The Demise of Ugandan LRA
By Steve Paterno
October 22, 2007 — The old adage says what goes around comes around. The murderous Lord’s Resistant Army (LRA) of Uganda has survived and gained notoriety on killing, kidnapping, looting and pillaging on the innocent civilians. However, in the latest episode, the LRA turned these brutal techniques of their survival on themselves. In this latest episode, it is the LRA chief Joseph Kony versus his lieutenant Vincent Otti. These two divided the ranks and files of LRA between themselves. Kony’s charms and deceptions still seem to be working. Through his charms and deceptions, Kony managed to gain the upper hand in the ensuing fight. Otti on the other hand can only convince the more educated among the LRA on his side. In a reported firefight between the camps of these two, the Kony’s group won.
The group has since secured Kony’s rule as Kony took charge. The Kony’s group sent the Otti’s group on the run. A handful of the Otti’s group, almost all of them high ranking officials are said to have surrendered to the security authorities of South Sudan. One of those LRA officials who surrendered to the Southern Sudanese authorities is reported to be mishandled badly by having a bullet drilled through his buttock. Another one of them is reported to have given himself and his family upto the Congolese authorities. He is detained in Kinshasa. The arrangement is on the way to extradite him to Uganda. Otti himself is reported to have been detained by Kony. Although Otti’s whereabouts is unknown, meaning his fate is uncertain as the circumstances surrounding his detention are murky. His satellite phone is confiscated because by now he would have been on the air, contacting his favorite radio station in Gulu, the Mega FM Radio. He would have also probably give a courtesy call to his darling, Dr. Riak Machar, the Vice President of South Sudan. The two, Otti and Machar are inseparable old buddies—they even took a photograph where they cuddled on each other that it raised people’s eye brows.
The internal conflict within LRA is not a huge surprise in the eyes of those who are following the LRA activities. For a long time, the LRA was a diminished force. Their days were numbered as their survival was hanging by a thin thread. Certain phenomena and factors have significantly and gradually contributed to the extinction of the LRA. A huge blow came to the LRA when the peace agreement was signed in Sudan in the year 2005. This peace agreement led to the establishment of South Sudan autonomous government run by Sudan People Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). For more than a decade, the LRA with the help of Khartoum government used to roam freely in South Sudan. Many of them became accustomed to life in South Sudan, picking to speak the local Arabic Juba dialect and adapting to Muhammad religion as practiced by their benefactors in Khartoum. The younger LRAs grew in South Sudan and most of the babies born to LRA officers and adult soldiers by the abducted girls were born in South Sudan. What the establishment of a South Sudan autonomous government means in this context, is that the LRA could not longer benefit from the territory of South Sudan as a safe haven. It also signifies in practicality that the LRA will not longer enjoy the support of the Khartoum government like they used to get before.
The second biggest blow to the LRA came when they found out that five of their top ranking officials are indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. Certainly, the LRA never anticipated a day where they will be held accountable for their war crimes. They were operating under illusion and without aims and objectives, leave alone on what the future holds for them. They fell into the trap of Joseph Kony’s fake spirituality and mysticism. To their surprise, the changes in the real world finally caught up with them. The International Criminal Court is serious in its part not to let-go the LRA officials accused of crimes against humanity. After all, the LRA officials are the first ever case the International Criminal Court formally indicted for war crimes. Therefore, the LRA case is a test of resolve and credibility for the International Criminal Court. What the International Criminal Court will do with the LRA officials is very significant that it will determine the success or failure of this body for global justice.
The political changes in the region have also greatly contributed to the demise of the LRA. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which was a safe sanctuary for foreign armed groups, has of a recent gained some measures of political stability. The DRC has conducted general elections and set up a government of elected officials. The various armed groups that used to pillage that vast African country are integrated into the main system or dissolved. The few radical armed groups became fugitives and are being pursued through all means to be disarmed. In addition to that, several regional security treaties are signed among the regional players in maintaining regional security in that part of the world. The United Nations (UN) peacekeeping forces are deployed in the region to maintain some level of peace.
These entire developments do add to the demise of the LRA in a more significant way. In effect, the LRA sphere of influence is seriously compromised. They are reduced into hiding and sharing Garamba Park with the wild animals in DRC near the border of South Sudan. They are displaced, farther away from the innocent civilians whom they are accustom to looting and terrorizing. The LRA is only lucky that its survival is owed to the mistakes committed by government of South Sudan, which mistakenly decided to accommodate and entertain them. The government of South Sudan even went as far as trying to mediate an elusive peace talks between the government of Uganda and the LRA. The LRA are given provisions; food supplies and money–but how can a bunch of thugs be supplied with food and money as they fight over the supply of food and money provided to them? At any rate, the LRA has proven that they are traumatized and can never be accustomed to a normal livelihood because they are even ready to loot their own belongings and kill each other over it. Is this internal conflict within LRA signifies the final opportunity to wipe the LRA once and for all? Well, this will then mean one less unauthorized armed group out of South Sudan and peace in Northern Uganda.
*Steve Paterno is a Sudanese residing in the U.S.A and the author of the upcoming book, The Rev. Fr. Saturnino Lohure: A Roman Catholic Priest Turned Rebel, The South Sudan Experience. He can be reached at [email protected]