Military Chaplains, Northern Uganda and Zimbabwe

Chief of military chaplains Conference

At the beginning of February I was a keynote speaker at the first ever world conference of chief military chaplains conference on the role of the military in post conflict healing and reconciliation.
Specifically I was asked to speak about a community based Reconciliation and Healing Model

I found myself speaking in august company following as a speaker, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Miroslav Wolf, Pumla Gobodo Madikizela, and Charles Villa Vicencio. It was a few words spoken by Archbishop Tutu which have stayed with me. The Archbishop spoke of the role of a chaplain before battle – of preparing soldiers for a situation in which the most likely outcome was either that you would die or you would kill another human being.

Somehow Tutu had cut through all the mystification which surrounds the military to speak about what is involved in their core business often carried out in our name and on behalf of all of us

There is moral ambiguity if not contradiction involved in the very concept of a military chaplain. This is particularly true if you belong to a faith community with moral assertions about the whole human family in contradistinction to absolute loyalty to a nation state. Where is the final loyalty of a chaplain? One of the sharp debates at the conference was about whether chaplains should bear arms and differing practices across the world.
Both South Africa’s Deputy Minister and the Minister of Defense suggested that chaplains have a prophetic role to play. I have my doubts as to whether there is “space “ and “permission” for that prophetic role to be played in most military formations

Northern Uganda

In November 2007 Bishop Nelson Onono Onweng invited me to the Diocese of Northern Uganda. I have just made a further, this time lightning visit to Gulu in Northen Uganda
A 20-year rebel insurgency has left thousands of all ages maimed and disabled, as well as emotionally and spiritually scarred. Many are angry at rebels, while they state a desire for peace through amnesty. The victims’ resentment, unless dealt with, will be redirected at those close to them, or become fuel for future large-scale violence. Disability, both physical and emotional, will have a negative effect on productivity and, consequently, earning potential and ability to support a family, magnifying existing cycles of poverty and fueling resentment previously mentioned.

The conflict in Northern Uganda, which has gone on for 21 years now, is led by Joseph Kony. His Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) claims to be fighting to overthrow the Government of Uganda (GoU). While Kony himself is an Acholi, he does not have the popular support of the Acholi people, who have borne the brunt of the violence. Civilians have been the primary targets, as the LRA forces have perpetrated numerous atrocities against civilians in the Acholi, Lango, West Nile and Teso regions. The low-level conflict started in 1986 accelerated furiously in 1996.

The LRA has relied upon abductions, primarily of children, for solider conscription and
sexual servitude. All other civilians became targets by virtue of not being soldiers in the LRA. Crimes against civilians include looting, burning houses, murder and mutilations among others. Victims were often chosen with arbitrary, seemingly meaningless criteria: those riding bikes or crossing a path in front of soldiers had legs amputated, In 2006, security in the North greatly improved and there is relative peace, owing to the on-going Juba Peace Talks between the Gov and the LRA in Southern Sudan. The Peace talks officially opened on the 14th of July 2006. The LRA has moved to camps in DR Congo and Southern Sudan. News reports indicate Kony is still interested in using abduction to swell his ranks, though has not recently in Uganda. Substantiated reports say attacks and abductions continue in Congo, southern Sudan and the Central Africa Republic.

It is estimated that approximately 25,000 children have been abducted by the LRA since the conflict began. The majority of the LRA insurgents are abducted individuals. The Office of the Northern Uganda Presidential Advisor reported in 2007 the number of living maimed and wounded civilian victims registered in the Acholi Subregion as 2843:

The Diocese of Northern Uganda has secured funding from the Victims Fund of the International Criminal Court for its Okweyo project.

Okweyo Project

For wounded survivors, the project offers facilitation of the “healing of memories”, a journey of healing through listening, process of reclaiming their lives through letting go of that anger and resentment from their past which is destructive. Okweyo will help, if asked, seminar participants to form small support groups, with regular meetings and volunteer leadership. Victims will benefit from long-term monitoring of and provision for their health care needs (including prosthetics). Lastly, to counter the lost livelihood that disability can bring – and thus the added, long-term resentment - victims and their children will receive scholarships and vocational training.

With victims’ permission, Okweyo will invite former LRA soldiers to listen to victims’ stories in seminars or small groups, and to tell their stories.

These three components aim to repair some what victims have lost, as a sign that they are not forgotten, and to place hope in the process of restorative justice.

We will begin to offer healing of memories workshops and train facilitators during May. Before our arrival it is plan that school children will have already received scholarships.

Visiting Zimbabwe during a time of transition February – 2009

I went to Zimbabwe to speak at the Annual meeting of the Major superiors of the Roman Catholic religious orders in Zimbabwe. I was accompanied by Madoda Gcwadi

It was the week following the swearing in of Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister. I was interested to find out the mood on the streets. We were met by Thobekile Ncube and Kate Brits from Oasis, an international faith based organisation working with children and young people. We asked them both what they felt about the settlement and the new inclusive government.

The day before our arrival we had heard that an incoming deputy minister of the MDC, Roy Bennett had been arrested and there were still a number of detainees and political prisoners. Our two friends expressed the need to hope against hope. We never met anyone who believed that Mugabe could be trusted and many were concerned that the MDC would be co-opted by Mugabe.

The dominant feeling that we picked up from countless conversations was cautious optimism.
There was also a very wide spread feeling that South Africa’s former president Thabo Mbeki had not played the role of honest broker in the mediation talks.

We had an opportunity to meet with Bishop Sebastian Bakare, the Anglican Bishop of Harare. Tragically there is a rival Bishop, Nolbert Kunonga, a devout disciple of Robert Mugabe who has been ex communicated by the wider church. Because of the compromised character of the judiciary and the politicisation of the police, most Anglicans are prevented from worshipping in their churches.

About 65 people attended the day we spent with the Major Superiors. They told us that is was there first opportunity to share their feelings about events in the country and how it had impacted on their own lives and the people they serve. We did a presentation for representatives of the European Union about healing of memories as a consequence of an invitation from Ambassador Xavier Marchal.

From Harare we traveled to Bulawayo to offer a workshop with participants from all over Zimbabwe under the auspices of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance. It is an umbrella faith based organisation that arose from pastors who could no longer keep silent in the wake of the massive destruction of homes and livelihoods caused by Operation Murambatsvina beginning in May 2005. Suffice to say that the participants of the workshop shared the layers of pain which stretched from the liberation struggle, Gukuhurundi to the present day.
We are planning a long term relationship with the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance.