Henry Okello Oryem, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs in President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni’s cabinet, has explained why it wouldn’t be prudent for government to seek Parliament’s permission before launching attacks against rebels and terrorists.
Recently, UPDF spokesperson Flavia Byekwaso confirmed that the national army had launched strikes against Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in DR Congo.
But some politicians and analysts raised concerns that Uganda had not briefed Parliament as the law requires. But the laws of Uganda also allow government to brief Parliament days after launching military expeditions outside the country in case these were a matter of emergency.
According to Minister Oryem, the security agencies involved in the attacks against ADF camps needed to catch the terrorists and rebels by surprise.
“If you are saying that Government should have informed Parliament before the attack, then you are indirectly saying we should have told the ADF that we were going to attack them, we needed an element of surprise,” he told a local TV station December 02 morning.
The Museveni minister further reported that there had been success in the operation.
“This operation is aimed at eliminating, wiping and grounding the ADF rebels and anybody associated with them, for once and for all,” he noted.
“We did an aerial surgical attack with our artillery. It was precise and our jet fighters managed to hit the ADF camps without affecting the neighbouring communities. The report I got yesterday is that we gave the ADF a bloody nose with our attacks on their camps.”
