The prospect of of establishing a truth-telling and reconciliation commission in Uganda.

Source: (2013) US- China Law Review. 10: 596-619.

While eulogising former President Apollo Milton Obote, President
Museveni argued that the time had come to look for ways to bring genuine
reconciliation in the country. Since then, in the context of ending the
conflict in northern Uganda, calls have been made for the government to
establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to heal not only the
wounds occasioned by that conflict, but also those that have been inflicted
in the whole country since independence. In this regard, specific
recommendations have been made on the need to establish a TRC once and
for all to deal with Uganda’s past. However, the talk of reconciliation has
been heard before. Former dictator Idi Amin instituted a commission in
1974 to look into the disappearance of people in the early years of his rule
in 1974, but its recommendations were never implemented. When he took
over in 1986, Museveni, in order to show that his government was different
from those before, established a commission to look into violations of
human rights from independence up to the day he took over. Very few
recommendations of this commission were ever implemented. This paper
argues that there is momentum to establish a TRC in Uganda, which should
deal with the conflict not only in northern Uganda but rather should be
national in outlook. This is because there are events that have occurred
since independence in the country that need closure. Also, it is the
contention of this paper that in order to be successful, any future TRC must
learn from the experiences ofpast commissions. (author’s abstract)