SUMMARY
WNBF (West Nile Bank Front) was a rebel group formed in South Sudan in 1996 by colonel Juma Oris, with a stated goal of toppling the Ugandan government of Yoweri Museveni. The group was mainly comprised of former Ugandan soldiers excluded from the Ugandan army after the ousting of Idi Amin in 1979, and, until 1996, by former members of the rebel group UNRF (Uganda National Rescue Front), active in the early 1980s. The former UNRF fighters then splintered from the WNBF, forming UNRF II. WNBF was mainly active in the West Nile region of Uganda, in the Central Equatoria region of South Sudan and in Zaire, alongside the Ugandan border.
WNBF claimed that its main goal was to topple Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda, in order to introduce multi-party democracy in the country. Many observers analyzing the group, however, claimed that WNBF’s goal was to reinstate Idi Amin to power.
WNBF received significant support from the Government of Sudan, in the form of weapons and sanctuary, WNBF being able to act, without hindrance, from Sudanese territory, especially after the Sudanese Government took control of the important Kajo Keji. This leeway was offered by the Sudanese Government as relations between Sudan and Uganda were extremely tense, with both countries actively supporting insurgent movements aiming to topple each other’s governments. Further, as an added advantage for the Government of Sudan, WNBF was engaged in fighting various insurgent groups within South Sudan, such as SPLM/A (Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army), aiding the Government of Sudan in the intrastate conflict it was waging. Subsequently, between 1996 and mid-1997, most WNBF operations originated from South Sudan, cross-border operations being a common tactics of the group. Further, one important consequence of Sudans support to the group was the introduction of land mines in the West Nile area, creating deep antipathy among the local population.
In March 1997, a SPLM/A offensive crippled the WNBF, basically destroying the Sudanese wing of the group and forcing most of its remnants to relocate in Zaire (currently the Democratic Republic of Congo). There, the group obtained support from President Mobutu Sese Seko - WNBF being allowed to have rear bases on Zairian territory as early as 1997. However, a further blow to the group came after Sese Sekos downfall at the hands of Uganda, Rwanda and Angola-backed AFDL (Alliance des forces démocratiques pour la libération du Congo, Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo) in 1997. As such, as AFDL and the Ugandan Army advanced, WNBF was flushed out from the region located at the border between Uganda and DRC.
Most of WNBF dissolved itself at some point in 2003-2004, after a settlement with the Ugandan Government, in which former members of the group were given amnesty and were allowed to return to Uganda in exchange for renouncing their opposition to the government. In the aftermath of this agreement some members of WNBF were incorporated in the Ugandan military (UPDF: the Uganda Peoples Defence Force). Taban Amin, the leader of the group at the time of the agreement, was given a top-level position in the Ugandan Internal Security Organisation.
The WNBF was founded and initially led by Juma Oris, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs in Idi Amins cabinet and colonel in the Ugandan Army. By 1999, the group was under the leadership of Taban Amin, a son of Idi Amin.
WNBF has been involved in the state-based and non-state categories of UCDP organised violence.
