UGANDAN Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi, on Thursday, told the nation's
parliament that a decision has been taken to pull out of all regional
efforts, including peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Central African
Republic and DR Congo, over a leaked UN report, which accuses Uganda and
Rwanda of supporting Congolese M23 rebels.
Uganda has denied accusations from a UN panel of experts that senior
officials have provided assistance to the M23 rebel groups in eastern DRC.
The report said that Ugandan officials gave support "in the form of direct
troop reinforcements in DRC territory, weapons deliveries, technical
assistance, joint planning, political advice and facilitation of external
relations."
When contacted, Uganda's High Commissioner to Rwanda, Richard Kabonero said
the development is a result of targeted maligning of Uganda by some actors
in the international community.
"Our position is informed by the unseriousness of some actors in the
international community. Uganda together with its regional partners has paid
a heavy price in trying to bring peace and stability in the region, but
instead of acknowledging these efforts, the country is being maligned by the
so called international experts. Uganda will continue consultations with its
regional partners to decide on the next stage," Kabonero said.
According to Ugandan press reports, Prime Minister Mbabazi described the
allegations linking Uganda to M23 rebels as baseless, unfair and malicious.
He said Uganda was acting in good faith and sacrificing a lot to bring peace
to the region and deserved better understanding, respect and fairness from
the UN and the region.
"We have now decided, after due consultations with our brothers in the AU
and the region, to completely withdraw from these regional peace efforts;
that is to say DRC, Somalia and others," Uganda's The New Vision quoted
Mbabazi, adding that "It is no longer plausible for Uganda to assist and get
malignment as the reward."
According to Mbabazi, Uganda got involved in the M23 conflict after being
requested by the UN chief, Ban Ki-Moon, the DR Congo President Joseph Kabila
and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.
The same report from the UN Group of Experts has also accused Rwanda of
supporting the M23 rebels.
Rwanda has strongly refuted and rebutted the allegations, instead submitting
proof that the 'lead expert' has for years been an ardent campaigner for the
genocidal forces, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda,
operating in Congo.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has been leading mediation efforts in the
region in his position as chairman of the regional International Conference
on the Great Lakes Region.
Mbabazi added that the report was compiled by a UN group of experts who
"arrived (in Uganda) on September 17 and left the next day.
They met government officials on September 18, but failed to meet the
intelligence chiefs, given the short notice.
They refused to extend their stay and flew to Goma, from where they summoned
Ugandan intelligence chiefs to meet them, which Mbabazi said was improper.
Mbabazi said the Government was surprised that issues which came out in the
report, were neither discussed in the meeting of September 18 nor
cross-checked with Government officials.
Ugandan troops make up a third of the 17,000-strong African Union mission in
Somalia (Amisom) that has recently been instrumental in wresting a series of
strategic strongholds from al Qaeda-linked Islamist Shebab rebel.
The M23 rebel fighters were incorporated into the DR Congo army in 2009 as
part of a peace deal in the troubled, mineral-rich eastern region.
They quit the army this year in a dispute over violation of the agreement by
the Kinshasa government.
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Received on Sat Nov 03 2012 - 14:34:00 EDT
