Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T01:23:17.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - ‘LRA Has Already Become a System’

Representation and Distrust in the Lord’s Resistance Army

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 April 2021

Mareike Schomerus
Affiliation:
Overseas Development Institute
Get access

Summary

This chapter uses the dynamics in the Juba Peace Talks between the Lord’s Resistance Army/Movement (LRA/M) and the Government of Uganda to unpack distrust as a characteristic of the conflict system in Uganda. Internally, distrust acted as a control mechanism for the LRA/M. Externally, it contributed significantly to the LRA/M’s failure to establish itself as a reliable negotiation partner. The struggle for recognition translated into having to pull together an unwieldy fabric of internal interests with often contradictory motivations. The Juba Peace Talks confirmed the workings of the ‘system’ LRA/M that continues to function on its internal trust and distrust between actors of the LRA and the LRM, as well as in collaboration with the government as all groups continuously infiltrate each other. This permanent playing-off of loyalties and betrayals in a system is a crucial reason why the conflict has continued for so long. Unable to get a peace deal signed, the conflict system of LRA/M and Government of Uganda emerged from the Juba Talks internally strengthened. This meant that the Juba Talks had served to confirm beliefs and the conviction that it was correct to act on them, rather than transform a conflict.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Lord's Resistance Army
Violence and Peacemaking in Africa
, pp. 228 - 260
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×