Today in History: Museveni Names Peace Team to Negotiate With Kony

What the report says

President Yoweri Museveni announced a government peace delegation on August 23, 2002, to try to open talks with Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army and push for an end to the conflict in northern Uganda, according to Nile Post. Speaking on Mega FM in Gulu, Museveni said the team would be led by then First Deputy Prime Minister and Internal Affairs Minister Eriya Kategaya.

The delegation included Lt. Gen. Salim Saleh, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, Francis Ayume, Betty Akech, and Acholi opposition MPs Norbert Mao and Reagan Okumu. Their inclusion suggested an effort to combine senior government figures with representatives from the affected region in a search for dialogue.

The announcement came during a period of intense fighting and displacement. The article says earlier military action, including Operation Iron Fist in southern Sudan, had not ended the insurgency and had helped push the LRA back into northern Uganda, widening insecurity into areas such as Teso and Lango. Civil society and local leaders were increasingly urging negotiations alongside military pressure.

Nile Post reports that the initiative did not quickly produce a ceasefire or direct meeting with Kony, but it remains part of the longer history of attempts to resolve the LRA war. In general terms, this episode fits into a broader pattern in northern Uganda where military campaigns, local mediation and later formal peace talks all played roles in the search for an eventual settlement.