The International Court of Justice in The Hague will rule today, February 9, on the amount of reparations that Uganda must pay to the DRC for the invasion of the province of Ituri, in the north-east of Congo, during the war of 1998-2003.
© AP/Sipa/Frank Franklin
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, here in 2016 at the UN General Assembly.
“On February 9, 2022, the International Court of Justice, the main judicial organ of the United Nations, will issue its judgment on the issue of reparations in the case of Armed Activities in the territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda),” said a statement from the UN institution.
” A public meeting will be held at 15 o’clock [14 heures GMT] at the Peace Palace in The Hague, during which the President of the Court, Her Excellency Judge Joan E. Donoghue, will read out the Court’s decision,” the same text continues..
This dispute was first brought before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in June 1999. The highest UN court had ruled in 2005 that Uganda had violated international law by occupying parts of the eastern province of the DRC during the second Congo War (1998-2003). A conflict that had involved up to nine African countries, including Chad, Namibia and Rwanda.
An “exorbitant” amount
Kinshasa is now demanding more than 11 billion dollars (regarding 9.7 billion euros) in reparations, an amount described by Kampala as exorbitant. In April 2021, Uganda had said during the hearings that the DRC’s request might ruin its economy, while stressing that the Congolese government had not provided sufficient evidence regarding the damage suffered, the agency reports Archyde.com.
At the time, the DRC delegation to the ICJ was led by “Bernard Takaishe Ngumbi, deputy prime minister, minister of justice and acting keeper of the seals, and Paul-Crispin Kakhozi, Ambassador to Belgium, the Netherlands and the European Union. The Ugandan delegation was led by William Byaruhanga, Minister of Justice (Attorney General).
The DRC is seeking redress for both the victims of the conflict, as well as for the economic damage and the impact on the country’s mineral and natural resources.
