KAMPALA, Uganda – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, met on Sunday with AFRICOM Commander General Carter Ham and U.S. advisors to assess the multinational effort to remove Joseph Kony from the battlefield and counter the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). During a two-day visit to Uganda, the Senator met with President Museveni and thanked him for the efforts of the Ugandan military to root out the LRA and for the strong partnership between the U.S. and the Ugandan people. Senator Coons also visited the northern Uganda community of Gulu, where the United States is supporting efforts to rebuild communities affected by the LRA.
“I was encouraged to hear from commanders on the ground in Uganda about progress that’s being made in the U.S. mission to advise and assist regional militaries in the hunt for Joseph Kony,” Senator Coons said. “Kony represents the worst of mankind, and he and his lieutenants must be held accountable for the war crimes they have committed in Central Africa. I was glad to receive an update and assessment from AFRICOM Commander General Ham and U.S. advisors working with the Ugandan military, and I thanked President Museveni for his support of multilateral efforts to counter the LRA. I was also heartened by the scope and impact of U.S. efforts to rebuild communities in Northern Uganda, where communities were devastated by the LRA. While the people of Gulu will never fully heal from the deep scars left by the LRA, there is a brighter future ahead thanks, in part, to the commitment of the United States.”
The Ugandan military, with the assistance of advisors from the United States, is leading the mission to capture or kill Kony and his top commanders, who are responsible for crimes against humanity across Central Africa. In LRA-affected communities in Northern Uganda, the United States is helping to rebuild government office buildings, schools and teacher houses, health clinics and health clinic housing, markets, boreholes, and police and justice facilities, among other programs. Senator Coons visited the Northern Uganda Development of Enhanced Livelihoods (NUDEIL) program, clinics, and other projects supported by NGOs and USAID.
Coons also met with Ugandan Minister for Water Resources and Member of Parliament Betty Bigombe, the last Ugandan to negotiate with Kony. In 2004 and 2005, Bigombe was the lead mediator of a proposed peace treaty with the Lord’s Resistance Army, which collapsed at the last minute when Kony refused to sign.
Earlier this year, Senator Coons led 40 of his Senate colleagues in introducing a bipartisan resolution condemning the crimes against humanity committed by the LRA and supporting ongoing U.S. and regional efforts to remove Kony from the battlefield. In April, he chaired an African Affairs Subcommittee on U.S. policy to counter the LRA.
To download the pictures from the CODEL, click here.
To read more about Senator Coons’ work on Joseph Kony and the LRA, click here.
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