unshackling

In 2005, my friends, cousin, and I travelled from Gulu, Uganda, to Kampala to attend my cousin Douglas's graduation party. He had just graduated from Makerere University Business School with a bachelor’s degree, and we were excited to celebrate this significant milestone with him. The party took place at our uncle's home in Ntinda, and it was a fantastic event filled with food and drinks. The party ended on Saturday night, and we planned to travel back to Gulu on Sunday so we could be in school on Monday. Before leaving, we were invited to enjoy some leftovers and drink at our uncle's place. We indulged in the food and drinks, not knowing that these choices would later cause problems on our journey back to Gulu. Our Troubles Begin Sundays are typically not the best days to travel by public transportation. There are usually fewer travellers, and buses often take longer to find enough passengers before departing. It was a common practice for bus owners to cancel trips if ...

While campaigning in Gulu Town in November, former Makerere University vice chancellor and independent presidential candidate, Prof Venansius Baryamureeba, promised to institute a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate atrocities committed in northern Uganda. Despite the prevailing peace in the region, some questions continue to be asked by victims of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)-UPDF war if those who committed crimes against them will ever be held accountable. Unfortunately for the victims, the government of Uganda has been quiet despite several calls from the civil society and politicians that a truth and reconciliation commission be set up to investigate the violations by both the LRA and UPDF and bring perpetrators to justice. Analysts argue that the government is worried about unearthing its own crimes, committed by the UPDF. They point out that the lack of significant steps to understand and heal the past could spiral more violence and conflict in future. T...

--> Written by Alex Okello Ouma At Okol primary school in Omot sub-county in Pader, studying under the tree is all but normal to an estimated 300 pupils. According to the head teacher, Mr. Omech Ben Robert, some pupils walk for over 5 kilometers to and fro school every day because of their desire and willingness to learn but quite often get scared away for the harsh and unfriendly school environment. Okol primary school has no class room structure except a tent that was supplied by Unicef. He added that since the start of the first term of 2010, his school has registered an increase in enrolment from 150 to close to 300 children but expressed a big worry over the retention of such children in school. The case of Okol primary school is but one out of the many schools in northern Uganda that have harsh or hostile learning environments. A recent survey with over 400 children in Kitgum and Pader revealed that corporal punishment in schools, lack of seating facilities, inad...

January 10, 2015 Last week, news emerged that one of LRA’s top leaders, Dominic Ogwen, who was indicted and is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity and war crimes, was captured by Seleka rebels in Central Africa Republic and handed over to US Forces. There were news reports that US Forces would transfer him to Uganda, who have expressed interest in trying him at home. Ongwen’s capture has reignited the debate on International Criminal Justice of the ICC versus Domestic Justice. The questions being asked are: Should Ongwen be tried in Uganda? What compromise can be drawn between the ICC and Uganda Court system that meets both domestic and international demands for justice? Does Uganda’s International Crimes Division (ICD) of the High Court have the necessary capacity to try Dominic Ongwen or other Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel commanders with fairness and due process? To put this debate into context, it is important to understand what t...

When you feel that your voice cannot be heard because you have a different sexual orientation, belong to a certain religion, are from a certain tribe, or support a certain political party, what president Yoweri Museveni said about intolerant leaders of the past may not make sense to you. I refer to the article titled “Intolerant leaders are bad, says Museveni” that appeared in the Daily Monitor of Thursday April 10th 2014. While speaking at the burial of former Transport minister Stanislaus Okurut in Ngoro district, Mr. Museveni reportedly blamed Uganda’s post-independence political turmoil on the intolerance of past leaders. His remark received mixed reaction from some politicians, mainly those in the opposition, as well as from the academia, many of who consider some of our present leaders just as intolerant as those in the past. The English dictionary describes tolerance as “a fair, objective, and permissive attitude towards those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, natio...

In the Daily Monitor of January 27 2014, it was reported that Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel leader Joseph Kony wrote to Ugandans seeking forgiveness and resumption of peace talks. This comes amidst unconfirmed media reports that Kony’s health is deteriorating. Joseph Kony was indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2005 for war crimes and crimes against humanity, he has since been on the run and divining his intention is very difficult. He has disappointed Ugandans in a number of peace talks with the latest being in 2008 when he refused to sign the final peace deal after a long period of negotiation. Many Ugandans will not take Kony’s new peace talk demands seriously. In his attempt to show his innocence, Kony purportedly claimed that some of the massacres in Northern Uganda were committed by the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) to spoil his name. Vague as it may sound, this latest accusation is similar to a narrative shared by a number of victims of the war tha...