UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
Government, Libyan President Gaddafi who supported Museveni and many dictators in
Africa, Juma Oris, Ali Bamuze, Moses Ali, Yoweri Museveni, Joseph Kony, Musa Ecweru,
Amin Onzi, as well as all Acholi and Langi in the UNLA military. The Tanzanian People’s
Defence Forces (TPDF) and the UNLA were also castigated for overthrowing Amin and
unleashing violence on the people of West Nile in revenge.
Importantly, all participants mentioned past presidents, along with the current
Government, as perpetrators. Victimhood was ascribed to the entire civilian population
of West Nile, and of Uganda at large.
“This conflict has affected all Ugandans in one way or
another and that is why we must all be involved in dealing
with its legacies and prevent future conflicts,”
declared one participant. 258 Participants identified a number of peace builders who
played a role in bringing about peace and reconciliation. The TPDF was lauded for
liberating Uganda from Amin. General Tito Okello Lutwa and Col. Gad Wilson Toko were
praised for forgiving Amin’s former soldiers and working to reconcile Acholi with West
Nilers.
Col. Toko is said to have been instrumental in a reconciliatory
cleansing ritual (bending of the spear) between West Nilers and Acholi
communities, in Palaro, the home of the late Brig. Okoya. This may
explain the non-involvement of West Nilers, especially the youth, in
counter-insurgency activities of the state in Acholi. The state is said to
have attempted to play the communities against each other through
resurrecting the old mutual post-Amin hatred. The Arua elders reportedly
restrained their youth from killing Acholi in the name of revenge, as
reconciliation between the communities had taken place. This explains
the conspicuous absence of West Nile militias in the northern Uganda
battlefront, save perhaps those in NRA/UPDF nominal list. 5
45. The West Nile Bank Front (1995 – 1998)
The West Nile Bank Front (WNBF) was an armed rebel group which formed in Uganda’s
West Nile region around 1995 under the leadership of Juma Oris, a former Foreign
Minister in Idi Amin’s government and a senior commander under Moses Ali at the time
of the United National Rescue Fund I (UNRF I).
After the National Resistance Movement (NRM) under Museveni came to power in 1986,
some former fighters of the UNRF I (1980-1985) were not given the official positions
initially promised. This perceived betrayal led former UNRF I commander Juma Oris to
form the WNBF in order to undermine Museveni’s control over the West Nile region.
Active throughout the West Nile region from 1995-1998, the group primarily consisted
of Kakwa members and recruited heavily from Arua, Moyo and Yumbe districts.
In doing so, Oris is said to have greatly “capitalised on the lack of development
258 Research conducted in Arua and Adjumani Districts
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