Sudan has refused to join the African Union-led Regional Cooperation Initiative for the Elimination of the Lord’s Resistance Army (RCI-LRA), saying that the rebel group has no presence in its territory, the South Sudan Tribune reports.
Quoting a senior Sudanese official, the South Sudan Tribune reported today that Sudan will not join the fight against the LRA.
This follows a communication by the fifth Ministerial Meeting of the Joint Coordination Mechanism (JCM) of the RCI-LRA which took place in Addis Ababa on 20th May which called for the sustainment of counter-LRA efforts until the LRA is eliminated.
“Whereas the capacity of the LRA has been significantly degraded to the extent of not posing a political threat to any state in the region, the LRA still has a capacity to regroup, rebuild itself and resume atrocities against defenceless civilians,” the communication partly read.
The meeting requested the AU Peace and Security Council to renew the mandate of the RCI-LRA for more twelve months until 2017.
In September 2015, the AU special envoy for LRA issues, Retired General Jackson Tuwei visited Khartoum and met with Sudanese military and civilian officials who denied the presence of the LRA and Kony in Sudan but assured the AU of their full cooperation, including facilitating a future joint visit to Kafia Kingi where Joseph Kony the LRA leader is suspected to be hiding.
Reports however, indicate that the LRA are moving between the borders of Darfur, Central Africa Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo after having their presence in South Sudan exposed by the military there. Also, there were media reports that Kony is present in Kafia Kingi area in Sudan which Sudan denies.
Deeply concerned about the continued criminal activities of the LRA activities and their resulting catastrophic humanitarian impact as well as threat to regional security and stability, the African Union Peace and Security Council authorized, on 22 November 2013, the Regional Cooperation Initiative for the elimination of the LRA with the support of the international community. It also declared the LRA a terrorist organization. The JCM is chaired by the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, and comprises Ministers of Defence of the affected countries i.e. Uganda, South Sudan, DRC, and CAR.
The mandate of the Initiative is to strengthen the operational capacity of the LRA-affected countries to eliminate the LRA, create conditions conducive for the stabilization of the affected areas, and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the affected populations. Since its operationalization, the Regional Task Force, with a current total strength of 3,085.
