The Nairobi Agreement was a peace deal between the Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

n government of Tito Okello

Tito Okello

General Tito Lutwa Okello , was a Ugandan Military officer and politician. He was the President of Uganda from 29 July 1985 until 26 January 1986.-Background:Tito Okello was born in 1914 in Kitgum District...

 and the National Resistance Army

National Resistance Army

The National Resistance Army , the military wing of the National Resistance Movement , was a rebel army that waged a guerrilla war, commonly referred to as the Luwero War or "the war in the bush", against the government of Milton Obote, and later that of Tito Okello.NRA was supported by Muammar...

 (NRA) rebel group led by Yoweri Museveni

Yoweri Museveni

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is a Ugandan politician and statesman. He has been President of Uganda since 26 January 1986.Museveni was involved in the war that deposed Idi Amin Dada, ending his rule in 1979, and in the rebellion that subsequently led to the demise of the Milton Obote regime in 1985...

. The accords were signed in Nairobi

Nairobi

Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...

, Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

 in December 1985.

Background

On July 27, 1985, an army brigade of the Ugandan army (UNLA), commanded by Brigadier Bazilio Olara-Okello

Bazilio Olara-Okello

Bazilio Olara-Okello was a Ugandan military officer and one of the commanders of the Uganda National Liberation Army that together with the Tanzanian army overthrew Idi Amin in 1979...

, staged a coup d'état

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

 against Milton Obote's government. The National Assembly

National Assembly of Uganda

The Parliament of Uganda, comprises 215 Constituency Representatives, 79 District Woman Representatives, 10 Uganda People's Defence Forces Representatives, 5 Representatives of the Youth, 5 Representatives of Persons with Disabilities, 5 Representatives of Workers, and 13 Ex-officio Members.After...

 was dissolved and a Military Council was established to rule the country, first with Olara Okello, and later General Tito Okello

Tito Okello

General Tito Lutwa Okello , was a Ugandan Military officer and politician. He was the President of Uganda from 29 July 1985 until 26 January 1986.-Background:Tito Okello was born in 1914 in Kitgum District...

 as Chairman. Meanwhile, Yoweri Museveni

Yoweri Museveni

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is a Ugandan politician and statesman. He has been President of Uganda since 26 January 1986.Museveni was involved in the war that deposed Idi Amin Dada, ending his rule in 1979, and in the rebellion that subsequently led to the demise of the Milton Obote regime in 1985...

's NRA rebels were gaining ground, having taken advantage of the chaotic situation in the country, caused by power struggles within the government and a demoralized and disintegrating UNLA.

Tito Okello immediately and publicly invited all parties to the violence in Uganda to join in national reconciliation and nation building. All the major armed groups accepted this invitation, with the exception of the National Resistance Movement

National Resistance Movement

The National Resistance Movement , commonly referred to as the Movement, is a political organization in Uganda.Until a referendum in 2005, Uganda held elections on a non-party basis. The NRM dominates parliament, however, and is expected to continue to do so. The presidential elections of 12 March...

 (NRM), the political wing of the National Resistance Army (NRA). President Julius Nyerere

Julius Nyerere

Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985....

 of Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

 was approached by Tito Okello to facilitate a negotiated agreement between the NRM/A and the Military Council. Museveni and the NRM failed to turn up to the first round of talks in Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...

, as they were possibly suspicious of Nyerere's friendship with the ousted president, Milton Obote. Alternative arrangements were made for discussions presided over by a mutually acceptable Kenyan delegation headed by President Daniel arap Moi

Daniel arap Moi

Daniel Toroitich arap Moi was the President of Kenya from 1978 until 2002.Daniel arap Moi is popularly known to Kenyans as 'Nyayo', a Swahili word for 'footsteps'...

.

Negotiations

The arduous negotiations continued from 26 August to 17 December and have been documented by the then Permanent Secretary in the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bethuel Kiplagat. Museveni and the NRM/A were angry that the revolution for which they had fought for four years had been 'hijacked' by the UNLA, which they viewed as having been discredited by gross human rights violations during the second regime of Milton Obote, commonly referred to as 'Obote II'. The talks occasionally degenerated into slanging matches. Museveni denounced previous Ugandan regimes as "primitives" and "backward", initially refusing to negotiate with the "criminal" Military Council. Museveni and the NRM adopted a mercurial negotiating position, changing their demands and reintroducing supposedly resolved issues, leading Okello's team to accuse the NRM of prolonging the discussions unnecessarily. On one occasion, Museveni disappeared to Europe for three days, tabling new demands on his return. Both groups charged each other with maintaining links with soldiers loyal to the former president Idi Amin

Idi Amin

Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...

.

Final agreement and breakdown

The final agreement, signed in Nairobi

Nairobi

Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...

, called for a ceasefire, demilitarisation of Kampala

Kampala

Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...

, integration of the NRA and government forces, and absorption of the NRA leadership into the Military Council. These conditions were never met, however, and the ceasefire broke down almost immediately. Article 17(c) of the agreement called for the establishment of a commission of inquiry into human rights violations in Uganda since independence. This provided a clear disincentive for the UNLA to implement the peace plan, as it was likely that many of its leaders would be implicated in the abuses that had occurred during Obote II. The UNLA was also dismayed by article 7, which prescribed a national army numbering less than 8,500 troops with consequent unemployment for a large percentage of its 15,000 men.

The prospects of a lasting agreement were damaged further by the immediate context of the negotiations. The Kenyan team lacked an in depth knowledge of the situation in Uganda, the key personalities involved and their views, failing to build a meaningful relationship with the parties to the conflict. The negotiations excluded relevant Ugandan organisations, including the political parties. Several external actors, Libya

Libya

Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

, Burundi

Burundi

Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...

 and Rwanda

Rwanda

Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

, had direct interests in the outcome of the talks, supporting one or several factions. The presence of these parties and possibly neutral international partners (such as the UN

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 or OAU) may have prevented the failure of what cynics called the "Nairobi peace jokes".

Whether Museveni and the NRM/A were ever interested in a negotiated agreement is open to question. There was certainly no unequivocal commitment to such a settlement. Museveni and his allies refused to share power with generals they did not respect, not least while the NRA had the capacity to achieve an outright military victory. It is possible that the NRM/A merely used the four-month negotiations to present a positive image to the world and reorganise their forces.