By Dennis Otim

28^th Nov 2011:

Fire and suffering in the Northern IDP camps

President Yoweri Museveni has for the first time urged the people of the war torn Acholi sub-region in Northern Uganda to forget the 20 year suffering they endured because of the Lord’s Resistance Army [LRA] rebel insurgency because the government is doing everything in its powers to conclusively heal their wounds.

The President’s message was delivered by the Minister for the Presidency Ms Kabakumba Matsiko during celebrations held last Saturday in Lamogi District to mark 100 years of the existence of the Anglican Church in the region.  He said forgiveness and reconciliation can heal the wounds caused by the LRA insurgency.

“…Bitterness will not take this area anywhere.  People must forgive and reconcile with one another as the region redevelops.  The government has the readiness and will do everything to stop bad memories of the war among the people through reparations. We must have the will to help our people out of bondage,” Museveni said.

The President also emphasised the NRM government’s commitment to redevelop Northern region since the bitter 20 year war that caused untold suffering to the people of the North had come to an end.  As if to put his money where his mouth is, the President then pledged to roof at least 25 Churches that were destroyed during the LRA insurgency.

And it’s not just the Church structures that will benefit from the President’s goodwill.  Each of the 25 Churches damaged during the war will also benefit from a 250million Shilling fund to support Priests in their community evangelism work.  That means each Church will get approximately 10million Shillings if and when the President honours his pledge.

Mzee Severino Okot, a short but loud-mouthed senior citizen who attended the event, however wasted no time in pouring ice-cold water on the President’s pledge.  Speaking to this reporter in Acholi, he said, “…all those are lies.  We have heard them before.  Museveni has no intention of helping us.  This woman [meaning Minister Matsiko] only said what she said because the Bishop talked about collapsing Churches.”

And there may be evidence to support the old man’s scepticism.  Earlier, the Bishop of Northern Uganda Diocese Bishop Johnson Gakumba had complained that several Churches needed millions of Shillings to fund structural and other rehabilitation projects but the Diocese had no money to fund projects of that magnitude.

Besides the Bishop’s complaints, the other possible causes of scepticism could be traced to the government’s previous promises to rehabilitate Northern Uganda that have amounted to naught.  Former Prime Minister Prof. Apollo Nsibambi in particular had distinguished himself as a master of issuing periodic but ultimately empty Northern Uganda recovery programmes.

During Nsibambi’s time, the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund [NUSAF] was announced with millions of dollars attached to it, the Peace Recovery and Development Plan [PRDP] was announced with similar funding proposals, and several others were announced.  A quick trip through Northern region however shows that not much, if anything at all, has been achieved through these government initiatives.

It is fair to say that there is no doubt that Northern region still lags behind all other parts of Uganda that have not had war in the last 26 years.  END.  Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.