The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Cabinet is drafting a document to guide the implementation of the reparations order for victims of convicted former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel Commander Dominic Ongwen in Northern Uganda.
State Minister for Northern Uganda Rehabilitation Dr Kenneth Omona disclosed over the weekend that the document will help to guide how the victims of Ongwen will be supported with the compensation money.
“When the time comes… the cabinet is drafting a document that will help to guide or show how the community in Acholi can be supported with the money,” said Omona.
In February this year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Trial Chamber IX ordered Ongwen to pay 52.4 million euros (approximately 200 billion shillings) to his victims. It also ordered collective community-based reparations focused on rehabilitation and symbolic/satisfaction measures consisting of collective rehabilitation programmes, as well as a symbolic award of 750 Euro for all eligible victims.
Omona told Uganda Radio Network at the weekend that the government is also making a move to seek the guidance of the cabinet on how it will work closely with the ICC in identifying eligible victims for reparations.
“What we are doing now is that we are very soon seeking guidance from the Cabinet on how the Government of Uganda can work together with the ICC in identifying the people and how we can help the people so that this (reparation) can reach them,” Omona told URN in an interview.
Omona didn’t disclose further details to justify the government’s move on the reparation order but maintained that as a state party to the Rome Statute, they intend to work closely with the ICC in ensuring the implementation of the reparation order is well handled.
The statement comes at a time when the Victim Participation Reparation Section (VPRS) of the ICC is set to start the registration of eligible victims to benefit from the reparation order at the start of this year.
The court estimates the number of potentially eligible direct and indirect victims to be approximately 49,772 victims in the four case locations of Lukodi, Abok, Pajule and Odek.
Scott Bartell, the Programme Manager at the ICC’s Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) on Wednesday acknowledged that they have been working closely with the government in drafting the cabinet document and sharing information about the provisions of the reparations.
Bartell said they believe the move by the government will have a positive impact on their ability as the Trust Fund for victims to implement the reparations order.
“You know, we are in Uganda, so it’s easier for us to have amicable relations and to properly work with one another and to understand what their responsibilities are and to understand what our roles are as well. So, it’s about just kind of communicating and clarifying with one another who’s doing what, where, and when, and how,” said Bartell.
He however noted that the implementation of the reparations isn’t the responsibility of the government but rather the mandate of the Trust Fund and the ICC to implement the reparations order.
“Reparations funding will not be passed to the government to administer or to deliver. But we will have to work with government on occasion, local authorities and ministry authorities as we are conducting the reparations in the districts and their country,” said Bartell.
Uganda Radio Network understands that the Victim Participation Reparation Section (VPRS) has been working on the identification process and evaluating the eligibility of victims and also trying to ascertain the priority ranking of the different eligible victims.
This is in line with the court’s order on the need to have the eligible victim population prioritized in terms of vulnerability. The court considered victims in dire condition would be the first group to receive their reparations while other vulnerable categories would receive their reparations in terms of order of priority based upon their status or their condition.
Ongwen is the first senior LRA commander to have been found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in jail by the ICC over war crimes and crimes against humanity he committed on the civilian population in Northern Uganda between July 2002 and 31 December 2005.
The court has also scheduled the confirmation of charges hearing against Joseph Kony, the fugitive leader of the LRA in his absence on 9 September 2025. Kony is facing 33 counts of crimes comprising war crimes and crimes against humanity he allegedly committed in 2003 and 2004 in northern Uganda.
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