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Uganda: Putting the cart before the horse
2008-02-26 09:31:42
By Editor
One of Africa`s longest civil wars has finally come to an end. The almost quarter of a century anti-government insurgency led by the so-called Lord`s Resistance Army has caused deaths of tens of thousands of people in Northern Uganda and the displacement of about two million others.
Families have been uprooted and devastated, children abducted and compelled to carry arms and shed blood, while many people had their limbs amputated.
On the face of it, that scenario alone defies any possibility of forgiveness and healing of deep wounds. However, Ugandans have done just the opposite.
Recently in Juba, the Ugandan government and rebels signed a permanent ceasefire agreement, bringing to a climax a peace process that began in the year 2006, which is expected to end this week with the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement.
Already, the contentious issue of LRA demands for a share of government posts and the integration of the rebels into the national army has been resolved.
For all the months that the talks were in progress, the most sticking point was the issue of handling impunity, because of the very shocking carnage that took place in Northern Uganda.
Already, LRA leader Joseph Kony and four of his lieutenants are under indictment for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
This is the problem that had made the negotiations stall all along because of the insecurity felt by the pending trial of the LRA warlords in The Hague.
So the dilemma was which comes first, is it the horse or the cart? Is it administration of justice or restoration of peace?
Finally, the warring sides realized that restoration of peace was of paramount importance, and thus agreed that those accused of severe crimes should be tried in the High Court of Uganda, while those facing lower charges would be handled by traditional courts.
It goes without saying that there is a significant number of people both inside and outside Uganda who feel that the fight against impunity has suffered a big blow after the government of Uganda succumbed to the resistance of the LRA against the pending trials in The Hague.
On the other hand, if the issue is looked at from the other side of the coin: the restoration of normal family life and undertaking of daily chores by an unmolested population, the return to school of displaced children and resumption of production activities; all these have a priority over anything else.
It can thus be safely stated that when the negotiators, under the mediation of former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano decided to put the cart before the horse, they knew what they were doing, and this is precisely what is called African wisdom.
We take this opportunity to praise the recent role of elder African statesmen like Joaquim Chissano and Koffi Annan in resolving internal conflicts.
It is our wish that the clear signs of return of tranquility in Uganda and Kenya will usher the end of the deep agony felt by the suffering people of the two countries.
To put all in a nutshell, we are waiting to see the final seal of the Juba peace process, that is, the signing of the lurking comprehensive peace agreement.
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