CPTnet
4 December 2007
UGANDA: The bumpy road to Juba

by Jane MacKay Wright

The road to Juba, Sudan, from Gulu, Uganda is bumpy. The hard-packed red
earth is pocked with potholes often three meters wide. Long ago floods have
scored deep ruts in its surface. The traffic jostles and shakes as vehicles
twist and wind their way through the dust. Bicycles slowly negotiate the
edges of the thoroughfare, and give way to occasional transport trucks that
jostle through.

Gulu town is the heart of Uganda's north. Juba in South Sudan is the site
of peace talks, which might end the twenty-year conflict in northern Uganda.
The fighting has been between insurgents who call themselves the Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) and the Uganda Peoples Defence Force (UDPF). These
armed groups have killed and maimed thousands of civilians. The LRA raided
villages, stole children, and forced them at pain of death to become
killers. They pulled young women into the bush, raped them, and compelled
them to produce babies. The government's UDPF took advantage of their
"protector" role to steal, rape and kill as well. For ten years, the
regions inhabitants have had to live in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)
camps where they have huddled together and starved. Their fields lay fallow
and wild growth took over.

The combatants, including the government of Uganda, have agreed to a
cessation of hostilities, comprehensive solutions, and principles of
accountability and reconciliation. They have not signed off on a final
implementation of these agreements, however. Until a fourth agreement is
completed, there is some calm but no peace. Northern Ugandans are wary.
Outside forces are becoming impatient. If the LRA delays, the United States
wants to send troops. Sudan is serious about maintaining influence in South
Sudan and amasses weapons. The South Sudanese, who also suffered in this
war, blame the Ugandans but are wary of the Sudanese government.

Will Ugandan President Museveni try another vicious but unsuccessful
military Operation Iron Fist, or is his government committed to peace? In
whose interest is continued instability in this oil-rich region?

We travel the bumpy road on the back seat of motorcycle taxis called
boda-bodas. Women sitting under a shady tree smile as each foreigner
tightly grips the back of the seat. Children in crisp school uniforms turn
and watch with curiosity. The strong young boda-boda drivers expertly weave
their way between the ruts and potholes. The red dust flies, the sun beats
down, and we move toward our destination, St. Joseph's Cathedral. We have
learned that many of these twenty-something drivers were once kidnapped LRA
combatants, killers who have survived and returned from the bush. These
young men are negotiating another bumpy road. They are stigmatized by their
past. They have memories of terror. They have lost their families, and
their future is uncertain. They are living new lives, however. The road to
peace is bumpy but some are finding their way through the obstacles.