HPU Summer Study Abroad 2014
Part II – Uganda
The second half of the study is finished, and the students have
all gone home. Our second destination contrasted the conflict in
northern Uganda between the LRA and the UPDF (formerly the NRA) and
the conflict we experienced in Rwanda. But before we could do that,
we had one stop to make on our long bus ride between Kigali and Gulu.
We stopped in Mbarara, the quickly becoming the second largest
city in Uganda and also the home of President Museveni. Just outside
the city, perhaps a few hours, is the refugee settlement of Nakivale,
and every year, hundreds and sometimes thousands of Rwandan refugees
flee from the country to take up refuge here, in this rudimentary and
extremely dusty camp. The existence of the camp was not surprising,
but the recent refugee status of many of its residents shocked us. We knew that
supporters of the former Hutu Extremist government had taken refuge
in Congo, Uganda, and elsewhere, and while the government has tried
to bring them back to face justice, this process is met with mixed
success. Where the post 1994 refugees came from, I had no idea. Until they told their side of the story.
Nakivale
These refugees told a story of a different Rwanda than the one we
had been shown in Kigali. They told us of a Rwanda where
'tribe'-based killing continued well belong 1994 perpetrated not by
the government but by Paul Kagame's RPF. They were frustrated and
understandably nervous. By speaking up, they put themselves in
danger. No real activism had ever come from 'Westerners' hearing
their stories leading to an almost complete lack of awareness outside
East Africa. But the Rwandan government knows of their existence, and
the refugees told us of a time when the RPF, partnered with the
Ugandan Police Force, raided the camp and forcefully repatriated much
of the Rwandan population. Those who refused, we were told, were shot
and their bodies taken away.
It was shocking to hear their accusations of Genocide and the
harrowing account of a widower whose wife and children were shot and
their bodies buried and covered with a playground. Others told of how
they first fled to Tanzania, and when they were brought back at the
point of a gun, they fled again when the government raided their village. One woman told of
how, when her husband spoke out against the government, he was
imprisoned on false charges, escaped, and fled to the Congo. Rwandan
officials came to her house to question her on his whereabouts,
physically assaulted her, and left her beaten and forced to flee with
her children.
Some of those we talked to were undoubtedly supporters of the
Genocidal regime in Uganda. One implied he had assisted with the work
without saying it outright. Others, however, were very definitely not. This made me question the accuracy of
their stories, but I realized, even if their stories were half true,
I couldn't trust the stories I was told by the Rwandan government
either. It was a puzzling situation.
After the settlement, we continued our studies in the north, in
Gulu across the Nile. We focused not only on conflict but on
development. Gulu during the war was the most heavily populated
region in the world for NGOs, and while that population has since
moved on, the effects of their presence still influences daily life
in Gulu. We met the King of the Acholi people, the largest ethnic
group in the north, and talked on how ethnic identity helped to shape
conflict.
Gulu
We also heard from professors at the local college. They told us
the history of Uganda from multiple perspectives, many which were
highly critical of the government. You would not hear that in Rwanda.
Uganda, since independence in 1962, has never had a peaceful transfer
of power. Each has been at the point of a gun, and Museveni is
proving no different. First he changed the term limit so he was able
to serve beyond his 2 term limit. Now he is lobbying to change the
age limit so he does not have to leave at 70, only a few years away.
We talked to those who were in Gulu as it was turned into an
official displacement camp when the government rounded up all Acholi
people and placed them in camps for safety against the violent LRA.
These camps, however, served as a recruiting ground for the LRA and
hundreds of children were abducted from these camps by the LRA to
serve in their militia. Both sides used children in the conflict.
In Uganda, unlike Rwanda, no clear story emerged. We learned the
war started in 1987 when Acholi began to be persecuted for their
support of the former president, President Obote, himself deposed twice by violent coup. Uganda is divided along ethnic lines, and when a
new President comes into power his home region prospers as the
expense of others. Museveni is from south of the Nile, and as we
traveled from the south to the north, the differences were stark.
The war was fought in the bush, initially with vast popular
support. But as the war dragged on and the casualties mounted,
support fell away. The first leader of the resistance failed at high
cost, and her successor, Joseph Kony, vowed to do better. He let
nothing stand in his way, and perpetrated horribly violent acts to
stop informants, spies, and opposition. Soon the people of the north
were being oppressed by both sides, and called for an end to the
conflict. Neither had the power to end it, however, at it took the
start of the War on Terror and US involvement on Museveni's side to
end the conflict. The LRA was pushed out in 2007 and people began
moving back home in 2008. As the records were tallied, it soon became
clear that almost as many people had died in the camps as had died in
the war, and civilian casualties perpetrated by both sides were
astronomical. The King himself was abducted as a child, and it was
only luck that saved him.
The LRA still operates to this day in the Congo, South Sudan, and
the CAR. The government operates as well on a regional level, and while they have
diverted some small relief aid to the region, aid is largely left to
the management of local NGOs who have almost become the government in
a sense. They are responsible for the welfare of the people, and
without their help many would die or suffer extreme circumstances. The problem comes when these NGOs,
as they are wont to do, pull out. This is the situation Gulu is
facing today, and it is difficult seeing the situations which people
are reduced to. Many would fall on their knees in the streets,
begging for anything we could give. They have nowhere left to turn.
This is but one of many facets of post-war Acholiland. Another is
the resurgence of traditional peace-keeping methods which try to
bring ex-militia back to their families. This process has mixed
success, and serves to strengthen the ethnic ties which bind people
together, but also pull people apart.
We finished out study in Busiya, on the border with Kenya. We
reflected on what we had learned over the past five weeks, and took a
much needed break. Peace and Conflict, it seems, are never as cut and
dry as they might at first appear. Everything plays a role in war,
including development aid. Economic scarcity and ethnic division may
lead to conflict, but ethnic ties and severe economic stress can
solve it too. I will be processing what I've learned for some time to
come, and while I expect no clear answers, at the very least I will
know I must become aware before becoming involved. I would argue that
there are no truly neutral positions in conflict, and blind support
of one side or another can have disastrous consequences.
