask ourselves the question: "What function can most rationally be done at what level - village, district within Uganda, national, regional or continental?" There are definitely functions that can best be done at the Continental level. I can think of the following:
. the environment,
. Trade negotiations,
. Managing a Defence Pact, and later on
. Managing and promoting African Common Market.
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If the African Commission could concentrate on these four, instead of being everywhere and nowhere, we would start moving forward. We are wasting too much time pushing unresearched positions.
Some people have been disparaging OAU. Actually, OAU achieved a lot compared to the African Union. Precisely, because OAU was realistic and limited itself to what was feasible, i.e. co-ordinating support to the anti Colonial Liberation Movements in Southern Africa, Sao Tome and Guinea Bissau, we were able to liberate the whole of Africa in exactly 30 years (majority rule in South Africa in 1994).
This was a remarkable achievement. Of Course, the
Communist Countries helped us in that. The regional powers we build wherever possible could replace the Communist Countries in underwriting the freedom and continued forward march of Africa.
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I salute the enthusiasm of those who advocate for Continental Government now. I, however, do not want us to move from one mistake - balkanization - to another mistake
of oversimplification of very complex situations.
I thank you.
July 2/ 2007