North Uganda Disarmament Scheme Draws Blank Security services draw criticism for failing to properly inform public

of firear ms collection programme. By Gillian Lamunu, Bill Oketch, Arthur Okot - International Justice - ICC ACR Issue 324, 20 Jun 12 After a firearms amnesty in northern Uganda failed to recover any weapons at all , experts criticised the ongoing disarmament programme for failing to engage eff ectively with the local population. The scheme is the latest to be launched in northern Uganda since a 20-year ict with the rebel Lords Resistance Army, LRA ended in 2006. The conflict the death of more than 100,000 people while nearly two million were forced displacement camps. Thousands of small arms, many of them formally used by ebels, remain unaccounted for. confl led to into the r

The failure of the month-long amnesty for handing in firearms, which covered all the districts that form the Acholi sub-region and ended in April, has been put down to a lack of trust in the Ugandan security services which ran the campaign, and to the failure to engage key figures in local communities. For now, we have not found that level of credibility [for the disarmament program me], so I am not very sure how many people will come forward, Daniel Komakech, a peace and conflict analyst at Gulu University in the northern Acholi region, sai d. We need the elders, we need the religious leaders, we need the traditional leader s and even academia. The process of disarmament and reintegration [of former LRA members] must involve less of the security agents and more of the civil society that is where the trust is. Since the LRA left Uganda in 2006, hundreds of former rebels have come out of th e bush and have gone through a process of reintegration into society. There are suspicions that many never handed their weapons over to the Ugandan authorities. Weapons which government forces handed out so that civilians could defend thems elves during the conflict have never been reclaimed, either. The high rate of illicit possession means that guns are often used in armed robb eries and other crimes, and when land disputes turn violent. Martin Amoru, who is regional police commander for northern Uganda and is in cha rge of the disarmament programme, told IWPR why it continued to be needed. The region is coming out of rebellion, the kind of rebellion where guns were used and there was a lot of [arms] infiltration from different sources, he said. We fo und it necessary that there should be a mop-up. Lawyers in the north say that because the amnesty on firearms was initiated loca lly and not mandated by central government or parliament, it lacked credibility in the eyes of the public. Many people feared that if they handed in their weapo ns, there was no guarantee of immunity. There must be some assurance from the government [and] from the army that these p eople who surrender their firearms will not be prosecuted, lawyer Paul Manzi said , adding that such schemes would not be effective unless the government comes up with a general amnesty and says, look guys, if you have firearms, a grenade or an

y other military ordinance, bring it forward and you will not be prosecuted. People living in the Acholi sub-region have largely welcomed the disarmament pro gramme as it could help cut the high rate of violent crime. When somebody has a gun illegally, he would be tempted to use it for robbing peop le, said Fredrick Okecha, who lives in the village of Pabit East in the Nwoya dis trict. So it is really necessary that all these illegal guns should be taken back to the government. At the same time, Okecha criticised police who dont move into parishes and village s to ensure that everyone was aware of the disarmament scheme and what it involve d. Without more effective engagement, he doubts people will come to understand t hat possessing a firearm is illegal. Manzi agreed, saying that people were likely to keep weapons concealed, and the authorities should assure the general population that it is in their interest to bring out this illegal military equipment. Other commentators say that recovering lethal weapons is complicated by the wide r challenges of poverty and underdevelopment affecting the north after years of war. Kenneth Oketta, who heads the Acholi cultural institution Ker Kwaro Acholi, said many people had turned to crime as a major income source. Northern Uganda has t he highest rate of unemployment in the country, and international aid agencies h ave departed since the majority of those displaced by the war returned to their homes. There is a big challenge. People have seen the gain they get from having a gun th ough those gains are not legitimate, he said. In an unstable environment, few are likely to come forward with information abou t weapons held by others. It is a challenge for those community members to disclose that so-and-so has a gu n they also fear revenge, Oketta said. If disarmament is to be successful, experts argue that the process needs to star t with building trust between communities, the security services and local leade rs. Only then will strategies like offering amnesties work. Its good to put pressure in terms of deadlines so as to yield results, but that al one is counterproductive [if] the trust is not yet built, Aloysius Malagala, head of the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies at Gulu University, said. I thi nk that is exemplified by [the amnesty], so that indicates that they need to hav e another approach. Malagala argues that the authorities should target people who used who feel they have no option but to hold and use guns, and try to offer them active employmen t and other alternatives. Its not now only the role of the army and the police; its now the role of the gover nment and the local leaders to make sure that people can be helped and [to] upli ft the standard of living, he said. Although the amnesty is over, disarmament efforts are continuing. The Ugandan se curity agencies say they are now using their networks and local leaderships to i dentify those who possess illegal arms, and continuing to run public information campaigns about the dangers of doing so.

Police chief Amoru admitted that the disarmament plan could have been communicat ed to the Acholi people more effectively, but insisted it was making progress, w ith the support of community groups like local leaderships and religious groups. A system we are in now is a system in which we are actually building a lot of tru st between the people and the police, he said. Gillian Lamunu, Bill Oketch and Arthur Okot are IWPR reporters in Gulu. They ort for IWPRs Facing Justice radio programme, which is broadcast across the n in partnership with the Northern Uganda Media Club. Moses Odokonyero, head the Northern Uganda Media Club, and IWPRs Africa Editor Simon Jennings also ibuted to this report. rep regio of contr