UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
in Amin’s regime. They would follow you with your foot
mark up to the garden or bush and kill you like they killed
Brigadier Wilson Gad Toko.”
Participants in West Nile called for initiatives to memorialise their experiences during
displacement as these had altered their lives and particularly those of their children.
They lamented educational opportunities that were missed during that time, and the
fact that their culture was undermined by displacement and exile.
The quote from the participant in Adjumani illustrates that conflict
memories are often influenced or distorted by emotions such as anger
and grief and as a consequence may not always be correct. For example,
it is on record that Colonel Gad Toko died in a road accident along Jinja
Highway, not as a result of being killed in the bush by Acholi soldiers.
In northern Uganda, the overthrow of Tito Okello 29 marked the beginning of a protracted
situation of conflict and mass displacement. Participants in Gulu described the process
of displacement as happening in three phases. First, in 1988, an ultimatum was given
to the civilian population to leave their villages and move to Sir Samuel Baker School,
Pece, and Bungatira within 24 hours. Even before the 24 hours grace period had lapsed,
army soldiers began raping men, defecating in food, burning houses and killing civilians.
This was known as operation Fagia (“Sweeping”) purportedly led by General Salim
Saleh. 30 The second phase started in 1991, when NRA soldiers were involved in the
infamous Bucoro massacre from 14 th to 18 th March. The third, most widespread phase of
displacement started in 1996, when people were given 48 hours to leave their villages.
This third stage continued until 2006 and the beginning of the Juba Peace Talks, and was
characterised by mass forced displacement to IDP camps, ordered by the Government
as a military strategy. 31
In Adjumani, Lira and Teso, mass displacement occurred later, from 2003 onwards, with
similar consequences for the people living in those areas. In Adjumani, where people
were also displaced in the context of LRA rebel activity, participants lamented the fact
that their plight received much less attention than in the Acholi sub-region. Due to the
limited and late acknowledgement of displacement in Adjumani, it was argued, the
district did not benefit from post-conflict recovery and development initiatives. Indeed,
in 2006 Refugee Law Project found that “Unlike other war-affected districts in northern
Uganda, humanitarian assistance to IDPs [in Adjumani] has been intermittent and
commonly provided on a one-off basis.” This was mainly ascribed to the fact that the
conflict situation in Adjumani was under-recognized and that displacement was not the
result of a Government policy to transfer people to official IDP camps, resulting in less
visibility. 32
29 For more information, see conflict number 22 in this Compendium
30 For more information, see conflict number 56 in this Compendium
31 The Independent, 8 December 2009, Gen. Arond’s admission on camps exposes crimes against humanity
32 Refugee Law Project (2006). Invisibly displaced persons in Adjumani District, Working paper no. 19
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