Statements by Acholi Parliamentary Group to the Kacoke Madit 1998

Hon Alphonse Owiny-Dollo MP

Minister for the Northern Uganda Reconstruction Programme, Leader of Uganda Government delegation, and Chairman of the APG

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Once again, and for the second year running we converge here on matters that most touch our hearts. APG as the leadership of the Acholi people in the national forum bring with us "winyo maber" and fraternal salutations from our people at home. We also pay homage to the great and historic city of London for tirelessly hosting us in our pursuit. While we sit in this distant land and can not help but suffer nostalgia-home being the prime location for this grand meet - the host nation must be recognised for making it possible for so many Acholi from virtually all corners of the globe to converge and deliberate together.

KM 97 was certainly the culmination of vision and efforts of tremendous worth. It was certainly a crystallisation and an overt expression of the unanimity in our aspiration - the search for a lasting and durable peace back home. It was indeed a realisation and confession that for over one decade our home has lain in utter ruins and yet there is something that we ought to have done, which we can do but which we have not. For these reasons KM 97 raised great expectations and high hopes especially in the period preceding the actual meeting.

Yet Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, despite the historic KM 97 the matter that brought many of us here, and in many cases at great personal expense has not only continued unabated, but has continued to entrench itself and acquire new dimension. Pundits would even hasten to add that KM 97 made no difference. We on our part hold the undivided view that KM 97 made a huge difference. It was a bold leap in the right direction. Being the first, hopefully in a series, there were many pitfalls it had no earlier experience to benefit from, hence could not circumvent. And maybe this and the excitement that clothed KM 97 give rise to the issues that are the essence of the theme of KM 98 - "OBSTACLES TO RESTORATION OF PEACE"

It is our earnest hope that KM 98, with the benefit of hindsight and precedent make further gains and help dictate the pace of such gains. We are all agreed on the issue of peace. It must be restored. It is long long overdue. But Mr. Chairman, that apparently and unfortunately is the furthest we can all come together in agreement. Beyond that there is utter confusion and chaos resulting in retrogression. The only beneficiary and proud survivor of all this is perpetual insecurity in our homes, total destruction of our people's socio-economic backbone, and the ruthless and callous depletion of our human resource, especially of the infant age. All this enormity have held the Acholi at ransom for the last 12 years and show no signs of receding, but instead proving its capacity not only to entrench itself but even to excel itself in its merciless subjection of our people, leaving our people with no future at all.

Now KM 98's theme is "Removing the Obstacles to Restoration of Peace" wherein maybe lies the very crux of the mistake we have persistently failed to correct. KM 97 had to its credit some forty papers for presentation. That was understandable but not wise. No wonder then that today we focus on ridding ourselves of impediments but without ever asking the prerequisite question whether we actually know what these impediments are, their nature, magnitude and capacity. To begin our quest with purported circumvention or removal of obstacles as indicated but not with the exercise of identifying and understanding the nature of obstacles that have bogged us down in our endeavour is to indulge in self-deception that can only result in false and dangerous complacency. Such an exercise is a recipe for the exacerbation and complication of the situation. We can never move anywhere unless WATUCU TUT KIKOME.

The short of it all Mr Chairman is that KM 98 must deal squarely with the Obstacles to Restoration of Peace. The starting point being the identification of these obstacles. We in the APG do not pretend to have the answers to this. But having concerned ourselves with the issue of peace more than anything else can offer our views on the methodology of doing this. And this in the hope that it can generate useful debate.

To many minds 1986 is the watershed of the insecurity that has continued to plague our people. Can we ever understand the explosion of 1986 without first understanding the long term and immediate factors then at play that gave rise to this explosion? Do we for example care to know to what extent these factors still have a bearing on the happenings at home? Let's look at the armed conflict itself - UPDA, Alice Lakwena, Lukoya Severino, Kony Joseph, Kony and the Sudan. What common factor is there in them all. Take the Gulu (Pece) Peace Accord of 1988 between the Government and the UPDA, the Betty Bigombe talks, KM97, APG's peace initiative, Bedo Piny of the religious leaders - the list is endless. What lessons ought we to have learnt from here?

Mr. Chairman, unless we boldly come to terms with ourselves; unless we wake up to the reality that our inability even in the face of adversity, to foster unity of purpose amongst ourselves; unless we realise and admit that the greatest obstacles to the realisation of our aspiration is ourselves, no amount of KM or Bedo Piny or any other peace initiative can deliver the Acholi from the abyss they have sunk now. In our failure to own up to our deficiency we focus solely on ending the Kony led rebellion. There is no way that peace will settle in Acholi just because Kony has ended his rebellion by whatever means. The real insecurity that has reared its head in the persons of Kony amongst others requires cool and serious consideration to comprehend.

From paco to Kampala, London, Canada, Acholi Net - name it, the Acholi excel in eating each other alive. There could never be any better example of dog eats dog situation, than in the endless self-destruction that characterises Acholi Community everywhere.

This is not peculiar to any category of our people. Both the led and their leaders are victims of this malady. If only even a small fraction of the energy we have all spent in entrenching disuniting activities were focussed towards a selfless search for solutions to and a correct articulation of our problem, KM 98 would never have been bothered with removal of obstacles. In failing to remove the log in our eye, we leave our door wide open for nature, our enemies and others to play games on us. The obvious and predictable result - mayhem in our society. It becomes a vicious cycle.

I know there are many papers thirsting for presentation some of them being great scholarly work that have been prepared with meticulous attention and genuine desire to contribute towards salvation of our people. We for our part have come out in the open in our belief. Let's first discuss the serious issues raised here. And as a first step towards defeating that weakness so innate in us, lets practice tolerance and seek to excel in the art of persuasion. Here alone lies the solution to the removal of this obstacle.

There is absolutely no disagreement, none ever between any two Acholi on matters of substance, whatever it is we have harped as difference is nothing but non-meeting of minds on the adjectival matter of method. Every Acholi desires peace. Many however are not tolerant of others' views on how peace can be restored. This is all the unfortunate result of deliberate subjectiveness we practice in our outlook. Today is the opportunity to make a fresh start, a golden opportunity.

This prime weakness gave room to the complication of this conflict by the acquisition of geo-political aspect - the Sudan factor. This is a factor far beyond the Acholi to handle. The Government of Uganda must live up to the expectations of the Acholi people. Meaningful protection of the lives, properties and respect for the dignity of the Acholi should be a prime concern of the Government. The state has to come up with an exhaustive and integrated programme that restores and revives the socioeconomic backbone of the Acholi as a step towards restoring peace.

On our part however, while we may not have the capacity by ourselves to resolve the Uganda Sudan conflict, we are duty bound as a society to demand of the LRA at least to change their method of insurgency and fight the Uganda Government and not the innocent and defenceless civilians of Acholiland.

Now KM 97 came up with several resolutions. Following LRA's open declaration to KM 97 that it was ready to pursue peaceful means to ending the Northern Uganda Conflict, the most important resolution of that meet therefore was the concretisation of this declaration by a serious follow up. We have reliable and incontrovertible evidence that this process was begun but has stalled because the LRA has not helped the process continue. We can not overstate the plight of our people. It is however very painful if anyone can not live up to the aspirations of our people. We therefore demand a clear and satisfactory explanation.

In the premises, KM 98 affords us an opportunity and a great one at that to search our souls and refocus our efforts. KM itself is at crossroads. The direction it takes this time round will determine its future or continued need for existence. The question for all of us is shall KM 98 rise to the challenges of the day make a departure from the past and prove its worth, or shall we allow it degenerate into a forum for the Acholi from all corners of the globe to converge on London merely to say - "Hullo Too-paco long time no see!" That could never ever have been the intentions of the great sons and daughters of Acholi who conceived the admirable vision of KM and delivered the first one in 1997. Worst still all our dead - unwilling victims of the armed conflict - would turn restlessly in their undesirable graves, beckoning more of us to join them. That could never have been our intention in embracing the KM purpose and spirit.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.