Gulu and the LRA

Gulu District is in Northern Uganda, not far from the borders of southern Sudan and the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). It has been the scene of extreme violence and human rights violations for more than 20 years. It has seen nearly two million of its inhabitants forced by the government to abandon their villages and farms to seek safety in pitifully crowded, unhealthy IDP (Internally Displaced Person) camps. It has watched while rebels burn villages, destroy schools, mutilate or murder family and friends, and abduct children to fight or serve as sex slaves.

The mere mention of Uganda to most foreigners conjurs up the name and memories of Idi Amin and his harsh comic/tragic regime of the 1970s. But to northern Ugandans, even to this day, the name Joseph Kony evokes a greater fear. Gulu, the town and surrounding district, is now the site of rebirth, with massive efforts underway to repair the damage inflicted by Kony and his LRA (Lord's Resistance Army).

To review a bit of the history, in the '80s rebel attacks and coups were common throughout the country, as distrust was the inevitable result of years of political and military abuse by two dictators (Amin and Obote) and also triggered by tribal/regional conflicts of interest. The Acholi people of northern Uganda were seen as potentially dangerous to the new government ruled by former rebel-leader Yoweri Museveni (who is still president of Uganda but facing an election in 2011), possibly ready to retaliate for past wrongs. No one seemed sure where loyalties lay or whom to trust.

Kony and his LRA entered the scene around 1987, on the heels of another cultish rebel group, the Holy Spirit Movement. Its founder, Alice Lakwena, had gained a large following among the Acholi, claiming to be a spiritual mystic. She mixed together Christianity and traditional religious beliefs including witchcraft, producing some bizarre strategic moves like covering fighters' bodies with oil to protect them against bullets. Her intention, reportedly, was to overthrow the Ugandan government army and install a government based on 'the ten commandments.' Kony stepped forward after her rebel forces were defeated by the Ugandan army, proclaiming that same mission. One big difference however is that he never received the support of the Acholi people, and his tactics for recruiting quickly turned to intimidation and then apparently-insatiable, senseless violence against them.

Rather than reviewing the years of fighting, political intrigue, and false spurts of hope, let's jump forward to some positive news. In the spring of 2007, Kony took his forces and moved to a forest area in northeast DRC. Although he has continued to carry out atrocities against the Congolese and also made attacks in southern Sudan, the Acholi community in Uganda is beginning to regain its strength. Children are no longer having to walk long distances each day from their villages into town shelters so as not to be captured during the night. People who have spent up to 20 years living in IDP camps are returning to their farms and villages; as of 2009, fewer than 400,000 people remain in the camps, which are officially closed by the government.

Gulu has grown quickly in the last few years, to become Uganda's second largest city with an estimated population of more than 140,000. One reason for the growth has been the number of humanitarian and relief organizations that have flooded into the district; an estimated 200 NGOs (non-government organizations) are working to restore medical, social, and educational services and to provide vocational training and counseling. And, it's none too soon.

For more in depth stories about the struggles of Northern Uganda, I suggest:
irinews
enough