Uganda - more than Idi Amin
Uganda is more than Idi Amin, Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army, more than Child Soldiers
Tell someone in the West that you are going to Uganda and most often you will get some raised eyebrows and then "Oh the place where Idi Amin is from." Or you might get something about the place where Joseph Kony lives, you might even get something about child soldiers or where a war is going on.
Every day I check the search terms
that people use to reach my website "Out of Africa-Too" and each day the
most common search terms that people u
se
are "child soldiers in Uganda, Joseph Kony, Idi Amin." Something tells
me that most have a very distorted view of Uganda.
Idi Amin ruled this country from 1971 to 1979, but his legacy lives on in the minds of most westerners, so when they think of Uganda, up comes Idi Amin. Idi Amin has not been in Uganda since 1979, he was buried in Saudi Arabia a few years back where he spent the last years of his life.
Regarding child soldiers in Uganda, the answer is simple today, there are none. There are former child soldiers that escaped from the Lord's Resistance Army or were captured, sadly they carry with them the inner and outer scars of some terrible times. The government has given those former soldiers amnesty and some financial assistance to reintegrate them back into Ugandan Society. The LRA does have child soldiers inside of the Congo, but in Uganda are only those who escaped his clutches and the Ugandan Government does not recruit children into its Armed Forces.
The Lord's Resistance Army and Joseph Kony have not been active inside of Uganda for over two years since a cease-fire was signed. On the 14th of December-Ugandan Army members, Democratic Republic of Congo and army contingents from South Sudan invaded the domain of Joseph Kony. Helicopter gunships and jets were also used in the attack on five LRA camps. 70% of the camps were wiped out. The infantry soldiers were some distance from the remote camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo at Garamba National Park and it took 48 hours for them to move in. There were no LRA soldiers found in the camps, some abductees were rescued. Kony had been raiding villages in the DRC and not in Uganda were he had previously caused havoc. It seems that most of his food supplies, weapons cache and munitions were lost in the raid.
The actual LRA is only about 650 to 1200 men and women in number. Slaves are used to plant fields for food for the LRA and during the Peace Process Kony was given enough cash and food supplies to survive for a while
Since the raid Ugandan government has announced that peace talks are still a possibility. It is not known how Joseph Kony fared in all of this at the time of attacks, but from all reports he came out just fine minus some personal items that the Ugandan army recovered
The scars of that war waged by the LRA are still there and it will take years for them to heal, especially the ones on the inside of people that lived in the area, the children who lived in fear of being abducted and spent their nights in towns such as Gulu trying evade the LRA. 30,000 children were abducted, brainwashed and made into soldiers, concubines, wives and today their struggle is to learn to live in peace, a tough road for many.
Two million people were internally displaced in Uganda and many of them have returned to their former homes, others carry the visible scars of that war on their bodies.
Recently it was reported that many NGO's are closing their doors in the North of Uganda since their services are no longer needed but different ones are coming rebuild the lives of people and the infrastructure that was literally demolished during those 22 years of conflict.
Uganda today is more than Idi Amin, more than Joseph Kony and his LRA with its child soldiers. Uganda is a country of 30 million some people, the youngest country in the world and it is said some of the friendliest people in Africa. Uganda is one of the most beautiful countries in the world from snowcapped Rwenzori Mountains to the Rainforests of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest with half of the Mountain Gorillas in the world. Uganda, a country the size of the UK has over 1000 different species of birds, the bio-diversity of this country is amazing.
Uganda has suffered a lot but the resilience of its people is remarkable and since 1986 when President Museveni took over, great strides forward have been made. Today Uganda is shining once again as the Pearl of Africa and it would be sad if the only thing that people can think about when they think of Uganda is Idi Amin, Joseph Kony or child soldiers...Uganda is much more than that-Uganda's is regaining its luster as the Pearl of Africa...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.
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
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 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.
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.
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.
Uganda Travel Advisory: Uganda is safe for the most part. For More detailed Travel Safety Information got to the Staying Safe in Uganda page. If a safari tour operator offers you a Gorilla Safari in the Democratic Republic of Congo out of Uganda, decline and go Gorilla Tracking inside of Uganda instead where there have been no recent problems. Uganda Travel Safety & Security - after the World Cup Terrorist Attacks in Uganda.
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Last updated: 21 August 2010
Uganda - More than Idi Amin - Joseph Kony, LRA and Child Soldiers
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