Good-bye Arua and West Nile

My car has crossed the bridge over the River Albert Nile at Pakwach for the last time, at least with me inside of it. I have crossed this bridge many times within the past 26 months.

When I came here in June 2005 the bridge had a security check point with soldiers trying to delay you unnecessarily if not given a lift. Always a problem as we timed driving from Arua to the ferry at Paraa in Murchison Falls. 2½ hour would do it on a good day.

Working for an NGO you are not supposed to carry soldiers, an argument is that you become a target yourself. I don't know what would actually happen in real life, or if it's just a pacifist' excuse. The regular UDPF or SPLA soldier, dressed in gumboots and handling their weapon too casually for my style, never made me feel safer anyway.

Another thing which changed within these 26 months was the upheaval of the strict security guidelines on the Pakwach - Karuma Road due to LRA attacks. In October 2006 we were allowed to drive on the tarmac to Karuma and Kampala (I stil prefer driving through Murchison Falls though). Maybe northern Uganda has progressed in the terms of peace?! But, hey this is Africa, so standing at the bridge all you have to do is to let your eyes wander on the blue mountain skyline towards Congo and the beginning of the Lake Albert - there might be another conflict coming up there?!