The Peace Negotiations between the LRA and the Government of Uganda in Juba offers the best opportunity to end the two decade war that has destroyed the socioeconomic potentials of northern Uganda. Since the commencement of the Juba Peace Talks in 14^th July 2006, people are hopeful for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. Five agenda items (Cessation of Hostilities, Comprehensive Solution, Accountability and Reconciliation, Ceasefire and DDR and an implementation Protocol has been agreed to for discussion by both the LRA and Government of Uganda. Although the final outcome is not yet clear, there has been progress towards a comprehensive settlement. Agreement has been reached on all the five agenda items and and the implementation protocol.

• The Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CHA) was signed on 26^th August 2006 and has been renewed seven times. Although the spirit of Cessation of  Hostilities has been upheld, the last renewal of 25th March has since expired on April 16th 2008.

• The Comprehensive Solutions Agreement was signed on 2^nd May 2007; to spell out the roadmap to removing the sources of conflict in Uganda

• The Accountability and Reconciliation Agreement signed on 29^th June 2007; meant to spell out the justice mechanism for holding all those who were responsible for committing war crimes on both the LRA and UPDF sides and achieving reconciliation following the conflict. Annexture on the implementation protocol was signed on February 19,  2008.

• Agreement on Permanent Ceasefire Agreement that will bring hostilities to a total end was signed on February 23rd 2008

• Agreement on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDRR) of the LRA forces was signed on 29 February 2008

• Agreement on Implementation Protocol to clearly describe the procedure for the implementation of all the above agreements was signed on 25 March 2008.  

Below are the events in Juba since peace talks kicked off in 2006.

JUBA PEACE TALKS SNAP SHOT

November 5, 2008: The Chief Mediator in the Juba Peace Initiative, Dr. Riek Machar supported by the UN Special Envoy for LRA Affected Areas, Joachim Chissano convened a high profiled stakeholders’ consultative meeting at Speke Resort Munyonyo – Kampala to chart a way forward for the staled peace process. The meeting was attended by the GoU peace delegation, the LRA delegation, the 5 African Observers, members of the CHMT, GOSS officials, DR Congo officials, cultural & religious leaders from Northern Uganda, local leaders/politician, the Chairman of the Amnesty Commission, Donors/development partners, International observers and CSOs among others. The LRA was represented by Dr. Matsanga, his deputy Justine Labeja (their first time in Uganda after 22 years) and two other team member based in Uganda. A declaration from the meeting gave the LRA upto end of November 2008 to sign the Final Peace agreement.

May 2008: The government set up a special war crimes court with the mandate to try the LRA in an attempt to convince the ICC to withdraw its indictments against LRA leaders.

 13th May 2008: A Communiqué was issued by the delegation of political, cultural, religious, opinion leaders and elders from the greater north, this came as a result of the meeting that was convened by Rwot Achana in the camp in Nabanga. The meeting was attended by the stakeholders from Uganda, the LRA delegation and some members of the cessation of hostilities monitoring team

April 2008: The Paramount Chief of Acholi, Rwot Achana II convene two workshops, the first one was with the support of the peace secretariat and GoSS from 17^th & 18^th April 2008 at Juba Bridge Lodge Hotel in Juba. The second one was with the support of the Royal Netherlands Embassy attended by key stakeholders at Fairway Hotel in Kampala on 6^th & 7^th May 2008 to discuss the concerns of the LRA leader over the relationship between the justice mechanisms and the special division of the high court as agreed upon in Juba. Both the LRA and the GoU delegations were represented in the meeting.

March 2008: Kony delayed the signing of the final treaty further from March 26 2008, the to April 5 2008, then to 10 April 2008, reportedly asking for more information about what kind of punishments he could face. He later clarified that he wanted to know further details about how mato-oput, the Acholi traditional justice, would be used, and how exactly the special division of the High Court would work; he then suspended the peace talks and appointed a new negotiating team, claiming to "have been misled"

March 25 2008: The LRA and GOU peace team signed the second last agreement; “an agreement on monitoring and implementation”, officially marking an end of negotiations that have come to be called the Juba Peace process. The text of the Final Peace Agreement was initialled by both parties pending signing by their principals on April 10 2008. 

March 12 2008: As final talks were set to continue, the ICC inquired as to the precise definition of the powers of the proposed intra-Ugandan war crimes court section, in a move seen as softening the indictments on the LRA rebels.

March 12 2008: The truce on was extended until March 28, 2008, and the final peace talks will continue on March 12, 2008. The ICC prosecutor-general Luis Moreno-Ocampo on March 5, 2008 rejected demands by the rebels for a meeting.

29 February 2008: An accord on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration was signed late, leaving the signing of the peace treaty itself as the last missing action.

February 28, 2008: More problems appeared as the rebels demanded retraction of the ICC indictments.

February 23rd 2008: A permanent ceasefire to come into effect 24 hours after signing a comprehensive peace treaty was agreed upon

February 22, 2008: The rebels walked out of the talks again after being denied senior government posts. However, shortly thereafter they signed another breakthrough agreement according to which they "would be considered for government and army posts", but not automatically appointed

February 19,  2008: An annexture was signed on agenda III which decided that the war crimes would be tried in a special section of the High Court of Uganda, thus bypassing the International Criminal Court and also removing one of the last obstacles to a final peace deal.

February 3, 2008:  A breakthrough in negotiations was reached regarding accountability and reconciliation. The European Union and the United States joined the negotiations, increasing the number of observers to eight.

January 30, 2008: Peace Talks resumed   and the ceasefire was extended until February 29, 2008.

December 12- 20, 2007: The government set an ultimatum for the peace talks to conclude by January 31, 2008, threatening a new military offensive. The death of Vincent Otti, confirmed in mid-January, 2008, reportedly threatened the success of the talks.

8 October 2007: Reports surfaced that LRA deputy commander, Gen. Vincent Otti had been executed over an internal power struggle with Kony.

November 2007: LRA delegation led by Martin Ojul arrived in Kampala to restate their commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

June 29, 2007: The two sides agreed to the principles of how justice and reconciliation would be handled, the third of the five-point agenda. March 2006: President Salva Kiir announces he wants to mediate the talks between the government of Uganda and the LRA rebel leaders.

June 2007: A deal is reached on the principles of Accountability and Reconciliation

April 2007: Talks resume and two weeks later a deal is reached on comprehensive solutions.

Feb 2007: Gen. Salim Saleh meets some LRA delegates in Mombasa in attempt to resolve the stalemate; Chissano meets the LRA delegation; he also meets Kony in Garamba.

Jan 2007: President Bashir of Sudan threatens to “get rid of the LRA from Sudan” and LRA announces withdrawal from the peace process in protest.

Dec 2006: Former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano named UN special envoy for LRA affected Areas.

Nov 2006: UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland meets Kony in Garamba. His call for release of children and women fall on deaf ears

Oct 2006: Museveni flies to Juba and holds a tense but historic meeting with LRA negotiators

Sept 2006: Kony hosts more than 100 leaders and relatives from northern Uganda at his Garamba base in Dr Congo.

Aug 2006: LRA negotiators walk out following government refusal to discuss cessation of hostilities first; UPDF forces kill LRA indictee Raska Lukwiya in Kitgum and LRA negotiators suspend talks to mourn for three days; but finally a cessation of hostilities deal is agreed.

July 2006: The peace talks kick off in Juba presided over by Salva Kiir

June 2006: Kony appoints peace negotiators who fly to Juba the same month; Museveni names his negotiators led by Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda

May 2006: Dr. Reiek Machar meets Kony, he denies war crime charges and calls for peace talks; Kiir delivers Kony’s message to president Museveni.

April 2006: LRA deputy leader Vincent Otti holds crucial meeting with Riek Machar

 And much more coming soon!!