Emmanue Gyezaho & Ismail Ladu
Security Minister Amama Mbabazi confirmed the existence of a new rebel uprising in a statement to Parliament yesterday but his report came in stark contradiction to last week’s comments by the country’s chief spymaster, Gen. David Tinyefuza, who rubbished the reports of a new rebel group forming in northern Uganda as “rubbish.”
At yesterday’s sitting, however, Mr Mbabazi read a six-page statement in which he said the existence of the new rebel group, christened the “Uganda Peoples Front (UPF)/ Popular Patriotic Front (PPF)” was real and had headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. His statement left lawmakers with more questions as several MPs wondered who to believe.
Although Mr Mbabazi did not state who the leaders of the rebel group are or its strength, he said intelligence reports had linked the new rebellion to “Ugandans living abroad who coordinated and financed LRA but were sidelined by Joseph Kony during the Juba peace talks.” “One or two Congolese and some Kenyans and other foreigners as well as organisations in Kenya assisted in one form or another,” he added.
Mr Mbabazi was quick to dispel suspicion of foreign governments aiding the uprising. “I want to be very clear here that no country is supporting the rebels or the armed thugs and I don’t want to even imply that.”
Mr Mbabazi said the first reports of the new uprising were received in September 2008 of “a new armed group emerging in Masindi District” with a training camp in Murchison Falls National Park but the army conducted operations “and the camp was neutralised” following the arrest of 15 suspects, six of whom have since been charged with cases of treason and misprision of treason. But his statement came under sharp question from several MPs who bombarded him with a barrage of questions.
Kibanda MP Amooti Otada doubted the credibility of Mr Mbabazi’s report, telling fellow MPs that he had received reports from his constituency in Masindi that the alleged rebels were in fact game poachers. Mr Mbabazi said following the destruction of the Masindi camp, the group “changed tactics and started clandestine mobilisation in Gulu, Amuru and Pader Districts.”
That comment left several MPs from the region seething. Soroti MP Alice Alaso wondered whether the government was not “rebranding” the LRA as a new rebel group as several MPs from northern Uganda said the reports were simply a ruse to victimise them ahead of the 2011 election.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
New rebel group real in Uganda
Emmanue Gyezaho & Ismail Ladu
Security Minister Amama Mbabazi confirmed the existence of a new rebel uprising in a statement to Parliament yesterday but his report came in stark contradiction to last week’s comments by the country’s chief spymaster, Gen. David Tinyefuza, who rubbished the reports of a new rebel group forming in northern Uganda as “rubbish.”
At yesterday’s sitting, however, Mr Mbabazi read a six-page statement in which he said the existence of the new rebel group, christened the “Uganda Peoples Front (UPF)/ Popular Patriotic Front (PPF)” was real and had headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. His statement left lawmakers with more questions as several MPs wondered who to believe.
Although Mr Mbabazi did not state who the leaders of the rebel group are or its strength, he said intelligence reports had linked the new rebellion to “Ugandans living abroad who coordinated and financed LRA but were sidelined by Joseph Kony during the Juba peace talks.” “One or two Congolese and some Kenyans and other foreigners as well as organisations in Kenya assisted in one form or another,” he added.
Mr Mbabazi was quick to dispel suspicion of foreign governments aiding the uprising. “I want to be very clear here that no country is supporting the rebels or the armed thugs and I don’t want to even imply that.”
Mr Mbabazi said the first reports of the new uprising were received in September 2008 of “a new armed group emerging in Masindi District” with a training camp in Murchison Falls National Park but the army conducted operations “and the camp was neutralised” following the arrest of 15 suspects, six of whom have since been charged with cases of treason and misprision of treason. But his statement came under sharp question from several MPs who bombarded him with a barrage of questions.
Kibanda MP Amooti Otada doubted the credibility of Mr Mbabazi’s report, telling fellow MPs that he had received reports from his constituency in Masindi that the alleged rebels were in fact game poachers. Mr Mbabazi said following the destruction of the Masindi camp, the group “changed tactics and started clandestine mobilisation in Gulu, Amuru and Pader Districts.”
That comment left several MPs from the region seething. Soroti MP Alice Alaso wondered whether the government was not “rebranding” the LRA as a new rebel group as several MPs from northern Uganda said the reports were simply a ruse to victimise them ahead of the 2011 election.
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