Government has suspended the demobilization and reintegration programs for the former rebels due to shortage of funds.
The programs that were being handled by the Amnesty Commission through Uganda Emergency Demobilization and Reintegration Program were being funded by the World Bank.
Moses Drako, the Public Relations Officer Amnesty Commission said the program ran short of funds after World Bank withdrew in June this year.
Drako said the 2.8 million dollar program that started in 2009 was aimed at facilitating the livelihoods of former rebels who surrender to government.
He said the program was a follow up of the multi-donor Resettlement Program –MDRP that ended in 2008 because of the stalled Juba peace talk.
According to Drako, the multi-donor resettlement program was established in 2006 to handle expectations from the Juba peace agreement.
He says it was designed in the manner that it would address the expectations of Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels - LRA and his team after signing the peace agreement.
He said they had predicted massive turn up of former rebels if the Juba peace talks were successfully concluded.
Drako said donors suspended their funding after Kony and his team refused to sign the peace deal.
He revealed that several former rebel fighters who have surrendered have been left unattended to due to lack of funds.
Drako however said the program demobilized and reintegrated more than 19, 000 former LRA fighters since 2009 until June when it phased out.
He said there were negotiations going on between government and the World Bank to reinstate funding for the demobilization and reintegration programs.
He noted that government has been promised by World Bank that funding for the program may be ready in January 2012.
This means until then, former rebels who surrender will have to wait to be reintegrated into their communities.
