Gulu: From war zone to a city of hope
Editorial - April 5 2009 - Taken from the
Monitor Newspaper
When Chairman Nobert Mao took over the leadership of Gulu
progressive things started to come out of this district whose name
had become a metaphor for rebel activity.
On Wednesday, other refreshing news about a team of Australian designers
being in town to put the final touches on the proposed Gulu City plan
broke.
Gulu has preserved a sense of some order and industry despite being the
epicentre for the wars that have wracked northern Uganda. This
has been down to two things: it being the economic hub of the greater
north; and being the de facto home (after Kampala) to hundreds of
humanitarian organisations that have operated up north.
With enlightened leadership, the municipality has built
on this and recently moved to do something unusual – demolished illegal
structures that had been erected on road reserves.
In this era of land grabbing and crooked public officials allowing all
sorts of mayhem to rein in their domains, Gulu’s actions were an
inspiration.
Yes, it might have one or two problems but the district
marking its centenary in 2010 gives a sense of hope to the first time
visitor. The carving of Amuru District out of Gulu will probably
have helped as it essentially meant the leadership would now be freed
from the burden of providing much-needed social services to far-flung
parts on a tight budget.
With a smaller geographical area and population to manage, they could
now concentrate on the objective of delivering a properly planned urban
habitat truly deserving in holding city status.
No doubt money from the ‘NGO economy’ and the Acholi Diaspora has driven
growth over the years, spawning an industry in restaurants and lodgings,
for one.
The underlying lesson, however, is that with focused leadership it is
possible to grow Uganda’s fledgling quasi-urban centres into properly
planned and serviced conurbations.
The municipalities of Jinja, Mbarara and Mbale, which are yearning after
cityhood, would do themselves a lot of good if they paid Mr Mao a
courtesy call.
Gulu Closes Night Shelters
Thursday, 29th March, 2007 from the New Vision Newspaper
By Caroline Ayugi
GULU district wants all night shelters to close within
one month. The decision follows reports that the number of night
commuters in the town has dropped from 15,000 in May 2006 to less than
500 last month.
The fall is attributed to the improved security situation in northern
Uganda.
“The children are continuing to report in the existing night centres
because of special needs other than the original security concerns,” a
report by the district disaster management committee reads.
Night commuters are children who go and sleep at shelters in the towns
of northern Uganda for fear of abduction by the LRA rebels.
Their numbers had soared to over 40,000 at the peak of the insurgency in
2003.
The phenomenon was a source of inspiration for films like Invisible
Children and Lost Children, which in turn inspired thousands all over
the world to participate in the so-called Gulu Walk.
Of the 21 night shelters that were established by NGOs in 2004, 11 have
been closed, according to the probation officer of Gulu, Samuel Ouma.
The district now wants the remaining ones to close within one month.
“The few night commuters today are just children from broken families
and a few displaced,” Ouma told The New Vision.
“So the major problem affecting such children is no longer insecurity.
Such children are affected by social problems and they have to be taken
back to their relatives.”
Ouma explained that the district met with the managers of the night
shelters and agreed that they should stop receiving night commuters.
Total orphans will be identified and handed over to their relatives.
“We have been following up on night commuters who have settled back in
their homes. We found that they were coping well and were engaged in
income generating activities, such as brick-laying and small-scale
farming,” he said.
The number of formerly abducted children returning from captivity has
also gone down considerably.
The two rehabilitation centres in Gulu; World Vision and Gulu Support
the Children Organisation, are almost empty, except for four
unaccompanied children, whose relatives are still being traced, and four
sick children.
As a result of the truce, in place since August last year, few children
have been returning from captivity. Most abducted children escape during
battles.
US, UPDF engineers build Lira bridge
Wednesday, 6th May, 2009
New Vision Newspaper
By Henry Mukasa
US and Ugandan military engineers have finished
reconstructing the Walela bridge in Aromo sub-county in Lira district.
The bridge was broken down following the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)
insurgency in the north.
According to a statement issued by the UPDF on Tuesday, the poor
condition of the bridge had hindered the residents from accessing Lira
town, especially during the rainy season. The joint team, based in
Magamaga in Mayuge district, completed the works in six months.
According to Eng. Jonathan Poellot, a member of the joint team, the
bridge could last up to 100 years before any major repairs are done if
it is well maintained.
The bridge will be commissioned on Tuesday. The works and transport
minister, Eng. John Nasasira, is expected to preside over the function
which will be attended by US army and embassy officials, UPDF officers,
MPs and local leaders.
The joint team also plans to work on Apita bridge, which was destroyed
by a fighter tank. It is located about
4km from Walela bridge.
Other bridges to be constructed include Aromo, and Kaguta, which
President Yoweri Museveni had promised to repair.
Meanwhile, the US army and UPDF engineers have also completed
construction of a hospital in Pader. It was launched on Tuesday.
The UPDF 5th Division spokesperson, Capt. Deo Akiiki, commended the team
over the works.
“We thank the US military and our gallant sons and daughters for
reaching out to the communities, especially after the population has
gone through the LRA rebel insurgency,” he said.
“The bridges will help uplift development in these
areas and hasten implementation of government programmes. This is what
it means to have productive and professional armies,” he added.
Regional Special |
March 28, 2008 Monitor Newspaper
Gulu plans for returnee IDPs
Cissy Makumbi
Gulu
GULU District local government has earmarked
Shs1.5 billion for construction of 80 boreholes, 40 new class rooms,
120 teachers’ quarters and 30 health centers.
Speaking to Daily Monitor on Wednesday, the
Secretary for Works, Mr Alex Otim said the money would be used for
setting up infrastructures in areas where people have returned in
all the eleven sub-counties.
“The district is setting up infrastructure in
areas where people have returned in all the eleven sub counties, so
that they can get access
to services,” he said.
“As people return home, there is need for
infrastructure to be put in place so that people can get access to
basic needs,” Mr Otim said.
He said they are only setting up infrastructure in
areas where people have returned, he said. ” We are not setting up
infrastructure in internally displaced camps (IDPs) but at the sites
where people have returned to,” he said.
He said the contractors would begin work next
month. And they are using local contractors so that communities can
benefit from the project.
“There are 120 contractors who they were trained
and they have the skills in delivering services to the community,”
Mr Otim said. he said they have given them one month to finish the
work, so that the beneficiaries make use of the services as they
return, Mr Otim said.
”We expect the contractors to finish the work in a
period of one month, so that the returning population gets access to
the services,” he said. He warned the contractors against doing
shoddy work.
“Contractors who do shoddy work will not be given
more contracts,” he said.
Mr Otim said they expect the residents to benefit
alot when the infrastructure.
From Monitor Newspaper
Experts boost Gulu’s push for city status
By Moses Akena & Paul Amoru
Apr 3, 2009
Gulu
The push to elevate Gulu Municipality into a city
has gone a step higher with the invitation of Australian experts
who have started drawing structural plans.
Daily Monitor has learnt that the structural plan is at the
final stages after a team of international designers from
Australia studied the town for two days.
The 11-member team from Integrated Design Group Sydney, studied
satellite images of the town and visited a number of sites to be
redesigned.
Mr Tony Mcburnay, the leader of the team, told Daily Monitor on
Wednesday that the plan to make Gulu a model city is going
according to plan.
Mr Mcburnay said, “I see a possibility in that happening due to
the response of the participants. The plan to make a collection
of satellite towns within one big city is a very big vision
indeed.”
He revealed that many cities are trying to regain the plan of
having satellite towns within one big city after realising that
people have to move a long distance to access offices and
necessary facilities.
“Gulu’s plan is possible because due to the war, the town has
not expanded much and therefore areas for the satellite towns
are not much crowded,” he said.
The group engaged participants in a two-day discussion at
Kampala Pentecostal Church, Gulu. They were invited by KPC as
part of their effort to help in the recovery of the north.
The plan seeks to have four satellite towns, a library, and
green spaces in the heart of the city.
Other planned facilities are the beautification of the city and
an international hotel.
The town is the economic capital of northern Uganda.
The town has 140,000 residents and is served by Gulu Airport.
Gulu LC5 chairman Norbert Mao said, “It is coming at the right
time for us because next year, Gulu town will be celebrating 100
years of existence. Besides, Local Government Minister,
Honorable Adolf Mwesigye has given us a go ahead.”
Pastor Joseph Ogwal of KPC Gulu said the church is supporting
the north as part of its effort to give back to the community.
The municipality has of recent demolished illegal structures and
those built on road reserves as part of its effort to achieve a
city status.
For a town to be declared a city, it must have a population of
at least 500,000 people, but the planners hope the government
might relax this law.
Peace in northern Uganda offers huge dividends for
banking sectorFebruary 17, 2009 Monitor Newspaper
Patience Aber & Justine Muboka
Gulu
It all started deep in the jungles of
South Sudan, when Joseph Kony disclosed his readiness to
talk peace during an exclusive interview with Jonah Fisher,
a renowned BBC journalist.
“I cannot prick the eye of my own brother.
I want peace,” the elusive Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)
rebel leader said then, dismissing critics who accused him
of killing his own kinsmen.
Kony’s comments made headlines in media
houses around the world and were preceded by the Juba peace
talks, which for the first time in two decades ushered in a
lull of peace across the greater north. In spite of Kony’s
repeated failures to sign a final peace accord, northern
Uganda is without doubt returning to normalcy.
Business Power has conducted a study of
how the newfound peace will impact the local population,
focusing on the great influx of banks to the war-battered
region since last year.
Property developers, hoteliers,
wholesalers, retailers and other service providers have all
made their way to the regional capital, Gulu.
The hustle and the bustle is clearly
visible as tracks laden with merchandise headed for Southern
Sudan roar across the town.
Dinkas from Southern Sudan sip sodas
leisurely at a car park nestled along Dr. Aliker Road, as
they watch their goods being loaded into the Fuso Lorries
almost daily. Banks including Crane, Barclays, DFCU,
Standard Chartered, Orient, Fina and KCB have opened
branches in Gulu to take advantage of the boom in trade.
“Usually in the aftermath of a war, a lot
of money is poured to reconstruct the infrastructure that
could have been damaged by the warlords,” said Mr Sam
Katwere, assistant communications director for the Bank of
Uganda.
Mr Katwere attributes the growing number
of banks to the trade now booming along the Juba-Southern
Sudan corridor.
“I was at the Standard Charted Bank the
other day and I found out that the ATM machine operates in
both English and Arabic,” noted Mr Katwere.
Executive director of Kenya Commercial
Banks, Nok Bwonditi says his company wants to create a link
between the two East African countries.
“Our customers in Southern Sudan have been
pressing us to open a branch in Arua, Lira, Kitgum and Gulu.
As you know, a lot of money is being poured in Southern
Sudan in terms of reconstructions, but all the money finds
its way to northern Uganda through trade and people who come
to do shopping,” Mr Bwonditi said.
Mr Bwonditi added that there are already
dynamic economic activities including small market
enterprise institutions and agro-processing activities that
companies such as Dunavan and Mukwano are carrying out in
partnership with KCB.
But northern communities still face the
major challenge of finding start-up capital for businesses
and accessing bank loans.
Gulu Resident District Commissioner Col.
Walter Ochora says it’s important for district land boards
to speed up the process of giving locals land titles, which
they could use as collateral for loans.
Ochora said plans are under way to have a
vibrant economy in Gulu: “We want the petrol stations,
hospitals and other businesses to operate 24 hours to boost
the economy.”
Noah Opwonya, chairman of the National
Chamber of Commerce, said Gulu is now wide open for
business. He estimates that at least 300 to 500 trucks cross
the border with Southern Sudan every week, and says he
envisions a time when Acholiland may once again become the
bread basket of Uganda.
“Upland rice is one of our major crops and
with people now going back to the villages I think we can
soon be selling it back to the World Food Programme, and why
not the Middle East and Europe—it’s organic after all” he
said.
Mr Opwonya explains that since most
farmers in the region are still rebuilding their homes from
the ruin caused by two decades of insurgency, it is
important that the financial institutions support them by
hiring out farm implements like tractors to facilitate
commercial farming.
Francis Agaba, a timber dealer, says the
new banks are a relief to him. “When I first came to Gulu in
2006 there were only two banks, but right now I hold three
accounts in different banks. When one bank is busy I switch
to the next one to save time,” Mr Agaba said.
Mr Agaba, who supplies Kitgum, Gulu and
Pader with timber, says business is growing at an impressive
rate. “Two years ago, I used to supply 20 or 30 trucks a
week, but now I supply 40 to 50 trucks,” he said.
But some of the north’s economic boom is
facing controversy. Harsh arguments have broken out between
locals, Acholi leaders and the government over plans to
establish a sugarcane plantation and factory in the oil-rich
Amuru District, home to some of the region’s most fertile
land.
|
Personal Invitation:
I would like to invite you to visit Northern Uganda and see
for yourself what the reality on the ground is like in Northern
Uganda. It is quite different than what people imagine...jon |
Alice
Auma Lakwena: The warrior priestess who led thousands of
Acholi warriors into battle with sticks and stones. Joseph
Kony was her cousin but the two were very different, Alice Lakwena
before her death repeatedly asked Joseph Kony to give up his
destructive ways.
Who
is Joseph Kony? Profile and Background of Joseph Kony
and the Child Soldiers of the Lord's Resistance Army. Joseph
Kony has enslaved thousands into becoming child soldiers, made girls
into concubines, displacing millions from their homes in Uganda.
Joseph Kony's
Mother's dying Wish.
Catherine Ajok:-
13 years in captivity with the LRA, recently set free. A forced
wife of Joseph Kony, read her story of being kidnapped one night from
her secondary school, her captivity and eventual freedom from being
enslaved by Joseph Kony and the LRA.
The War in Northern Uganda:
The war has deeply affected Uganda's North. Thousands were
killed by the LRA, thousands of children abducted by Kony's Army, many
disfigured and maimed, Two million people displaced from their homes.
Villages burned, Displacement Camps attacked, parents left without their
children, a way to make a living. Now in 2009 Northern Uganda is
rebuilding, but the scars of war remain, mostly within the people of
Northern Uganda.
Where are the children of the LRA?
Over 30,000 children were abducted and enslaved by the LRA in
northern and then eastern Uganda. The question on the mind of
Ugandans and South Sudanese is this -Where are the Children that were
enslaved by the LRA?
Northern
Uganda - Peace - Give it a Chance It has been a long night
for northern Uganda. The return to the villages and towns is an
adjustment from the Internally displaced camps. It is slowly
happening, there are struggles, but the fruits of the peace brought
about a cessation of hostilities can be seen.
Amnesty for LRA Child Soldiers? What you may not realize 24,000
former LRA members have been given amnesty by the Uganda Amnesty
Commission. Find out what traditional ways are used to bring healing to
the community.
The
Night Commuters of Northern Uganda Every evening they
would walk for miles to stay safe from the attacks and abductions of
Joseph Kony' Army. Sleeping in the streets, bus parks, schools,
hospitals and simply under the awning of store-fronts, doing their
homework by the light of gas stations.
Child
Soldiers - Victims or Assailants: A look at child soldiers
in history, where child soldiers are found with lessons learned from the
LRA and Joseph Kony. From Colombia to the Congo, from Afghanistan to
Darfur, Child soldiers are a reality.
Background information to the LRA and
child soldiers.
Uganda 2009 and Joseph Kony LRA: Where is Joseph Kony? The present situation regarding the war with
the LRA in northern Uganda. What is going on with Joseph Kony and his
LRA? How large is the LRA at this time? Joseph Kony, is fortunately alive and
well inside of the DRC, continuing his rampage of killing and
destruction and abduction on the population of the DRC around Garamba
National Park.
Joseph Kony LRA News
Updates: Latest updates regarding the LRA, Joseph
Kony and activities of the LRA now in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Joseph Kony is no longer just a menace to Uganda's north, that was bad
enough, now he is terrorizing a region of North Eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo and continuing his path of destruction and death.
It is still not Christmas in Northern Uganda:
Written - Christmas
2006, Peace talks were under way, there was a glimmer of hope.
The people of the north were weary of the future. The cessation of
hostilities agreement had been signed, but it was not known what it
meant and if it would hold. Over the years there had been many
promises, but little fulfillment of them.
It does not feel like Christmas-Joseph Kony-Christmas 2008:
Operation Lightning Thunder began against the LRA on December 14, 2008.
The peace talks have failed, Joseph Kony refusing to sign the treaty due
to his fears regarding the indictments against him by the International
Criminal Court and his impending arrest. He also wants more
clarification on the Amnesty program inside of Uganda and how and if it
would apply to him.
Uganda is more than Idi Amin, Joseph Kony and the LRA:
The images that westerners have of Uganda is amazing. Rarely do
those images reflect the reality of Uganda. People see Uganda as a
dangerous place, they do not see as a country that is thriving in many
areas, as a country that is rebuilding the North of Uganda with the help
of many. They do not see the pearl of Africa, but filter it all
through the lenses of Joseph Kony, Idi Amin, LRA.
Uganda's
Child Soldiers (Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army): For
20 some years the war raged in Northern Uganda. This is what it
was like. Originally written in 2005, it gives you insight what
life was like in the north of Uganda as the LRA and Joseph Kony.
Here are some of the past Blogs
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