African Insights Blog - December 2006
It is still not Christmas in
Northern Uganda …sadly so…Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army
They have been meeting in Juba, South Sudan to bring peace this Christmas to Northern Uganda; peace that has eluded this part of
Africa for many years. Sadly the various delegations such as Ugandan Government and Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army, all of which had met with Southern Sudanese mediator Riek Machar, took a break for the Christmas holidays.
Everyone seemed to have gotten into the Spirit of Christmas; all but the children of
Northern Uganda . Even President Museveni ofUganda sent a gift of 10 bulls for the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels to feast on during this season. That was after he had apersonal conversation with the rebel leader Joseph Kony. Things are headed in the right direction but somewhere people have to yield to a greater cause than their own. At times the negotiations remind one of little boys in the sand box of life just not getting along. Life for many is all about power, control, and image. The big issue is whether the leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army will be held responsible for the evil and brutality that has been unleashed on northern
Uganda .
Twenty years of an ongoing war has caused havoc and utter destruction on the families of this northern
Uganda area, primarily the Acholi community; a destruction that had once again passed the world’s attention until a few year ago when different organizations started to become aware of what was taking place.
What was taking place was horrendous. Over 30,000 children were abducted from boarding schools, schools, villages. Intimidated and brainwashed, they became child soldiers as young as 10 years old. The boys were forced to commit atrocities even in their own villages and families. The girls were used as concubines and sex slaves.
Besides the child soldiers, those who would not cooperate with the Kony rebels, children and adult alike were maimed through the cutting off of ears, hands, lips; all performed with the crudest of weapons.
This Christmas children are not just scarred on the outside, but their souls and hearts are deeply wounded. Even after gaining freedom from the Lord’s Resistance Army they rarely can smile, joy has eluded them and peace is missing, and anger and violence rage within.
Even now the government protected camps are filled with families who are still afraid to go home thinking that their village might be raided, even on this night that is considered sacred by many. Two million people had been displaced causing Jan Egeland, the United Nations undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, to say in an interview with BBC in 2003, "I cannot find any other part of the world that is having an emergency on the scale of
Uganda that is getting so little international attention."
Fear ruled and still rules the land, causing thousands of children to become night commuters and sleep in the city underneath porches and trees in places like hospitals and schools in order to avoid abduction by the Kony rebels who stalked the countryside attacking small villages at night.
May this be the last Christmas when the children of northern
Uganda fear the night, may the peace that so represents Christmas permeate the hearts of all concerned, and may reconciliation and restoration be the rule of the day between all warring factions. May the schools from which countless were abducted be restored, may the families that became divided because of this find the love that they need to encourage each other to start anew.
This Christmas let me leave you with a Yoruba prayer from
Nigeria , “Let us behave gently, that we may die peacefully; that our children may stretch out their hands upon us in burial.”Merry Christmas…jon
PS: Today there is a kind of peace in the North of Uganda. Joseph Kony and his rebels called the Lord's Resistance Army have moved out of Uganda and now are roaming in places such as South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic creating havoc for the population there. The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Joseph Kony and others, but he is still at large. Peace talks that had take place for two years in Juba, South Sudan have broken down and Joseph Kony refused to sign the agreement. He simply did not show up on several occasions. Slowly the North is rebuilding and some money is flowing in from foreign sources. Murchison Falls National Park has become safe once again for tourists, children are slowly returning to school, the scars that are within remain. Many of the 30,000 abductees are missing or dead. The relatives never had a chance to mourn their passing in the African manner.
Yet many people of the North, see Joseph Kony as a hero who had the strength and gumption to stand up to the government of Yoweri Museveni for 20 some years.
There is a ceremony in Acholi culture that is called the bitter drink, and the past is forgiven and many want Kony and the others to partake in that event, while others who lost members of their family desire to see him prosecuted and punished.
For a westerner that might be confusing, but often Africans seek peace at any price and if that means forgiveness, so let it be. Christians are praying for a conversion of Joseph Kony and his turn around as a testimony for the grace of God. I will travel to Gulu in the near future and write an update after that. August 8, 2008...jon
LRA and Joseph Kony Update-December 22nd 2008 from Kampala:
The LRA and its commander have been hiding out in several camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo. During the peace process Kony has received large amounts of cash and food supplies as an incentive to sign the peace treaty. Many of the supplies were sold and weapons were bought. Joseph Kony and some of his commanders simply want to avoid being handed over to the International Criminal Court which has issued a warrant for their arrest.
T
he cease-fire has been a time to regroup and strengthen the LRA, he has operated inside of South Sudan, then Central African Republic and now in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo where his camps were first attacked by Airplanes and Helicopter Gunships and then invaded by armies from Uganda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The good news is that Uganda has enjoyed peace and people have and are returning to their former homesteads and villages, schools have opened and slowly a sense of commerce and normalization is returning to the north of Uganda. Since December 15th when 3 nation force attacked the camps, the north fears the retribution of the LRA and Kony inside of Uganda.
Kony and his 650 some strong group has evaded capture. Radio broadcasts in the Acholi language which is Luo are asking the LRA to surrender and enjoy Christmas at home, that their families are awaiting their return. Leaflets have been dropped with the same message.
The Acholi community and religious leaders who have met with him recently want peace in the region and were against the attacks. Peace negotiators had just met with President Museveni and Kony had asked for a face to face meeting with the President. Some reports here said that he had agreed, but then the attack on the seven camps and yet no Kony dead or alive. Let us hope that this Christmas which is just two days away will be one of Peace in Northern Uganda.
The good news is that for the children of northern Uganda there is peace, no fear of abduction, let us hope that it remains, it will take a long time for the inner wounds to heal for those who were maimed, raped, abducted and burned out...from Kampala...jon
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.
New: 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.
Background information to the LRA and child soldiers.
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 inside of the DRC, continuing his rampage of killing and destruction and abduction on the population of the DRC around Garamba National Park.
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 does not feel like Christmas-Joseph Kony-Christmas 2008: Operation Lightning Thunder began against the LRA on December 14, 2008. The peace talks have failed, Joseph Kony refusing to sign the treaty due to his fears regarding the indictments against him by the International Criminal Court and his impending arrest. He also wants more clarification on the Amnesty program inside of Uganda and how and if it would apply to him.
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 a 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.
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Last updated: 04 July 2010
African Insights Blog: It is still not Christmas in Northern Uganda
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