VZCZCXRO0385
RR RUEHGI RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #1129 2271125
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141125Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0624
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS KAMPALA 001129 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL UG SU CG CT
SUBJECT: NORTHERN UGANDA: KONY TO MEET DELEGATION AUGUST 20 
 
REF: A. KAMPALA 1097 
     ¶B. KHARTOUM 1231 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) delegation 
leader Dr. David Matsanga claims that Joseph Kony is 
committed to meeting with his delegation on August 20/21. 
Matsanga reportedly told Kony that he needed to show up in 
order to put the onus on the Government of Uganda to provide 
answers to his questions about how the International Criminal 
Court warrants would be suspended.  Donor-funded food is set 
to be delivered to the Rikwangba assembly area on August 19. 
U.N. Special Envoy for LRA-Affected Areas Joachim Chissano 
will be in Kampala, Nairobi, and Juba from August 14 to 20 
and may attend the meeting if the date holds from August 20 
or 21.  There is continued confusion among former and current 
LRA delegation members over who Kony wants at the meeting. 
We remain skeptical that Kony will show up. End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) LRA delegation leader Dr. David Matsanga maintains 
that Joseph Kony is committed to the meeting with his 
delegation on August 20/21. (retels). Matsanga told P/E Chief 
on August 12 that Kony wanted answers to questions about the 
timeline and steps the Government of Uganda (GOU) would take 
to get the International Criminal Court warrants suspended. 
Matsanga claims that he persuaded Kony to show up at 
Rikwangba because Kony could then "put the ball back in the 
GOU's court."  Matsanga said he told Kony that currently, the 
international community and northern Ugandans viewed him 
(Kony) as holding up the peace process.  Matsanga reportedly 
told Kony that the mediator, southern Sudan's Vice President 
Riek Machar and the facilitator, U.N. Special Envoy for 
LRA-Affected Areas Joachim Chissano, were essential for the 
process to suspend the warrants.  According to Matsanga, if 
Kony discusses the agreement with his delegation in the 
presence of the mediator and facilitator, it would 
demonstrate Kony's commitment to the process and put pressure 
on the GOU to implement its obligations under the agreement. 
Matsanga expressed his concern that there was no Luo version 
of the Final Peace Agreement and that Machar turned down his 
request for 20,000 USD for translation. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Kony is purportedly also in contact with the former 
members of the LRA delegation, including Santa Okot.  Okot 
told P/E Chief on August 13 that Kony expects a number of 
former LRA delegates to explain the agreement to him.  Kony 
reportedly informed Okot that he opposed any additional donor 
funding to Machar's peace secretariat in Juba.  Okot relayed 
this information to donors in Kampala.  Matsanga claimed that 
Okot and other former delegation members would not be welcome 
at Rikwangba. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Chissano will arrive in Kampala on August 14 and 
travel in the region through August 20.  He will travel to 
Nairobi to meet with Matsanga on August 16 or 17.  Chissano 
will attend Kony's meeting with his delegation if it starts 
on or near the dates of August 20 or 21.  If the meeting gets 
pushed back or Kony's presence becomes doubtful, Chissano 
will return to Mozambique.  The donor-funded food delivery 
through CARITAS to Rikwangba is scheduled for August 19, 
barring any unexpected delays, according to Warner Tan Kate, 
the director of Chissano's office in Kampala. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Comment:  Preparations continue to move forward, 
but we remain skeptical that the event will hold largely 
because Kony's actions indicate that the idea of having a 
meeting with his delegation is a time-buying tactic.  The 
food delivery will be made before the meeting so Kony may 
make excuses after his porters cart off the donated items. 
Matsanga did not indicate that the lack of a Luo translation 
was a show-stopper, but we sense that it could be another 
justification for further delays in the future.  Publicly, 
GOU officials, who are not invited, have adopted a 
wait-and-see-if-Kony-shows approach to the meeting.  Matsanga 
(a non-Acholi) is the titular leader of the LRA delegation, 
but Kony continues to talk to fellow Acholi, Santa Okot, 
because he (Kony) would need Acholi support in order to 
return to his home in northern Uganda.  U.N. officials remain 
concerned that Kony has not given any names of individual 
participants on the LRA side. 
BROWNING