Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2005 12:03 PM
In Gulu now for a video report on the night commuter Geoffrey.
It has been more than a year ago I was in Gulu, and I noticed the atmosphere changed. Eventhough Human Right Watch reported abuses by, notably, the Ugandan Army, the town underwent a huge change. It became much more lively, and the tension of possible LRA attacks weakened. The streets now, also at night, are full of people. The local economy seems to be booming, according to the many new businesses that were opened. Also now you see people smiling on the streets, cracking jokes, and that used to be different.
Still thousands of children are afraid of being abducted, and every evening they start hour long marches to the shelters in Gulu.
'The tension has indeed weakened,' said Annet Kuria, manager of the shelter Noah's Arc in Gulu. 'Still the situation can easily change. We had that before.' Rumour now has it that the Lord Resistance Army with its notorious leader Joseph Kony shifted to the Congo, due to the peace accord in Sudan.
Will be back soon with the latest.