Parliament- The government has announced that it agrees “in principle” to initiating talks with the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), if the group wishes so.

Crispus KiyongaThe remarks by the Minister of Defence, Dr Crispus Kiyonga, come in the wake of intelligence information that the rebel group boasts of more than 1,600 fighters operating within the vast eastern DR Congo.

In bringing the controversies surrounding the attacks to the attention of Parliament, Busongora County MP Charles Nzoghu said the country deserved an explanation over remarks made by Disaster Preparedness Minister Hilary Onek that the government was ready to talk with the ADF rebels.

“How does the government run to say they are ready to talk to ADF and yet the ADF have not attacked Uganda? How do they know that it is the ADF operating in Congo? Why has the government not come out clearly to tell Ugandans what is happening,” Mr Nzonghu asked.
Dr Kiyonga explained that under the guidance of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the government was interfacing with various “negative elements” based in eastern DR Congo, including the ADF.

“In our policy statement, we have always informed Parliament that there are rebels in Congo and Uganda and their intention is to invade the country,” Dr Kiyonga said.

He added: “In principle, the NRM government is always ready to resolve conflicts through peaceful means. So if the ADF see that they have a conflict with us that they want resolved through peaceful means, we are ready to listen.”

The army spokesperson, Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, told the Saturday Monitor this week that they were hoping that the newly-deployed brigade under the ICGLR would help fight ADF rebels.

 

ADF REBELS

Formed in the mid-1990s in the Rwenzori Mountains, the ADF have overtime expanded their operations to other parts of the country. It has since terrorised civilians in the western part of the country before it was neutralised in the early 2000s, with UPDF pressure forcing most of its fighters to flee to the DR Congo. Reports of its re-emergence came to the fore last week after skirmishes between the rebels and Congolese forces.

Source Monitor