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Govt to resettle repatriated ex-LRA rebels in Gulu City
Repatriated Ex LRA rebel Gen Faustine Olango with his other Family on arrival at Entebbe International Airport on August 14. Photo/Eve Muganga
What you need to know:
Mr James Mutabazi, the ministry’s undersecretary, on Monday said they are currently seeking to establish the best location for the resettlement
The government through the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs has rolled out a plan to establish a temporary settlement for the recently repatriated former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) fighters and their families in Gulu City, the Daily Monitor has learnt.
Mr James Mutabazi, the ministry’s undersecretary, on Monday said they are currently seeking to establish the best location for the resettlement.
Mr Mutabazi added that since the former LRA fighters are mostly from Acholi Sub-region, it makes more sense to resettle them in Gulu City while they undergo rehabilitation and a final reintegration back into their communities.
“We are here to prepare a home for the ex-LRA fighters, their women and children, whom we are repatriating from the Central African Republic. They all come from northern Uganda and they have denounced the rebellion. The government has accepted that they can come back home and join their families,” Mr Mutabazi said.
Although Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) is hoping to repatriate more than 100 ex-LRA fighters and their families, Mr Mutabazi said it will be in phases.
In the first phase on July 22, they repatriated 61 and on August 14, a total of 16 were repatriated in the second phase, all of whom are currently in Kampala. They were from Central African Republic, where they had lived for years as rebels.
“The reason why we are here is to look for an appropriate location in Gulu City where we can put a facility to accommodate them as the government prepares to rehabilitate and integrate them into the community,” Mr Mutabazi added.
In the company of Gulu City and Gulu district authorities, Mr Mutabazi visited SOS Children’s Village, Watoto shelter, and Presidential State Lodge near Taks Centre in Gulu City, to consider them as possible facilities to temporarily shelter the returnees.
“We have identified places where we are still engaging in conversation with owners to see whether we can be given space for purposes of bringing them. If we get this place, probably by the first week of September, we will be bringing them,” Mr Mutabazi said.
Mr Christopher Opiyo Ateker, the Gulu District chairman, expressed concern over possible places to resettle them.
“As Gulu District, we cannot fail to get a facility to resettle these people. During the 10th council, most of our facilities were taken by court bailiffs,” Mr Ateker said.
