VZCZCXRO9018
RR RUEHGI RUEHRN RUEHROV
DE RUEHKM #1567/01 3400509
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050509Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY KAMPALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0956
INFO RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0756
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUEHGI/AMEMBASSY BANGUI 0031
RUEHTO/AMEMBASSY MAPUTO 0512
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 3513
RHMFIUU/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 001567 
 
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 (NOVEMBER 1-30, 2008) 
 
REF: A. KAMPALA 1552 B. KAMPALA 1558 C. KAMPALA 1561 
 
KAMPALA 00001567  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 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 Chief Mediator of the Juba Peace Process, Government of 
Southern Sudan Vice President Riek Machar, held a stakeholders' 
conference in Kampala on November 5 aimed at creating a roadmap for 
achieving final signatures and implementation of the Final Peace 
Agreement between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the 
Government of Uganda (GOU).  UN Special Envoy for LRA-Affected 
Areas, Joachim Chissano, the parties, donors, and non-governmental 
organizations participated.  The stakeholders demanded that the LRA 
stop attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and sign the 
FPA without conditions by November 30.  In addition, the 
stakeholders urged Chissano to continue his role and donors to 
continue support for the peace process. 
 
¶3.  (U) The conference communique acknowledged that the LRA had not 
assembled, that its attacks in the DRC had caused great suffering, 
that non-implementation of the peace agreement was putting Great 
Lakes security at risk, and that Chissano's mandate was coming to an 
end on December 31.  Stakeholders' urged: 
 
--  The LRA to stop attacks and to unconditionally sign the FPA 
before November 30, assemble, and immediately release the children 
held captive; 
 
--  All parties, the Chief Mediator, and Special Envoy to make the 
necessary arrangements for Kony to sign the agreement; 
 
--  The continuation of Chissano's role in working to resolve the 
LRA conflict; and 
 
--  The international community to continue support for FPA 
implementation. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In a much-anticipated response to the conference, Machar 
and Chissano arranged a meeting for Kony with his delegation at 
Rikwangba for November 28 and 29 (reftels).  Kony refused to hold 
the meeting until donor-provided food was delivered, causing the 
meeting to slip a day.  Northern elders and religious leaders, 
members of Parliament, and LRA delegation members, including David 
Matsanga walked to a location some five kilometers from Rikwangba 
for the meeting and spent two nights in the LRA encampment.  After 
being subjected to stringent security precautions, the elders met 
with Kony on November 29.  Reports from participants indicate that 
Kony demanded that the ICC warrants be lifted.  He claimed that he 
had been receiving text messages telling him that he would be killed 
if he returned to northern Uganda.  Senior LRA officers were even 
more hard-line than Kony and demanded to know what security 
guarantees they would have if the agreement was signed.  They 
threatened three northern Ugandan leaders not present, which alarmed 
the delegation.  Kony made no contact with either Machar or Chissano 
during the weekend.  Machar held a meeting with Chissano and the 
parties on December 1.  The decision was made to discontinue the 
Juba Peace Process, but without closing the door for Kony to sign 
the FPA should he alter his behavior at some time in the future and 
desire a peaceful end to the LRA conflict (ref C). 
 
¶5.  (U) On November 6, President Museveni reassured Machar that the 
Government of Uganda (GOU) is ready to sign the FPA.  Museveni said 
that the government would fulfill its mandate to rehabilitate the 
war-affected areas of the north.  The meeting also was attended by 
Chissano and Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda. 
 
¶6.  (U) Uganda Amnesty Commission Chair Justice Peter Onega reported 
that a two-year project worth $2.2 million was launched to support 
former LRA combatants.  He told the New Vision on November 2 that 
the program will focus on child mothers, persons with disabilities, 
women and child soldiers. 
 
 
KAMPALA 00001567  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶7.  (U) On November 10, Government of South Sudan Director of 
Presidential Affairs Martin Majut Yak said that his government was 
considering the use of force against the LRA to push them out of 
southern Sudan if Kony fails to sign the FPA.  Majut Yak told a 
press conference in Kampala that the GOSS will not allow Kony rebels 
to use southern Sudan as a base to destabilize the region. 
 
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HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY 
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¶8.  (U) Kitgum District authorities launched the phase-out of 
Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in November to further 
encourage IDP returns.  Eighty percent of the IDPs in Kitgum have 
returned home while 20% remain, including the elderly, disabled and 
children, according to district officials.  From October 28-30, the 
World Food Program (WFP) held a General Food Distribution (GFD) 
Phase-Off and Regional Strategy Workshop in Gulu Town.  Key 
stakeholders, including local government, UN agencies, NGO and local 
partners, utilized the findings of three recent assessments to 
determine which sub-counties in Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, and Pader 
districts would be phased-off of GFD.  Preliminary decisions plan 
for 219,000 IDPs to be phased off by January 2009.  A further 
573,000 IDPs will require only seasonal food aid support for an 
additional three to six months.  This decision will be reviewed once 
the findings of the December 2008 Land Use and Crop Yield Assessment 
(LUCYA) are available.  It was estimated that 146,000 vulnerable 
IDPs will require food assistance through the end of 2009. 
District-level meetings will develop implementation plans for each 
sub-county's GFD phase-off process.  The district implementation 
plans must include a communications strategy and sensitization 
programs. 
 
¶9.  (U) USG Activities:  USAID's Strengthening Democratic Linkages 
(LINKAGES) project hosted a series of meetings between the Office of 
the Prime Minister (OPM) and key Parliamentary Committees and 
Members of Parliament (MPs) on the Government's Peace Recovery and 
Development Plan (PRDP) for northern Uganda.  OPM is leading the 
PRDP effort, which brings together central government ministries, 
local governments, Parliament, civil society and development 
partners.  The government has contributed $15 million to the PRDP as 
additional funds through various line ministries. 
 
¶10. (U) LINKAGES also supported district and select sub-county Local 
Governments in Amolatar, Arua, Kitgum, and Pader in their annual 
planning and budgeting activities through the Government's 
Harmonized Participatory Development Planning (HPDP) process.  This 
support will help Local Governments in the conflict-affected areas 
improve their planning and budgeting processes and documents, 
provide opportunities for civic engagement in priority setting, and 
help to re-establish lower local governments after long 
displacement. 
 
¶11.  (U) On November 13, USAID and Political/Economic Section 
Officers met with OPM's new Permanent Secretary to discus PRDP 
progress and USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives' programs in 
the north, including the Northern Uganda Transition Initiative 
program (NUTI).  OTI is working with OPM to develop and implement a 
PRDP communications strategy, including establishment of a website. 
 
¶12.  (U) On November 20, the USAID Mission Director briefed the 
Greater Northern Parliamentary Association, a caucus of 102 
parliamentarians from West Nile, Acholi, Lango, Karamoja, and Teso 
sub-regions.  The briefing helped northern parliamentarians 
understand the scope and depth of USG activities in the north.  The 
briefing also helped the parliamentarians begin to develop a focused 
legislative agenda and to become stakeholders in the PRDP. 
 
¶13.  (U) On 26 November, USAID hosted a reception to launch support 
for the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG).  The 
reception also honored internationally-known Michael Newton's Uganda 
visit to provide legal advice on transitional justice to the various 
institutions within the Justice, Law and Order Sector.  Newton was 
one of the U.S. negotiators of the ICC Statute.  In a meeting with 
the Ambassador, Newton reported that the GOU is committed to 
domesticating the ICC Statute and moving ahead with accountability 
and reconciliation mechanisms. 
 
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SECURITY UPDATE 
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KAMPALA 00001567  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶14.  (U) On November 1, LRA rebels reportedly killed three Congolese 
soldiers and abducted 36 boys and 21 girls when they attacked Dungu 
in Orientale Province, eastern DRC. 
 
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FROM THE MEDIA AND THE WEB 
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¶15.  (U) On November 3, The New Vision ran Gulu District Chairman 
Norbert Mao's weekly column under the headline, "Chissano Factor in 
Juba Talks Still Vital."  He wrote that LRA leader Joseph Kony had 
been making contact with key players in the peace process and that 
after months of silence and evasiveness, the LRA leader seemed to 
have realized that Juba might be the best way out of the bush. 
Reports over recent months have accused the LRA of killing and 
abducting civilians both in the DRC and in South Sudan.  In spite of 
this, Mao wrote, there seems to be a consensus that there should be 
an open door policy as far as the LRA is concerned.  Mao argued that 
given the peace dividend that Juba has given northern Uganda, the UN 
should not disengage from the Juba Peace Process.  Continued UN 
engagement is also required given the impact of LRA presence and 
activity in neighboring countries and it should therefore renew 
Chissano's mandate. 
 
¶16.  (U) On November 11, The New Vision carried an op-ed by the UPDF 
and Ministry of Defense spokesman Major Paddy Ankunda entitled, "How 
Long Can We Wait for Kony's Signature?"  He pointed out that the 
Juba peace talks were the fourteenth initiative through which the 
government had tried to engage the LRA and bring a peaceful end to 
the conflict.  These talks were different because of the fact that 
the government kept the LRA involved in the process up to the 
advanced stage of signing a Final Peace Agreement.  In spite of 
this, Major Ankunda believes that the Juba talks have not made a 
difference in changing the situation in northern Uganda.  He 
attributed the prevailing peace in the region to the UPDF dislodging 
rebels and forcing them to migrate.  He also said that there is no 
indication that the Juba talks have helped to encourage the 
displaced to return home.  He concluded that since the rebels have 
continued to commit crimes in DRC, Central African Republic, and 
Southern Sudan, in spite of arrest warrants issued by the ICC, they 
have "learned nothing and forgotten nothing." 
 
¶17.  (U) On November 13, Human Rights Watch, the Enough Project, 
Resolve Uganda, and the Justice and Peace Commission of Dungu/Doruma 
called on the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom, 
and governments in the region to develop and carry out an arrest 
strategy for LRA leaders wanted by the ICC.  The organizations 
issued a press release calling on the UN Security Council to 
increase the number of peacekeepers in northern DRC to help protect 
civilians following renewed attacks by the LRA.  John Norris, 
executive director of the Enough Project, said that "unless the 
world acts now to execute the ICC warrants, Joseph Kony's war on 
civilians will continue and an already fragile region will be 
further destabilized." 
 
¶18.  (U) In a November 20 Daily Monitor article, GOU Media Center 
representative Pamela Ankunda wrote an op-ed "Deliberate Lies Won't 
Bring Peace to the North."  She noted the "great strides UPDF is 
achieving against the odds put up by detractors, "an explicit 
reference to a November 17 Amnesty International report accusing the 
UPDF of committing human rights abuses in northern Uganda and not 
providing the assistance to war victims.  Ankunda wrote that the 
report suggested that the $336.8 million Peace, Recovery and 
Development Plan was useless and efforts made by the partners 
irrelevant.  She disagreed, arguing that the government had done its 
part and continues to move forward. 
BROWNING