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RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
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RHMFIUU/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 001267 
 
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 (August 1-31, 2008) 
 
KAMPALA 00001267  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) 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.  (SBU) UN Special Envoy for the LRA-Affected Areas Joachim 
Chissano traveled to the region from August 13-19.  His team had put 
in place arrangements with Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leader 
Joseph Kony to meet with his negotiators on August 24.  The meeting 
did not take place.  Kony blamed a skirmish between the Sudan 
Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA) and the LRA, and a stand-off between 
the SPLA and the NGO CARITAS over a donor-provided food delivery on 
August 21.  Two SPLA soldiers were reportedly killed in the 
skirmish.  Kony contacted Chissano's office in Kampala and requested 
that the meeting take place on/about September 6. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On August 5, the Government of Uganda (GOU) granted James 
Obita, the former leader of the LRA negotiating team, amnesty. 
Justice Peter Onega, The Chairman of the Amnesty Commission, 
announced the extension of the Amnesty Act for two years.  The law 
was enacted in January 2000 for six months and has been renewed 
successively since then.  It provides for blanket amnesty to 
Ugandans who denounce rebellion.  A total of 12,841 former LRA 
rebels have been granted amnesty since the establishment of the 
Amnesty Commission in 2000.  Overall, 22,921 ex-fighters and 
collaborators from various rebel groups have been granted. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) USG Activities:  In early August, the GOU began formal 
discussions to design a transitional justice process for implanting 
key elements of the agreements on Accountability and Reconciliation 
from the Juba peace process.  A retreat was hosted by the Justice, 
Law and Order Sector (JLOS) and included presentations by the Chief 
Justice, the Principal Judge of the High Court, the Minister for 
Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the Minister for Internal 
Affairs.  JLOS is scheduled to present a proposal for an integrated 
transitional justice system to Cabinet by November; the proposal 
will deal with legal and institutional mechanisms for war crimes, 
traditional mechanisms and the relevance of truth-telling and 
national reconciliation.  The USG will support this process through 
legal and technical assistance from the Public International Law and 
Policy Group (PILPG). 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In recent weeks, Uganda's Amnesty Commission has 
distributed 231 USG-funded reintegration packages to amnestied 
ex-combatants in Gulu, Kitgum, Kampala and Kasese.  Hundreds more 
packages are scheduled for distribution in the coming month to new 
reporters and the backlog of cases from 1 January 2006 who have not 
yet received reintegration support from the GOU.  In addition to 
reintegration packages, the USG has supported the International 
Organization for Migration (IOM) in providing health and 
psychosocial care to former LRA who are currently in GOU custody. 
IOM also supported traditional cleansing ceremonies for several new 
reporters in their home communities.  On August 26, the Ambassador, 
USAID Director, and P/E Chief briefed Resolve Uganda Executive 
Director Michael Poffenberger on USG engagement in northern Uganda. 
 
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HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY 
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¶6.  (SBU) Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi announced on August 7 that 
The GOU has earmarked 158 million USD for police, judiciary, 
education, health, and water and sanitation in its 2008/09 budget 
for northern districts under the Peace, Recovery and Development 
Plan (PRDP).  Minister of Education and Sports Namirembe Bitamazire 
announced that the GOU will construct 4,215 houses for teachers in 
the 40 districts covered by the PRDP.  The first PRDP Monitoring 
Committee meeting will take place on September 30.  Parliamentarian 
Ronald Reagan Okumu, from Aswa County, Gulu District, told 
Parliament that government support was lacking in return areas, 
where about 80 percent of the people displaced by the LRA conflict 
had returned to their homes. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) USG Activities:  USAID Mission Director David Eckerson 
 
KAMPALA 00001267  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
visited Gulu, Pader and Lira districts from August 21-24, 2008 on 
his first trip outside Kampala since arriving in Uganda four weeks 
ago.  In meetings with local authorities, traditional and religious 
leaders, USAID implementing partners and local communities, he 
listened to hopes for the signing of a final peace agreement with 
the LRA; plans for reconciliation and healing as displaced people 
return to their homes or take up permanent residence in former 
camps; and presentations as to how USAID-funded activities are 
helping in the transition from humanitarian relief to recovery and 
development.  He emphasized to implementing partners the importance 
of working with and strengthening the capacity of local authorities 
and non-governmental entities, and harmonizing USAID activities with 
district development plans and results frameworks under the PRDP.  A 
highlight of the visit was a ceremony in Opit on August 22, near 
Joseph Kony's birthplace of Odek, where local authorities presented 
tokens of appreciation to former IDP camp commanders for their 
voluntary service to communities during the worst years of conflict 
 
 
 
¶8.  (SBU) USAID/Office of Transitional Initiatives (OTI) approved 
four new grants totaling approximately 120,000 USD.  The first is a 
Hepatitis E grant with the Gulu District Health Department for 
17,000 USD.  On August 1, Ministry of Health and the World Health 
Organization launched an emergency plan to fight the Hepatitis E 
epidemic focused on teaching residents about proper hygiene, 
improving sanitation through construction of boreholes and pit 
latrines in IDP camps, and monitoring and treating infected people 
in northern Uganda.  The second grant was to restore Odek local 
government administrative offices, which will allow sub-county 
officials to move back to their offices and begin providing services 
to their constituents. OTI cleared its first two grants in Amuru 
District. 
 
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SECURITY UPDATE 
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¶9.  (SBU) On July 31, Save the Children Uganda Deputy Country 
Director John Reinstein demanded the immediate and unconditional 
release of children under LRA captivity.  He stated that it is 
important to pressure Joseph Kony to release the children despite 
the stalling of the peace process.  Reinstein noted that over 5,000 
Uganda children were still missing, but the group expected only 
1,500 to return home. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) In May 2008, the International Committee of the Red Cross 
(ICRC) conducted a joint review on the implementation of two MOUs 
signed between the ICRC and the Uganda Peoples' Defense Force (UPDF) 
and the Uganda Police Force (UPDF), to integrate International 
Humanitarian Law within military doctrine, training and operations. 
As a result, 25 UPDF instructors and legal officers, including 
military media and medical staff, attended the seventh two-week 
"Training of Trainers" course in Jinja.  In April 2008, 500 UPDF 
soldiers and 173 police officers attended human rights information 
sessions in northern Uganda. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) From April to June 2008, ICRC training in principles of 
humanitarian law reached 400 UPDF soldiers at Fourth Division 
military training camp; 75 participants in Awach camp; local 
leaders, administrators and the general public in Gulu and Amuru 
Districts; 98 local leaders and 60 community members in Kitgum 
District; and 96 UPDF soldiers and 173 police in Pader District. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Security agencies in the north intensified the search for 
weapons abandoned during the conflict.  On August 4, Fourth Division 
Spokesperson Captain Ronald Kakurungu said the Army, police, and 
humanitarian agencies worked together to clear return areas of 
weapons, ordnance, and landmines.  He reported that 175 submachine 
guns, 60 rocket-propelled grenades, five mortars, three pistols, 67 
grenades, 75 land mines, three machine guns, 159 bombs of mortar and 
airdrop types, and 10,228 rounds of live ammunition were recovered. 
 
 
¶13.  (SBU) On August 11, Uganda's Principal Judge James Ogoola 
stated that the War Crimes Court set up to try crimes committed in 
the north cannot start operations before a law outlining its 
modalities is enacted.  Ogoola said the law would define what 
constitute serious war crimes and determine sanctions for those 
crimes. 
 
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KAMPALA 00001267  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
FROM THE MEDIA AND THE WEB 
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¶14.  (SBU) On August 19, IRIN's PLUSNEWS reported on food insecurity 
facing northern Uganda due to bad weather and lack of adequate farm 
inputs. IRIN Gulu Senior Agricultural Officer Jackson Lakor expects 
lower productivity in the coming months due to drought, land 
deterioration, and high demand from southern Sudan leading to food 
shortages in the region. 
BROWNING