What is the Lord’s Resistance Army?

When I started this blog, I mentioned possible subtopics that might come up. One of those subtopics was the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Because I am planning on working in northern Uganda this summer, where the LRA originated, this topic is particularly relevant for discussion.

So what is the LRA?

The Lord’s Resistance Army is a rebel group in Uganda led by Joseph Kony. The LRA originated in 1987 among the ethnic Acholi people. Joseph Kony, who is currently ranked 9th onthe World’s top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list, is a native Acholi. Initially, Acholi banded together for protection against the Ugandan government. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, the Ugandan government committed serious acts of oppression against the Acholi. Thus, there was a sense of unmet justice that left natives feeling debilitated, marginalized, and powerless. It was time to fight back.

Before explaining further, it is important to understand who the “government” was at this time. Why was this group of people oppressed? Who oppressed them? We often talk about the LRA, but the whole contextual basis of the problem seems to be lost.

So here is a history lesson:

After Uganda gained independence from Britain in 1962, there was 5 years of democracy under President Milton Obote. As time progressed, however, his regime evolved into a violent dictatorship. In 1971, a non-commissioned army officer named Idi Amin Dada overtook Obote. It was a successful coup welcomed with wide Ugandan support!

However, Idi turned the tables on Ugandans, as his abuse of power was worse than Obote’s. Idi dissolved Parliament and changed the Constitution so that he would have absolute power over Uganda. He eliminated the possibility for any opposition by simply eliminating people without batting an eye. During his 8-year rule, he violently killed hundreds of thousands of Ugandans. Among these victimized Ugandans were the Acholi people.

            Idi specifically targeted Acholi people of Northern Uganda for 2 main reasons:

1.     They supported the power of his predecessor (Abote) instead of his

2.     They comprised a large majority of the army

Idi sought to kill as many Acholi as possible in order to weaken the army and consequently remove any chance of an army uprising. He was utilizing extreme violence to protect his power.

 It seems he also could not accept a situation that didn’t go his way. For some reason he drew this logical conclusion to just wipe out any sort of threat to his power. Human life became meaningless. Over time, Ida devastated Uganda by destroying the economy and banning all Asians . By doing this, he weakened the merchant commercial business that brought money into Uganda.

           

Fortunately, a Tanzanian backed rebellion (including current president Yoweri Museveni) overthrew Idi in 1979.  Afterwards, rigged elections reinstalled Milton Obote to power. I am not sure why this was a good idea, but I guess anyone looks good next to Idi…

Obviously, Obote’s power was abusive as it had been before Idi’s reign. He committed massive human rights abuses, which ultimately sparked a guerilla war led by Museveni in 1981. In 1985, a group of guerilla Acholi’s led by general Tito Okello overthrew Obote. The new government led by Okello then tried to negotiate with Museveni’s guerilla forces. However, Museveni did not stop fighting until he seized power at Kampala. In 1987, Museveni’s National Resistance Army established a “no-party democracy”.

So back to the LRA…

Somehow, in the midst of this chaos, Acholi forces joined to start the LRA. I don’t really understand this, as Museveni’s rise to power looks like a light at the end of the tunnel. However, this is not something the people could have predicted. The damage was already done, the trust was already broken. They were broken, and it was time to right the wrongs.They were not interested in submission to another potentially heinous ruler.

However, support for the LRA was short lived because it too became a means of serious oppression. The LRA got intensely more violent toward civilians and even targeted fellow Acholis . Under Joseph Kony, the LRA became one of the world’s largest monstrosities. It was the complete opposite of “justice”, as the LRA “killed thousands of civilians in Northern Uganda and mutilated many others by cutting off their lips, ears, noses, hands, and feet”. In addition, more than 40,000 children were abducted, brutalized, and forced to serve as soldiers in the LRA. Many of these children were required to torture and kill their own family members.

In the LRA’s early years, its political goal was to overthrow Museveni. Apprently, Kony wanted to create a state based on his interpretation of the 10 commandments...

BUT, the LRA no longer operates in Uganda, so no one really knows why it still exists other than for complete terror. Political goals are hazy, and lives continue to be lost for no real reason…

Fortunately, there haven’t been Uganda LRA attacks since 2006. The LRA has quieted down due to aggressive suppression by both US and Ugandan troops. At this point,  Kony is just hiding out and trying to survive.