Okot Nyormoi
09.24.06
For almost 21 years, northern Uganda has endured one of the most brutal wars in Africa between rebels currently led by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) and the government of Uganda (GOU). A resolution of the genocidal war in northern Uganda has eluded all attempts including religious prayers, military operations, diplomacy, dialogues, a presidential bet and others. Meanwhile up to 25,000 children were abducted by the LRA and almost 2 million people in northern and eastern Uganda are incarcerated in some 200 concentration camps euphemistically called government ‘protected villages”. The UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs called the situation the world’s worst forgotten humanitarian tragedy and the ex-UN Under-Secretary General for Children in Armed Conflict called it the worst place for children to be. Therefore, the news of the signing of the cessation of hostilities on August 29th 2006 and the agreement of the LRA to assemble in designated areas were greeted with excitement and hope for peace.
While it is appropriate to celebrate current cessation of hostilities, it is important to realize that the war is by no means over. The front has simply shifted from the bush to the mind. Previously, the GOU fought on this front and won almost every time because there were no contestants. For example, locally, the regime had its News Media Center to manage its master spinners of the propaganda yarn. Internationally, it contracted America’s CNN News Corporation and Britain’s notorious Hills and Knowlton public relations’ firm to white wash its image. Additionally, it employs lobbyists in strategic capitals of the world and works with a slew of individual journalists whom it keeps on its payroll to write favorable stories about it. Consequently, it managed to conceal the critical role it played in orchestration its genocide project in northern Uganda for nearly 21 years.
However, the situation has dramatically changed, thanks to court of public opinion, which has overwhelmingly shifted in favor of a negotiated settlement of the conflict. The relentless advocacy of supporters of a peaceful approach culminated in the initiation of peace dialogue in Juba, South Sudan, launched on July 14. Following some ups and downs, the dialogue managed to agree on cessation of hostilities. Since then, the war front has shifted to the mind game. Unlike in the past, it is being hotly contested by various stake holders.
First of all, the peace dialogue has given the rebels a platform where they can address their demands directly, which they could not do while in the bush. Second, they have shifted their focus from a purely military to a political approach. In this regard, the rebels have kept pace with the GOU and at times outplaying it. The surprise adeptness of the LRA in the PR arena was noted by Mohammed Matovu in his Monitor Opinion piece of Sept. 17 entitled, “When two heads are less than one”, in which he said, “And just how they have played on the media psyche, often sending controversial messages just to stoke public opinion fears and play on the international gallery”.
Third, since the peace dialogue is not and should not be limited to negotiating the terms of surrender and amnesty for the rebels, the participants in the mind game has widened far beyond just the LRA rebels. Other stakeholders such as journalists have also jumped into the fray. Some of Ugandan’s well known journalists such as Andrew Mwenda and Onyango Obbo have been increasingly critical of the Kampala regime. For example, in his Monitor Inside Politics piece of August 30 entitled, “Who wins if peace comes - Museveni or Kony?” Obbo concluded that the two generals have fought themselves to a draw. Again in his Monitor Opinion piece of Sept 15 entitled, “Why we are doomed to be the devil’s mistress”, Obbo explained that Kony is benefiting from a phenomenon that has been developing in Uganda over the last 35 or so years, which is that all present and past Ugandan leaders have never been made to account for their crimes. He went on to say that Uganda is the country that has had one of the worst human rights violations in Africa, but at the same time, none of the leading perpetrators of these crimes has ever been tried for rights crimes - even in absentia. This point was also echoed by Finnstrom and Atkinson in their Monitor Opinion piece, Sept. 19, entitled, “Uganda Peace Talks-The Realists”, in which they argued that while the peace process needs international support, it should not come at the expense of the voice of the victims of the war who know better about their experience.
Another notable Ugandan journalist based in Toronto, Dr. Muniini Mulera in his Letter to a Kampala friend of Monitor Sept. 11, stated that he would love to see Kony and Museveni in the docks. He went further to demand for an independent investigation of the war to establish the facts.
Furthermore, in his many speeches, Ambassador Olara Otunnu, the former Under-Secretary-General of the UN and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, has repeatedly accused the Museveni regime of engaging in acts of genocide against the people of Acholi. Similarly, the retired Bishop Ochola of Kitgum, who has suffered enormously, having lost a wife and a daughter, from this war called northern Uganda the worst place to be.
In contrast, the GOU launched vicious attacks against all its critics. For example, On Sep.22, Rosalynn Muzaki, in her Monitor Opinion piece entitled, “We shall not be the devil’s mistress”, severely criticized Obbo and even proclaimed that the GOU was always looking for a peaceful solution of the war without realizing that she was contradicting her boss (President Museveni) who just two days earlier reiterated how he never wanted to negotiate with the LRA rebels. It leaves one to wonder about who is lying: Ms Muzaki or President Museveni.
Similarly, Opondo in his article of Sept. 21, “Otunnu is a failed political opportunist” went into overdrive by launching a vicious character assassination instead of addressing the issues Olara Otunnu has been consistently raising about the GOU’s role in orchestrating genocide in Northern Uganda. Besides attacking Otunnu, Opondo characterized the UN for which Olara Otunnu worked as a “corrupt system”. Yet the next day Ann Mugisha reported how Kutesa, the Ugandan Foreign Minister praised the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, for his 10-year leadership, which he said was marked by fundamental changes. He went on in his praise, “We are confident that as he (Annan) leaves, he has left behind a more vibrant organization capable of meeting the challenges of our time”. Again, the conflicting views of Opondo and Minister Kutesa on the UN leave readers wondering who is lying.
Perhaps, the best contrast in this war of the mind front came when the Online publication AllAfrica published side by side articles written by President Museveni entitled, “Our People Embrace Peace” in which by attempting to explain the 21 year suffering of the people under his watch, he unwittingly confirms Olara Otunnu’s charge in his article entitled, “Nation in Crisis Thanks to Divisive Regime” in which he charged that Youweri Museveni “has invested massively in a campaign of deception and disinformation, aimed at concealing a methodical and comprehensive genocide in northern Uganda, conceived and conducted by the government. A carefully scripted narrative is being promoted, according to which the catastrophe in northern Uganda begins with the LRA and will end with their demise”. Additionally, the President sounds every bit an ethnic/racial bigot. Nevertheless, people are encouraged to read the two articles and form their own opinions.
Although the spin masters on either side can claim victory over the other, it is tragic that the peace negotiation is beginning to degenerate into which side can outdo the other in the public relations arena. For example, in the past week the LRA threatened to pull out unless Uganda army pulls out from surrounding the place where its troops were to assemble under the Cessation of hostilities agreement. Not to be overdone, the GOU keeps embellishing how the LRA leaders will be killed. Forgotten in all these chest beatings is the almost 2 million people who are still incarcerated in the camps and all others still scattered around the country and the world who continue to suffer.
In conclusion, as the war of the mind unfolds and intensifies, all rational people should embrace the words of Martin Luther King, “Peace, but truth at all costs”, quoted by Eva Mwine in her deceptively humble article, “We can forgive, but don’t glorify Kony”. In quoting the highly revered Martin Luther King, Eva Mwine is being put on notice that spinning the propaganda yarn as she did in her article will no longer be tolerated. The war of the mind is a major challenge to the intelligence of all people who cherish truth and respect for human rights, whose responsibility is to ensure that the truth about the war will not be covered up by spin masters as it has been done for the last 21 years. This will apply to both the LRA rebels, the GOU and the international community.
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