Andrew Ochaki hails from a remote rural district of Northern Uganda. Political instability has devastated his family. The death of his father at the hands of Amin's soldiers in the 1970’s was later followed by the death of one of his brothers and the mysterious disappearance of another. Last August he returned to home from studying in Belgium looking forward to ensuring his mother and sisters had a more peaceful and prosperous future.

This dream was shattered when he was arrested, accused of acting as an agent of a rebel movement while he was in Europe and tortured. Andrew escaped, fled to the UK and applied for political asylum. He was held in Oakington where his application was heard and rejected and then dispersed to Salford to await an appeal. On 9 March 2002 he heard that this had failed and a campaign began on his behalf.

This attracted support across the North West and beyond particularly from the Catholic Church. The offer from a local University for a place with fees and subsistence paid seemed to provide a way for the Home Office to let him stay, but they rejected this and on 26 April he was deported. The only ray of hope in the rejection letter was the statement that he was free to apply for a student visa to take up the place.

After some delay, the University has now confirmed that it is sending out the relevant forms for Andrew to return to begin the formal process necessary before he can be offered a place. There will be a further delay while he returns his forms and they are processed before he receives the documentation he needs to apply for a visa.

Andrew is safe and well but by no means settled. He has spent most of the time since his return at his brother's in Kampala but spent two and a half weeks travelling in Northern Uganda visiting his mother and sisters and other friends there.

The situation remains tense in parts of Uganda. Last year there was little activity from the northern rebels and negotiations at a local level, particularly by a group of religious leaders appeared to be slowly bearing fruit. This year, taking the lead from the US war on terror, the Uganda government has launched an offensive in Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan to 'finish them off'. This has not had the anticipated instant success and still continues. It has been accompanied by arrests of suspected 'collaborators' and claims that documentation captured from rebel camps proves that two of the most prominent legal opposition groups had links with the rebels.

In this atmosphere Andrew is continuing to keep a very low profile, meeting as few people as possible. Particularly when he went north he kept moving around every few days. This unsettled way of life clearly cannot last and is only bearable because of the hope of a speedy return to the UK.

His campaign in the UK is keeping in touch with Andrew and will do what it can to support his application for a visa when he has the documentation ready to apply. We also hope to raise money for Andrew's visa application and travel back to the UK. If you are able to help, please send a cheque to:

Andrew Ochaki Defence Campaign

400 Cheetham Hill Road

Manchester M8 9LE.

Telephone: 0161 740 8206 for more information.