Write your abstract here.
The Northern Uganda War has gone on
uninterrupted for the last 20 years. Those of
us who are sojourners
of this unfortunate region of Uganda have lived to see the movie-
like horrors of war which the International Media has chosen to say very little
about.Every house-hold has its own pain to tell about the Northern Uganda War,
but suffice it to say, it is the greatest and the longest humanitarian
catastrophe the Acholi of Northern
Uganda have seen in living memory! The Northern Uganda war is basically an
Acholi war. They are both the victims and the culprits of the tumultuous social
situation triggered by the two decades of violence in the region. Few people
understand the magnitude of the cost-effect analysis of this insurgence, yet
this is a war that could have been avoided if the perpetrators knew what they
know and see now. The first bullet of the rebellion was fired about
June-July 1986. The NRM
government which was barely 6 months old had just
assumed the reigns of power from the Military Junta headed by General
Okello Tito Lutwaa and General Okello Bazilio Olara early in January 1986.
These Acholi Generals had themselves grabbed power through a Military coup in
July 1985 from an elected government of Milton Obote. The Acholis who had
over the years been branded the “Marshall” tribe of Uganda did not accept
defeat even when they were literally kicked out of Kampala by Museveni’s
men. They still believed, they could regroup and reclaim what has been theirs
since the flag independence in 1962-military power! By the look of
things, in 1986 when the NRA (National Resistance Army) occupied Northern
Uganda, signs were on the table about the inevitability of an insurgency. The
NRA soldiers that were dispatched to pacify the North were very brutal to
the local people. They arrested young men and tortured many of them while
others were even killed for no apparent reasons. This ill treatment forced the
majority of the ex-soldiers to mobilize and regroup themselves into a fighting
force that had been emboldened by the illusionary belief that they could easily
recapture power and get back what had for been theirs. This initial rebellion
was quickly quelled by the government and many of the fighters found their way
into Sudan where they continued to get military and financial support from the
Khartoum government. Just as the Sudan factor to the Northern rebellion
was building steam, a strange and mysterious Holly Spirit Movement led by a
Prophetess, Alice Lakwena took control of the heart and mind of every body in
Acholi. She declared herself the ‘Messenger of God’ sent to save the Acholi
people. She also announced that she had mystic powers to turn bullets into
harmless objects once her soldiers smeared their bodies with Shea butter oil.
These dimension of the Northern Uganda war was indeed the genesis of the
endless rebellion that was to be experienced for 20 long years. Lakwena armed
her men with stones, Holly water, Christian songs and courage as they
confronted the heavily armed government troops with artilleries and deadly
weapons. Many Acholi young men were killed for their stupid courage. Lakwena
was finally defeated having marched close to the Industrial city of Jinja and
causing serious fear in Kampala city where somehow, people believed she was going
to take over power from Museveni! Alice Lakwena’s defeat did not spell doom to
the Holly spirit Movement-while she fled to Kenya and was given a refugee
status in Northern Kenya, the mantle of her movement was taken over by her own
father Severino Okoya. He continued to engage the government troops throughout
Achoiland by invoking the power of the holly spirit in the vain hope that
it would make them win the war. In Okoya’s fighting force was a young catechist
called Joseph Kony. He emerged out of Okoya’s force and formed his own
army guided by the Holly spirit. Kony wanted to usher in a puritanical
state run on the tenets of the ten commandment although his actions on the
people showed non of these puritanical suppositions given that the rebellion
under his LRA (The Lord’s Resistance Army) was perhaps the most deadly of all.
He got involved in heavy abduction of children to add to his rag-tag force. He
killed or maimed by cutting off body parts of those he considered non
supportive of his movement. Many women today are living with breasts, lips,
limbs and ears chopped off by Joseph Kony’s forces. Atrocious massacres were
carried out by LRA in places like Atyak, were 400 people were killed in one
night alone in 1994. In other Internally Displaced Camps, (IDPs) mass murders
and ambushes of public vehicles were repeatedly done throughout the Acholiland. In the bid to purportedly protect the population, the government came out with
IDP policy where populations were herded into concentration camps for their safety.
While this was perhaps the most available policy option, it later exposed the
people to a different form of vulnerability. Mixing up people in one
massive camp made the transmission of HIV very thorough in Acholiland. Today,
Northern Uganda has the highest infection rate in Uganda. Although the
decongestion process has began and there are high prospects for a
successful conclusion of the peace negotiations between the LRA and the
government, the 20 year long war remains a painful experience in the minds of
the Acholis and the wider Population of Northern Uganda where the
atrocities of
the LRA have been chronicled. As I write this article, the peace talks with the
LRA are ongoing n the Southern Sudanese capital of Juba. We hope and pray that
it is concluded with a signed pact so that an era of hope and reconstructions
returns to our land.