THE LORD'S RESISTANCE ARMY

Gary Short

The northern Ugandan anti-government military movement (the LRA) is deeply rooted in spiritism and witchcraft. It is actually a succession of northern Ugandan militias that have been fueled by their supernatural practices. It emerged in 1986-7 a short time after Yoweri Museveni came to power in Uganda. The Ugandan military in the Obote/Amin regimes had been heavily populated by people from the northern tribes. The motivation for forming these militias very probably was the expectation of reprisals for the atrocities that had been committed by northern soldiers during the Obote/Amin era.

The original leader was a 31 year old illiterate woman from Gulu named Alice Auma whose group was called the Holy Spirit Movement. Auma’s brand of spiritism was a blend of Catholic rituals with demonic empowered witchcraft. She is said to have channeled the “spirit of a dead Italian army officer called “Lakwena” which means messenger.” She convinced her soldiers that if they were anointed with oil they would be bulletproof in battle and that blessed rocks would explode like grenades as they threw them at the enemy. The practice had marginal success.

The current leader of this movement now called the Lord’s Resistance Army is an Acholi man called Joseph Kony. Kony like Alice Auma claims to be a spirit medium. He is said to channel Juma Oris a former Amin aid, turned rebel fighter who was killed in 1997 and also a Chinese general. His religion is a strange mixture of Catholicism, Islam, and witchcraft. Documented atrocities make it plain that he is a sadistic killer.

The violence of this group has been well documented. They have replenished their ranks by kidnapping children and forcing them to become soldiers in their ruthless army. They routinely kidnap girls to make them domestic and sexual slaves. If these kidnapped children refuse to perform as demanded or if they fall sick they are executed. Often the children are required to execute their friends who fail to perform; if they refuse they too will be executed. They have cut off people lips, slaughtered whole villages, stolen children and generally carried out a war on their own people more than against government troops. They have successfully interrupted normal life in northern Uganda.

The LRA has created the ‘Night Commuter’ crisis that Oprah has so successfully publicized. In northern Ugandan cities such as Kitgum and Gulu the people who live and work in village areas gather into the city before nightfall and sleep in schools and even on the streets to avoid the night raids regularly carried out by the LRA. When I visited Kitgum, World Vision was the most visible organization working on the Night Commuter problem.

For years the LRA has operated in Southern Sudan and Congo as well as northern Uganda. The Government of Sudan in Khartoum has supported the LRA even though at times their public position has been to cooperate with Uganda against the LRA. They have committed the same atrocities in these places as they have carried out in northern Uganda for years. In February 2003 Sudan agreed to allow Ugandan troops to cross the border to attack the LRA rebels who have been taking refuge in bases on the Sudan side. Since that time the Ugandan Army has been far more effective in dealing with the LRA. By January 2004 Ugandan Defense Minister Amama Mbabazi said that the Ugandan army had killed 928 LRA fighters between Jan. 1, 2003 and Jan. 16, 2004. Because of this the LRA has been seeking peace talks.

In 2005 the International Criminal Court in the Hague issued arrest warrants for Joseph Kony and his top leaders. According to Kampala’s daily paper the New Vision, religious and political leaders in northern cities such as Gulu which have been severely impacted by the LRA are raising their voices against these arrest warrants. This demonstrates how much tribalism impacts the politics of the region.

The LRA has killed 30,000 Ugandans and helped create 2,000,000 internally displaced persons there. They have committed many atrocities from mutilations to kidnapping, rape and torturous murder. Just in the last several months they have moved through Yei and Kejo Keji Counties in Southern Sudan causing havoc and killing civilians. They are a disruptive force in Southern Sudan at a time when the Sudanese need to minimize every possible thing that can impede their progress.

There is a possibility of peace talks that could eliminate this threat to the stability of the region. According to a BBC report Uganda’s interior minister said, "The government will seize any opportunity to bring the suffering of people in northern Uganda to an end." This comes just as on June 2, “Interpol issued its first wanted persons notices on behalf of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for five people suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity in northern Uganda.”
The question is should civilized people be entering into talks with these kind people or should the responsible forces in the region be working together to eliminate them. By whatever means this evil destabilizing force needs to be neutralized.

Sources Wikipedia, Human Rights Watch, New Vision, BBC, Sunday Times, interview with Morris Bukenya, first hand observation in Kitgum Uganda, interviews with residents of Kejo Keji County Sudan.