Ugandan Government Pays First Installment Of $65 Million War Reparations To DRC

The Ugandan government has reportedly paid the first instalment of $65 million to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in reparations for damages caused by Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) over two decades ago, reported The Aljazeera.

“It’s true we have paid $65m as the first instalment,” the Ugandan finance ministry spokesman Apollo Munghinda said on Monday.

He added that the payment was made on Thursday, September 1.

Patrick Muyaya, the DRC government’s spokesman, confirmed to Reuters news agency that the first of the five instalments had been received.

He said that 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.

The payment complies with the ruling made by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) back in February.  In a case brought against the Ugandan government in 1999, the DRC asked the ICJ to compel Uganda to pay it $11 billion as reparations for the deaths, looting and general economic damage caused by Uganda’s military occupation of parts of DRC in the 1990s.

The United Nations’ highest court, ruled in 2005 that Uganda had violated international law by occupying parts of eastern DRC and supporting other armed groups during a conflict that raged from 1998 to 2003.

The court ordered the two factions to negotiate reparations. In 2015, however, the DRC told the court that the talks had stalled.

The court then finally ruled in February this year that Uganda should pay $225 million to DRC for loss of lives, $60 million for looting, plunder, and exploitation of natural resources, and $40 million for property damage.

The arrangement requires Kampala to pay the sum of $65 each year to Kinshasa, slated to begin on September 2022. Failure to make the payment would incur a six percent annual interest rate.