KAMPALA – Donors said yesterday that they are not to blame for the army’s inability to wipe out the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army.
President Museveni has several times before accused the donors of limiting government’s defence spending and said that was the main reason for the continuation of the rebellion.
However, the head of the European Union delegation, Ambassador Sigurd Illing rejected this argument yesterday when he met MPs to present a donor statement on the war in the north, following the Barlonyo massacre in which the rebels killed anywhere between 84 and 240 people.
“We reject the assertion that donors’ restrictions on defence expenditure have impeded the UPDF’s capacity to defend citizens from such attacks,” Mr Illing, who led a delegation of donors, told MPs.
“Donors agreed exceptional increases in defence spending last year that were related to combating the LRA,” the diplomat added.
Said Illing: “It is the obligation of government, as Parliament repeated this week, to protect the lives and property of its people.”
The donors urged government to explore all avenues to resolve the conflict, including creating a climate for negotiation.
“We also reiterate our willingness to assist such a solution in any meaningful way,” Illing said.
In their statement, the donors also voiced their support for a resolution, passed by Parliament on Wednesday declaring the war-ravaged northern Uganda a disaster area, but which Cabinet later rejected.
“The members of the donor group on northern Uganda, Amnesty and Recovery from Conflict endorse Parliament’s resolution of 25th February on recent events in northern Uganda,” Ambassador Illing said yesterday amidst applause.
“We wish to utterly to condemn the appalling atrocities that have been carried out by the Lord’s Resistance Army and in particular the vicious attack on Barlonyo camp,” he added.
While passing the resolution, the MPs had argued that declaring a disaster area in the north would attract international aid and intervention in the war – but Cabinet said there were not enough grounds for such a resolution and that Parliament did not have the power to declare a disaster area or a state of emergency.
In their statement yesterday, the donors said the problem in the north ought to be highlighted and aid made available.
“We acknowledge Parliament’s request for humanitarian assistance to be provided in the north,” Illing told MPs who were gathered outside Parliament Building.
The donor representative said that most of the aid to the north comes from the international community but said, “We call on government to extend the provision of security for humanitarian deliveries.”
In their statement, the donors pledged more support for the north and said that security for all Ugandans was key to eliminating poverty.
The Speaker of Parliament, Edward Ssekandi, said the whole house had passed the resolution for a disaster area.
“The resolution was passed by all MPs,” Ssekandi said.
“This meant it wasn’t a resolution by backbenchers alone but also the front bench so I don’t see any dissensions but I see implementation.”
After the meeting, Ssekandi led the donors to the north to take condolences to the bereaved families.
Illing was representing a donor group that includes the European Union, the World Bank, the US Agency for International Development, the UN Development Programme and the governments of Japan, Sweden, Britain, France, Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Ireland.
Other governments represented in the group include Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway and the US.
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