Uganda protests UN court order on DRC war damages

The government of Uganda has criticized a ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that it pays $325 million to the Democratic Republic of Congo as reparation for the damages caused during the 1998 – 2003 war.

This comes after the UN’s top court on Wednesday ordered Uganda to pay the Democratic Republic of Congo $325 million over a brutal war in the central African country.          

In a statement seen by The City Review, Uganda’s foreign affairs ministry, the East African country said the order was retrogressive to the improved diplomatic ties between the two countries.

“While the amount awarded is far less than that sought by the DRC, Uganda nevertheless considers the judgment unfair and wrong, just as the previous 2005 judgment on liability was unfair and wrong,” the statement said in part.

“Uganda regrets that this decision comes at a time when the two countries are continuing to strengthen their relations,” it added.

The statement also absorbed the Uganda People’s Defence Forces from any atrocities in DRC, citing professionalism with the national army.

“For the record, Uganda disputes and rejects the findings of wrongdoing by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), widely known as one of the most disciplined forces in the world,” it said.

“The problems that led to Uganda’s presence in the DRC between 1998 and 2003 were not solved then and they are still not solved even now,” it added.

Meanwhile, Kinshasa demanded far more than what the court slapped against Uganda, $11 billion.

But during the ruling, Judges said Kinshasa had failed to prove its African neighbour was directly responsible for anything more than 15,000 of the hundreds of thousands of people believed to have died in the war.

“The court sets out the total amount of compensation awarded to the DRC, which is 325 million US dollars,” said Joan Donoghue, the chief judge of the Hague-based court as quoted by AFP.