Museveni lýgur

Í ágætu sjónvarpsviðtali Boga Ágústssonar við Yoseweri Museveni, forseta Uganda, greip forsetinn til alþekkts ráðs þegar talið barst að öðru en því sem hann vildi tala um: hann laug eins og hann er langur til. Museveni sagði meðal annars að fólk sem hefði verið á vergangi í norðurhluta Uganda vegna stríðsins þar (borgarastríðs, þótt forsetinn vildi ekki fallast á þá skilgreiningu) væri nú farið heim til sín og að þar væri allt með miklum ágætum.

Þetta er alrang. Það vita allir sem hafa fylgst með í þessum heimshluta undanfarin ár. Enn eru þar tugir þúsunda manna sem búa við fullkomna neyð og örvæntingu. Bresk hjálparsamtök, OneWorld UK, hafa sent frá sér nýja skýrslu um þetta. Frá þessari skýrslu er sagt er frá í grein eftir Liz Ford í Guardian í dag.

Og til að halda til haga því sem satt er og rétt, frekar en að taka orð Musevenis forseta sem hinn endanlega sannleika, fara hér á eftir slitrur úr Guardian greininni:

Refugees injured by the war in northern Uganda are struggling to access proper healthcare and find enough food in government camps, according to OneWorld UK. They are also under pressure to return home, despite not having adequate resources to cope, wants the Gulu Disabled Persons Union (GDPU).

The warning comes as ministers begin to step up efforts to empty camps, which house more than half a million internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have fled fighting between the Lord's Resistance Army and government troops over the past 20 years.

Gulu has been devastated by attacks by LRA. A recent ceasefire has led some to leave the camps and head home, but a lasting peace deal has yet to be signed and there are fears that fighting could once again break out.

Simon Ong'om, chairman of the GDPU, said people with disabilities were "benefiting very little" from any government help.

The organisation is now urging ministers and relief organisations to focus more on the needs of people with disabilities in their reconstruction work in Gulu.

According to OneWorld UK, IDP camps are home to thousands of people with disabilities, many injured by LRA fighters or wounded by landmines. Overcrowding in the camps has let to outbreaks of tuberculosis, which has triggered spinal injury and epilepsy.