NORTHERN UGANDA: KONY TO MEET DELEGATION AUGUST 20

UNCLAS KAMPALA 001129 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL UG SU CG CT SUBJECT: NORTHERN UGANDA: KONY TO MEET DELEGATION AUGUST 20 REF: A. KAMPALA 1097 ¶B. KHARTOUM 1231 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) delegation leader Dr. David Matsanga claims that Joseph Kony is committed to meeting with his delegation on August 20/21. Matsanga reportedly told Kony that he needed to show up in order to put the onus on the Government of Uganda to provide answers to his questions about how the International Criminal Court warrants would be suspended. Donor-funded food is set to be delivered to the Rikwangba assembly area on August 19. U.N. Special Envoy for LRA-Affected Areas Joachim Chissano will be in Kampala, Nairobi, and Juba from August 14 to 20 and may attend the meeting if the date holds from August 20 or 21. There is continued confusion among former and current LRA delegation members over who Kony wants at the meeting. We remain skeptical that Kony will show up. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) LRA delegation leader Dr. David Matsanga maintains that Joseph Kony is committed to the meeting with his delegation on August 20/21. (retels). Matsanga told P/E Chief on August 12 that Kony wanted answers to questions about the timeline and steps the Government of Uganda (GOU) would take to get the International Criminal Court warrants suspended. Matsanga claims that he persuaded Kony to show up at Rikwangba because Kony could then "put the ball back in the GOU's court." Matsanga said he told Kony that currently, the international community and northern Ugandans viewed him (Kony) as holding up the peace process. Matsanga reportedly told Kony that the mediator, southern Sudan's Vice President Riek Machar and the facilitator, U.N. Special Envoy for LRA-Affected Areas Joachim Chissano, were essential for the process to suspend the warrants. According to Matsanga, if Kony discusses the agreement with his delegation in the presence of the mediator and facilitator, it would demonstrate Kony's commitment to the process and put pressure on the GOU to implement its obligations under the agreement. Matsanga expressed his concern that there was no Luo version of the Final Peace Agreement and that Machar turned down his request for 20,000 USD for translation. ¶3. (SBU) Kony is purportedly also in contact with the former members of the LRA delegation, including Santa Okot. Okot told P/E Chief on August 13 that Kony expects a number of former LRA delegates to explain the agreement to him. Kony reportedly informed Okot that he opposed any additional donor funding to Machar's peace secretariat in Juba. Okot relayed this information to donors in Kampala. Matsanga claimed that Okot and other former delegation members would not be welcome at Rikwangba. ¶4. (SBU) Chissano will arrive in Kampala on August 14 and travel in the region through August 20. He will travel to Nairobi to meet with Matsanga on August 16 or 17. Chissano will attend Kony's meeting with his delegation if it starts on or near the dates of August 20 or 21. If the meeting gets pushed back or Kony's presence becomes doubtful, Chissano will return to Mozambique. The donor-funded food delivery through CARITAS to Rikwangba is scheduled for August 19, barring any unexpected delays, according to Warner Tan Kate, the director of Chissano's office in Kampala. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: Preparations continue to move forward, but we remain skeptical that the event will hold largely because Kony's actions indicate that the idea of having a meeting with his delegation is a time-buying tactic. The food delivery will be made before the meeting so Kony may make excuses after his porters cart off the donated items. Matsanga did not indicate that the lack of a Luo translation was a show-stopper, but we sense that it could be another justification for further delays in the future. Publicly, GOU officials, who are not invited, have adopted a wait-and-see-if-Kony-shows approach to the meeting. Matsanga (a non-Acholi) is the titular leader of the LRA delegation, but Kony continues to talk to fellow Acholi, Santa Okot, because he (Kony) would need Acholi support in order to return to his home in northern Uganda. U.N. officials remain concerned that Kony has not given any names of individual participants on the LRA side. BROWNING