The leader of the Lord's Resistance Army peace talks negotiating team, David Nyekorach Matsanga, has refuted reports that he has been sacked from his job.
The Juba-based Sudan Tribune newspaper reports today that the entire LRA negotiating team has been disbanded by rebel leader.
Matsanga said the reports are concoctions fuelled by his enemies who are opposed to the peace process. He said spoke to the LRA leader, Joseph Kony, who denied all knowledge of the sacking.
Speaking on phone from Nairobi, Matsanga accused Ugandan state agents and some former members of the LRA negotiating team of fabricate the reports because they are unhappy with his work. He said the claims are intended to frustrate his efforts to pursue lasting peace in northern Uganda.
According to the statement published by the Sudan Tribune, the negotiators no longer speak for the LRA and must not engage in any form of negotiations.
Okello Oryem, the State Minister for International Affairs who was the deputy chairperson of Uganda's team to the peace talks in Juba, says Government has not received a copy of the statement.
David Matsanga was sacked as leader of the LRA peace team in April last year for not including Joseph Kony in the proceedings. He was returned to his post in June 2008.
Matsanga insists that Joseph Kony is committed to peace. He said he returned from Mozambique yesterday where he delivered a special message from Kony to Joachim Chissano, the UN Special Envoy for LRA-affected areas.
Chissano is expected in Kampala today to hold discussions with President Yoweri Museveni over the ongoing joint offensive against the LRA in Garamba Forest area and the prospects of reviving the peace process.
