African Insights Blog
Christmas 2008
It does not feel like Christmas in Uganda-Thoughts on Joseph Kony
Joseph Kony - The Lord's Resistance Army-The Raid on his camps in Democratic Republic of Congo
December 15th was a normal Sunday, people went to church, in the afternoon it was off to shop some things for Christmas, have late lunch or early dinner. Others were already traveling back home to their family’s village for the Christmas Holidays. Then it happened, an announcement on the radio, in my case a google news update on the Internet for Uganda.
The UDPF, the Ugandan Army along with elements of Democratic
Republic of Congo and South Sudanese Army
had attacked the camps of the Lord’s Resistance Army in the Garamba National
Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the 14th of December 2008.
There was not much more than that, but people thought back to the 22 years
that Joseph Kony and his army of brainwashed abducted children brought about
a reign of terror, of destruction, rape and fear upon the north of Uganda.
Over 2 million people were displaced from their homes and villages, children
slept under verandahs in towns to avoid capture in their small towns. Farmers
moved into internally displaced people camps where there was nothing but
misery and lack.
22 years of sorrow, that stopped with a cease-fire agreement 22 months ago. Slowly, ever so slowly the infrastructure of the north was being rebuilt, people returning to their homes and villages, a sense of peace had come, but now people were wondering what would happen, would peace hold, would the evil winds of war blow once again?
For the last 22 months, the Ugandan Government along with President Museveni had attempted to bring about a permanent peace, offering amnesty to most of the Lord’s Resistance Soldiers with the exception of Joseph Kony and for his commanders who had been indicted by the International Criminal Court in De Hague. That arrest warrant and indictment was the very reason Joseph Kony had not signed a peace treaty, the big, bad man, the former altar boy, who claimed to be the Holy Spirit and to be led by the spirit of a departed Italian soldier by the name of Lakwena. The same spirit guide that had led his so-called aunt Alice Lakwena in a short war of the Holy Spirit Movement against President Museveni’s government.
Joseph Kony, led by a spirit, claiming to be the Holy Spirit wanting to establish a government based on the Ten Commandments. The reality is that this man, this mere mortal man only moved in the spirits of violence, death, rape and destruction.
After the truce was signed, Joseph Kony took his band of boy soldiers into South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo into the remote area of the Garamba National Park. Home to White Rhinos, a jungle like rainforest, some savannahs, rivers and creeks, antelopes, that became his base in recent times. Seven camps were located in this remote area, camps that are not easily accessible, there are no roads, only footpaths, often the rivers overflow due to the heavy rainfall and no one goes in or out in such times.
On Sunday 15 December, the camps in Garamba were attacked by helicopter gunships and jets. Two days later crack Special Forces from the Ugandan Army arrived, no bodies were found, a few abductees and two LRA members. A cache of weapons and munitions has been found, some communications equipment and papers of importance to the LRA, Kony escaped. It has been said that maybe he was tipped off even though it was one of the most secret operations in the history of the Ugandan Army.
The latest reports suggest that he has shifted to near the Sudanese border, minus some weapons, munitions and even his dreadlock wig that he wears at times, but the UDPF Army were not able to free any of Kony’s abducted child soldiers or women with the exception of the few found in the camps.
Now the Ugandan Soldiers are destroying the fields and gardens so Kony cannot come back for a harvest and searching beyond the immediate areas, but wily Joseph Kony is far-gone.
Just a few days before Christmas the mood in the north of Uganda has become somber. There is fear of retaliation, Members of Parliament from the North are suggesting the move against Kony was a mistake, but there is something sad even about that. Yes, Kony was no longer menacing the north, but he simply had shifted his ways to other countries, people were still being abducted, women raped, villages burned, people displaced, children living in fear, something, had to be done.
It just doesn’t feel like Christmas in Uganda, but then what does Christmas feel like? Is Christmas not something deep within? An inner knowledge that one has made peace with the Prince of peace that came over 2000 years ago liberate the hearts of men, women and children.
May this Christmas, the peace that is in northern Uganda not be broken, may the peace that has returned to hearts and minds remain, and may people remember the real meaning of Christmas, that this Christ, this Christ Child was Emmanuel which means “God with us.”
May that former altar boy receive that reality of divine peace within his heart and come to an understanding that the sword only brings death, but to be at Peace with God is to be free….from Kampala…Merry Christmas…jon
January 5-2009 Update: Things have become a bit clearer as to what actually happened in the raid and bombing attack on Joseph Kony and the LRA nearly three weeks ago.
Joseph Kony, on December 14th got up and went hunting for meat about 5 to 10 minutes prior to the attacks by the Ugandan Helicopters. MIG 21 Jets were supposed to have been used, but the weather was extremely bad, so it was decided to go in with helicopter gunships in order to bomb the LRA camps, taking away the element of surprise since helicopters can be heard some distance away prior to their arrival.
It has also been found out that Kony had sophisticated electronic devices allowing him to listen in on the conversations of the pilots of attacking helicopters. Devices that were reported in the local press as to coming from Khartoum Government other reports link it to relatives who visited him with a peace delegation.
It has also been reported by the Independent, a weekly newsmagazine in Uganda that tip-offs may have been made at the highest level by members of the South-Sudanese government. Something that may come out in the future, it was also reported by the Independent that President Museveni was very upset by this and wanted the man arrested.
Nevertheless-Kony escaped, though some vital information was retrieved, since then Kony's troops, many of them being abductees, have created havoc in the Democratic Republic of Congo, slaughtering people in a church, there are figures that the LRA has killed 400 some people during the last week. The same tactics are used as before.
The South Sudanese Army was partying on Christmas and let him slip by, the Democratic Republic of Congo Army and MONUC which is the UN Force seem to be afraid of his forces and just kept their heads down as they say in Africa.
The Ugandan Army is doing all it can to stop this madman on the run, hopefully he will be captured, his abductees set free and peace reign...from Kampala...jon See Kony LRA News Updates for present information
Uganda's
Child Soldiers (Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army): For
20 some years the war raged in Northern Uganda. This is what it
was like. Originally written in 2005, it gives you insight what
life was like in the north of Uganda as the LRA and Joseph Kony.
Alice
Auma Lakwena: The warrior priestess who led thousands of
Acholi warriors into battle with sticks and stones. Joseph
Kony was her cousin but the two were very different, Alice Lakwena
before her death repeatedly asked Joseph Kony to give up his
destructive ways.
Who
is Joseph Kony? Profile and Background of Joseph Kony
and the Child Soldiers of the Lord's Resistance Army. Joseph
Kony has enslaved thousands into becoming child soldiers, made girls
into concubines, displacing millions from their homes in Uganda.
Joseph Kony's
Mother's dying Wish.
Catherine Ajok:- 13 years in captivity with the LRA, recently set free in March of 2009. A forced wife of Joseph Kony, read her story of being kidnapped one night from her secondary school, her captivity and eventual freedom from being enslaved by Joseph Kony and the LRA.
Richard
Akena: Former Lord's Resistance Army Child Soldier
who escaped and now helps the victim of the LRA conflict in Uganda.
Even though the conflict has ended in Northern Uganda, the wounds of war
both external and internal remain, Richard has invested himself in the
lives of the victims.
The War in Northern Uganda:
The war has deeply affected Uganda's North. Thousands were
killed by the LRA, thousands of children abducted by Kony's Army, many
disfigured and maimed, Two million people displaced from their homes.
Villages burned, Displacement Camps attacked, parents left without their
children, a way to make a living. Now in 2009 Northern Uganda is
rebuilding, but the scars of war remain, mostly within the people of
Northern Uganda.
Where are the children of the LRA?
Over 30,000 children were abducted and enslaved by the LRA in
northern and then eastern Uganda. The question on the mind of
Ugandans and South Sudanese is this -Where are the Children that were
enslaved by the LRA?
Northern
Uganda - Peace - Give it a Chance It has been a long night
for northern Uganda. The return to the villages and towns is an
adjustment from the Internally displaced camps. It is slowly
happening, there are struggles, but the fruits of the peace brought
about a cessation of hostilities can be seen.
Amnesty for LRA Child Soldiers? What you may not realize 24,000 former LRA members have been given amnesty by the Uganda Amnesty Commission. Find out what traditional ways are used to bring healing to the community.
The
Night Commuters of Northern Uganda Every evening they would
walk for miles to stay safe from the attacks and abductions of
Joseph Kony' Army. Sleeping in the streets, bus parks,
schools, hospitals and simply under the awning of store-fronts,
doing their homework by the light of gas stations.
Child Soldiers - Victims or Assailants: A look at child soldiers in history, where child soldiers are found with lessons learned from the LRA and Joseph Kony. From Colombia to the Congo, from Afghanistan to Darfur, Child soldiers are a reality.
Uganda 2009 and Joseph Kony LRA:
Where is Joseph Kony? The present situation regarding the war with the
LRA in northern Uganda. What is going on with Joseph Kony and his LRA?
How large is the LRA at this time? Joseph Kony, is fortunately
alive and well.
Joseph Kony LRA News
Updates:
Latest updates regarding the LRA, Joseph Kony and activities of the
LRA now in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Joseph Kony is no
longer just a menace to Uganda's north, that was bad enough, now he is
terrorizing a region of North Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and
continuing his path of destruction and death.
It is still not Christmas in Northern Uganda:
Written - Christmas
2006, Peace talks were under way, there was a glimmer of hope.
The people of the north were weary of the future. The cessation of
hostilities agreement had been signed, but it was not known what it
meant and if it would hold. Over the years there had been many
promises, but little fulfillment of them.
Uganda is more than Idi Amin, Joseph Kony and the LRA:
The images that westerners have of Uganda is amazing. Rarely
do those images reflect the reality of Uganda. People see Uganda
as a dangerous place, they do not see as a country that is thriving in
many areas, as a country that is rebuilding the North of Uganda with the
help of many. They do not see the pearl of Africa, but filter it
all through the lenses of Joseph Kony, Idi Amin, LRA.
Living in a Warzone - Uganda:
Recently I received an email from a woman, that just happened to be
from my hometown in the USA, Bellingham, WA. She challenged me
to prove that Uganda had been enjoying peace and that the north was
slowly rebuilding. Her email is indicative of what people in the
west, especially in the USA think is going on. When you search the
internet, you rarely find that Uganda has enjoyed a fragile peace for
over two years.
Invisible Children is using Uganda for its own gain
US troops arrive to ‘kill or capture’ Kony
 |
 |
 |
African Insights Blog: It does not feel like Christmas in Uganda - Thoughts on Joseph Kony - Christmas 2008
Copyright © 1996-2011 by Kabiza Wilderness Safaris. All material on this "Kabiza.com" site is the exclusive property of Kabiza Wilderness Safaris. E-mail for permission to use material on this site.