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Could 2025 be a defining year for our transitional justice?

The trial of former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander Thomas Kwoyelo has suffered yet another setback as a panel of three judges of the International Crimes Division (ICD) of the High Court adjourned the case to November 5

What you need to know:

  • A couple of decent interim reparations and/or reparative measures are not going to change the narrative around reparations for the harms suffered by survivors and/or victims


The year 2024 concluded in a busy path in terms of our transitional justice efforts, especially on accountability through the conviction and sentencing of both Dominic Ongwen and Thomas Kwoyelo at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Crimes Division (ICD) respectively including the subsequent reparations order in both cases as well as the postponement of the confirmation of charges against LRA leader Joseph Kony in absences by ICC to September 9, 2025. 

In 2003 Jan Egeland, the then UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said: “The conflict in northern Uganda is the biggest forgotten, neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today.” 

Subsequently, the 2007 Juba Agreement, after the guns going silent, ushered in a proper national transitional justice process focusing on, amongst others agenda items, accountability and reconciliation together with its 2008 annexure including provisions for the establishment of a reparations mechanism for victims.

Therefore, the million-dollar question in 2025 is, what does all these mean for Uganda’s TJ journey? What’s next for the National Transitional Justice Policy, and enactment of the TJ Law or Bill? 

Could this be the biggest forgotten law or Bill in Uganda? How do we now proceed with our very own TJ process leading the way after the case's conclusion at the ICD as envisioned or agreed upon as a mechanism for accountability and reconciliation in the Juba agreement? How shall we proceed without a clear or proper framework in place to implement the ICD reparation ruling? Could this be the final straw that ushers in the TJ law? 

The immense issues the policy and law were and are still meant to address remain largely unattended except for a few cases such as the concluded judicial processes in ICD that due to so many reasons took too long, and some interim reparative measures which remain largely ad-hoc.

Could these songs by Lucky Dube i.e. Mickey Mouse Freedom, “…Behind him, he could hear those innocent voices crying out so bitterly; saying we did not start the war. But we are fighting now. We did not start this fire but we are burning now. They were told many years ago that their country is free. But they didn't understand that it's not real. They never knew It was Mickey Mouse's freedom yeah… Mickey Mouse independence…”, and Rolling Stone, “… He is one of the men I know who have chosen loneliness and called it freedom….”

Their very interesting lyrics inspire us to walk the talk and/or walk a different path to freedom or prosperity and deal with the plight of the survivors for the promotion of a sustainable holistic national unity, peace and reconciliation process.

A couple of decent interim reparations and/or reparative measures are not going to change the narrative around reparations for the harms suffered by survivors and/or victims. A fully-fledged process with clear intent acknowledging directly harms suffered and purpose for this reparations or act to the individuals affected is supreme.

Otherwise, as Chinua Acebe says, "Whenever you see a toad jumping in broad daylight, then know that something is after its life", so are the survivors and/or victims. So, when survivors and victims come forward to seek a helping hand, it's only because they were deprived of what they had before the conflict and conditions are dire. They only need to be supported and/or reinstated close to what or where they were. 

The government needs to address the issue of survivors or victims through a legal framework of action, enacting the National Transitional Justice Bill fully supported with resources. While it's important to keep expectations at a realistic level, let's make no mistakes: the time for whatever little is required or expected is now.

Joel Innocent Odokonyero, Transitional Justice Practitioner and Ethnographer