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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

UGANDA: Museveni says gov't needs to spend more on defence

KAMPALA, 31 March 2003 (IRIN) - President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda said on Sunday that the government was not spending enough on defence.

"The country's insecurity has been lingering on because of underspending on defence, which is a big mistake that will not be repeated," he told a conference of the ruling Movement party in the capital, Kampala.

He said the war against the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the north of the country had been going on for a long time "because we do not have good military equipment".

"If we have to defeat him [LRA leader Joseph Kony] we need to equip ourselves adequately," he stressed.

Museveni said it was "high time" that Kony and his commanders took advantage of the amnesty law to avoid being "defeated and crushed".

On 21 March, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that Uganda must stick to its budget plans, particularly in the area of defence.

Daniel Omara Atubo, a member of parliament for Otuke county in northern Uganda, told IRIN he did not support an increase in the defence budget. "The increase in the budget is just to fight wars which have turned out to be meaningless to our country," he said.

Another MP, Sebuliba Mutumba, concurred. "I think this increase of defence spending needs proper study, because if you look at some of our problems they are not military but political," he told IRIN.

Museveni's comments came after the LRA on Friday called for an unconditional ceasefire to cover the entire Acholi region in northern Uganda.

The government's current ceasefire, which covers Wipolo and Kayo-Lalogi in Pader district, was due to expire on Monday.

Minister for the Presidency Gilbert Bukenya told IRIN, however, that the government would not extend the ceasefire beyond the two areas unless the rebels assembled at pre-arranged sites.

"We want action from them," he said. "If they are serious, let them go and assemble in the areas we have offered them."

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

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