UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
the northern Districts of Gulu and Kitgum, included Okello Keno, in charge of Pabbo,
Kilama Mike, in charge of Paicho, and Walter Ochora
Odoch, in charge of Anaka. As the first armed
insurrection against the government
of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, 309 they
launched their first attack on
government forces in northern
Uganda in August 1986. 310
Initial UPDA successes
forced the NRA to
withdraw from the
countryside and
retreat to the towns
of Gulu and Kitgum,
but in the absence of
a decisive defeat of
the NRA, the conflict
only fuelled atrocities
in the region. On 31
October 1986, a civil
society organisation
called ‘Goodwill Peace
Mission’ advocated
peace talks and, with
President Museveni’s
endorsement, met the UPDA
in the bush. The politician
and Acholi elder, Tiberio Okeny
Atwoma, led a team of five people
to Juba to discuss ending the war.
This talk set the stage for peace talks
between the Government and UPDA leaders,
which eventually resulted in the Pece Peace Accord (sometimes referred to as the Gulu
Peace Accord), signed on 3 June 1988 in Pece Stadium (Gulu town) in the presence of
five thousand citizens. 311 This Accord marked the end of UPDA rebellion and resulted
in the integration of the UPDA into the NRA. 312 The Accord also called for the release
of prisoners of war, resettlement of displaced people, rehabilitation of infrastructure
destroyed by the war, establishment of a government endorsed by the people of
Uganda, an expansion of Parliament as well as a Constitutional Assembly to discuss a
309 Lindemann, S. (2011) Just another change in guard? Broad-based politics and civil war in Museveni’s
Uganda. African Affairs 110 (440), pp. 387-416
310 Doom, R. and Vlassenroot, K. (1999) Kony’s Message: A New Koine? The Lord’s Resistance Army in
Northern Uganda. African Affairs 98 (390), pp. 5-36.; Lindemann, S. (2011) Just another change in guard?
Broad-based politics and civil war in Museveni’s Uganda. African Affairs 110 (440), pp. 387-416
311 Ibid
312 Lindemann, S. (2011) Just another change in guard? Broad-based politics and civil war in Museveni’s
Uganda. African Affairs 110 (440), pp. 387-416
142