VZCZCXRO4222
RR RUEHGI RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #0552/01 1130720
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 220720Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0240
INFO RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0709
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUEHGI/AMEMBASSY BANGUI 0007
RUEHTO/AMEMBASSY MAPUTO 0484
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 3450
RHMFIUU/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 000552 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT PASS TO USAID AND OFDA 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREF ASEC EAID UG SU CG
 
SUBJECT: NORTHERN UGANDA NOTES (March 1-April 18, 2008) 
 
KAMPALA 00000552  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  The following Northern Uganda Notes provide 
information on the situation on the ground and USG activities aimed 
at meeting Mission's objectives in northern Uganda.  These 
objectives include promoting regional stability through peace and 
security, good governance, access to social services, economic 
growth, and humanitarian assistance.  Post appreciates feedback from 
consumers on the utility of this product and any gaps in information 
that need to be filled.  End Summary. 
 
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PEACE AND RECONCILIATION PROCESSES 
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¶2.  (U) The date for the signature of the Final Peace Agreement 
(FPA) slipped through March into April.  The LRA delegation held a 
consultation with northern Ugandan leaders in Juba on March 26 and 
¶27.  The Government and LRA agreed to extend the Cessation of 
Hostilities Agreement to April 6 and then to April 15.  The 
Government has not decided on whether it will renew the CHA. 
 
¶3.  (U) Ruhakana Rugunda, the leader of the Government's negotiating 
team, told Parliament that Kony did not show up at Rikwangba on 
April 10.  Kony reportedly said that he was not expecting to sign an 
agreement and thought that he was meeting traditional and religious 
leaders to discuss the peace process.  Kony reportedly wanted to 
know what procedures (mato oput) and institutions (Special Division 
of the High Court) were envisaged.  Rugunda said that there was 
in-fighting within the LRA delegation, which may have contributed to 
conflicting reports reaching Kony.  David Matsanga was removed as 
leader of the LRA delegation.  Rugunda noted that Matsanga said he 
resigned and was not sacked. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The GOU left Rikwangba on April 11 when it was clear that 
Kony was a few days walk from the venue.  The GOU agreed with the 
Government of Southern Sudan mediator Riek Machar that the GOU would 
return to Kampala while Machar and religious and traditional leaders 
tried to make contact with Kony. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni visited Juba on April 14 
and reviewed the peace process with the Government of Southern 
Sudan's President, Salva Kiir.  Rugunda told Parliament that the GOU 
was waiting for reports from Machar and the U.N. Special Envoy for 
LRA-Affected Areas Chissano, who was scheduled to brief the UNSC on 
April 28. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Minister of State for International Relations Henry Okello 
Oryem updated the Partners for Democracy and Governance (PDG) 
meeting on April 16.  He explained that the GOU delegation left 
Rikwangba on April 11 after receiving information that Kony was 70 
kilometers from the venue.  He said that it was not helpful to have 
between 100-200 people at Rikwangba, which became a rumor mill.  The 
GOU advised the Acholi religious and elected leaders to make direct 
contact with Kony because without it, no progress would be made. 
Kony needed time to consider his position.  Oryem warned against 
spoilers from the diaspora.  Oryem advised that the situation 
required patience in order not to undermine the stability and 
economic progress being made in northern Uganda. 
 
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HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY 
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¶7.  (U) UNICEF reports that by late-2007, 54 percent of the 1.8 
million internally displaced persons (IDPs) had entered the return 
process, including half a million people settling permanently in 
their villages of origin and approximately 400,000 having made the 
initial movement out of the camps into transit sites.  The majority 
of the IDPs in Apac, Amolatar, Dokolo, Lira, and Oyam Districts have 
returned to their homes of origin.  In the Acholi sub-region (Amuru, 
Gulu, Kitgum, and Pader Districts), 35 percent of the remaining IDPs 
are expected to complete their return in 2008 with 45 percent in 
transit. 
 
¶8.  (U) The Government held a Planning and Consultative Workshop on 
the Peace, Recovery, and Development Plan (PRDP) in Kampala on March 
13-14.  District-level officials, civil society groups, donors, 
private sector organizations, and the development partners came 
together for the first time to discuss PRDP programs, Government 
financing, and monitoring mechanisms.  The workshop helped to 
develop a common understanding of the PRDP among all stakeholders 
and implementing agencies.  A PRDP annex will be added to the 
 
KAMPALA 00000552  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
national budget request for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 
¶2008. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) USG Activities: USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore and 
Assistant Administrator for Africa Kate Almquist visited Uganda from 
March 12 to 15 and saw the transition from emergency relief to 
recovery in northern Uganda.  Administrator Fore's delegation 
discussed the challenges of recovery and reconstruction in northern 
Uganda with the Principal Judge of the High Court, James Ogoola; 
district level officials from Gulu, Abim, Lira, and Pader; and 
Acholi traditional and religious leaders.  A visit to Te-Tugu IDP 
camp showcases USAID's work on HIV/AIDS, malaria, and education. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Deputy Assistant Administrator for USAID's Democracy, 
Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance Bureau, Elisabeth Kviatshvili 
and Cynthia Brady of USAID's Conflict Management and Mitigation 
Office visited Uganda from February 24 to March 4.  They visited 
several USAID activities and communities in northern Uganda to 
better understand the transition the IDPs were making from camps to 
home villages and determine appropriate interventions to support 
peace, reconciliation, and development. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The Stability, Peace, and Reconciliation in Northern 
Uganda (SPRING) project started the first phase of its 
implementation on February 25.  In March, SPRING teams began meeting 
with district officials, civil society groups, and development 
partners in the LRA-affected areas of the north. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) will 
implement a program to support media development and strengthen 
local government to increase the quality and quantity of information 
reaching northern residents about the peace process and the PRDP. 
Other program components will support the construction of a service 
delivery infrastructure in the north. 
 
¶13.  (U) The President's Malaria Initiative Indoor Residual Spraying 
(IRS) program in Gulu District reached 92 percent of the houses 
(9,220 out of 10,025) and provided protection for 28,341 individuals 
from mosquito bites.  Insecticide treated nets are being used by 
48.3 percent of the children under five years of age. 
 
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SECURITY UPDATE 
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¶14.  (U) LRA movements from Garamba National Park in the Democratic 
Republic of Congo (DRC) to Central African Republic, sometimes 
through southern Sudan resulted in numerous reports of abductions 
and lootings.  The U.N. Mission to DRC (MONUC) reports that the LRA 
abducted over 200 people in DRC in February and March.  The U.S 
Ambassador to CAR traveled to Obo to meet with villagers and 
individuals abducted by the LRA.  They said that the LRA abducted 
157 people. 
 
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FROM THE MEDIA AND THE WEB 
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¶15.  (U) Various press statements indicate divisions with the LRA 
and among its supporters in the diaspora.  On April 10, a press 
statement claimed that Alex Oloya and Bill Okema were now speaking 
for Kony.   On April 17, The Daily Monitor reported that Dr. James 
Obita had been named the new spokesman for Kony.  David Mastanga 
disputed Obita's appointment and said that he had been named the 
Chief Advisor to the new consultative team headed by Oloya.  Another 
individual, Obonyo Olweny also could be named. 
 
¶16.  (U) Matsanga issued a press statement on April 15 alleging that 
internal divisions within the LRA, greed, and bad advice led to the 
failure of Kony to sign the FPA.  Matsanga alleges that Kony killed 
his deputy, Major General Okot Odhiambo and Major General Ceasar 
Acellam.  (Note: These reports are likely false.  End Note.) 
Matsanga stated the Kony killed his previous deputy Vincent Otti 
because he was involved in an arms deal with a South African and 
that funds given to Otti never reached Kony.  He claimed that 
disputes over money and tribalism created divisions within the LRA 
negotiating team. 
 
¶17.  (U) Resolve Uganda issued a press release entitled "With 
Caution and Creativity, Hope Remains For Imminent End to Uganda's 
22-Year War" on April 14.  According to Resolve Uganda's Research 
 
KAMPALA 00000552  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Director, Peter Quaranto, "it seems likely that Kony was 
apprehensive about signing an agreement without clearer guarantees 
for his own personal security."  Quaranto recommended that 
"sustained international involvement and outside-the-box creative 
thinking is needed to keep dialoguing directly with Kony and induce 
him to come out of the bush.  Given the volatile region and risks 
for escalated violence, renewed military operations by the Ugandan 
army must remain a last resort.  "Ultimately, peace in northern 
Uganda doesn't have to depend on the actions of Joseph Kony.  If the 
Ugandan government pledges to uphold the commitments it made during 
the negotiations process to help redevelop war-affected areas and 
make amends for the crimes committee during the war, peace can still 
be achieved." 
 
¶18.  (U) Michael Poffenberger, Resolve Uganda's Executive Director 
stated that "we can't lose sight of the fact that this peace 
agreement is also about restoring the Ugandan government's 
relationship with the people of northern Uganda who have endured the 
brutal consequences of this war." 
 
BROWNING 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HHIHI