Uganda’s war reparation to DRC sets record straight

On September 12, Uganda confirmed the payment of $65 million to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in reparations for the invasion and looting by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) during the Congo war between the late 1990s and 2003.

In February 2022, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Uganda to pay $225 million to DRC for loss of 15,000 lives and other damage to persons that include rape, conscription of child soldiers and the displacement of up to 500,000 people, $60 million for looting, plunder and exploitation of natural resources and $40 million for property damage.

Kinshasa initially demanded $11 billion but the Ugandans claimed that the amount could economically cripple them, and were granted $325 million instead.

The payments will run until 2026, with Kampala paying $65 million each year to Kinshasa. Failure of paying the installment would accrue a six percent annual interest rate.

Uganda’s first military involvement in DRC was in 1965. On February 4, 1966, three ministers and Col. Amin (who later became the president of Uganda), were involved in a gold and ivory scandal.

Fast forward. The UPDF's entry into DRC in 1999 resulted into the plunder of Congolese natural resources, prompting the DRC to take the long-running dispute to the United Nations' court. Founded after World War II, the ICJ rules in disputes between countries, mainly based on treaties. Its decisions are final and cannot be appealed.

In 2005, the ICJ ruled that Uganda violated international law by occupying parts of Ituri province with its troops, and supporting other armed groups in the area during the conflicts in the country’s mineral-rich Ituri province from 1998 to 2003.

DRC government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya said the reparations “are lodged in a transitory account of the Ministry of Justice in a local bank” as the government creates mechanisms to compensate the victims’ families.”

Many Congolese now pray that the payments serve the intended and just purpose; bring the much needed relief to the victims. 

Relations between Uganda and DRC have warmed. In December 2021, the latter allowed the former to deploy, at least 1,700 soldiers, into the eastern part of the country, in a joint military operation with the Congolese army (FADRC) to fight the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a terrorist group from Uganda.