Felix Basiime and Abdulkarim Ssengendo
1 January 2009
Kampala - LRA leader Joseph Kony narrowly survived being killed by a UPDF helicopter gunship on Christmas Eve, President Yoweri Museveni has said.
"On December 24, Kony was to be killed. We were tracking him in Southern Sudan with an army chopper, but he was saved by the villagers who came out to wave at the chopper. The pilot could not fire because he would have killed innocent people," he said.
Museveni said the villagers did not know that Kony was hiding in their area.
"The people did not know that there was a snake in their area, which saved Kony. We have now airlifted enough commandos to Garamba and he will not survive this time," he said.
Museveni was addressing a press conference on the New Year's Eve at his country home in Rwakitura, Kiruhura district.
Kony is said to be hiding south of Maridi in South Sudan on the fringes of Garamba forest.
Museveni was responding to a question asked by one of the journalists on whether the joint military offensive against the LRA in Garamba was successful.
The UPDF, SPLA and Congolese army are participating in the offensive code-named 'Lightning Thunder'.
The multinational operation was launched on December 14 after Kony failed to sign the peace deal for the fourth times.
On December 14, LRA bases in Nyere, Fuke, Piripiri, Baoute and Bawesi in the Garamba forests were destroyed.
"Our aim was to disrupt Kony and it was successful. Our initial plan was to scatter and stop him from causing terror," Museveni explained.
He blamed Kony for killing innocent civilians instead of fighting the Government forces. "Killing innocent people is black mail. If he wants to fight, let him fight the army because he knows our address," Museveni said.
He said the Government asked the Central African Republic to join the allies to eliminate Kony from the region.
According to Caritas, a Catholic aid agency working in Orientaale province in the DRC, fleeing rebels killed 400 civilians in Dungu, Doruma, Faradje, Bangadi and Gurba in the DRC and Maridi in South Sudan.
Museveni said before the attack, Kony was planning to terrorise the whole region.
"If they come back to fight, that will be the quickest way for them to go to hell," he warned.
Responding to a question on the recent power sharing deals in Kenya and Zimbabwe, Museveni said he preferred cohesion to power sharing.
"NRM does not need coalitions or power sharing," he said.
On the health sector, Museveni said he would dismiss chief administrative officers who fail to detect drug thefts from health centres.
He said consultation fees in the Government health centres, except in Grade A sections, were illegal and should stop.
He directed the Ministry of Health to ensure that health centres are manned, adding that the ministry should also ensure that drugs are labelled.
On education, he said it was the Government's priority to sensitise the public on health and poverty.
"If we educate all our people, eventually they will learn how to prevent road carnage and avoid poor sanitary conditions.
Later, we shall think of attracting doctors to villages," Museveni said.
He later hosted the press to lunch.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200901020037.html
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