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Divisions in Uganda
LinkUganda has been divided among racial and cultural lines since atleast the 4th century. Bantu speaking Baganda created different and competing social and economic structures from the Nilotic language speaking Acholi in the North. The Baganda people worked closely with the British while the Acholi and the other northern ethnic groups made up most of the manual labor force and military power. After Uganda's independece in 1962, Uganda's ethnic groups continued to compete with each other. -
The Holy Spirit Movement
LinkThe Holy Spirit Movement was founded by Alice Luma, who claimed to be possessed by a spirit called Lakwena. The Holy Spirit Movement was an armed resistance movement claimed to be inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Lakwena displayed herself in a way that protrayed her as a prophet who recieved holy messages of God. She expressed the belief that the Acholi could defeat the government by casting off witchcraft and spiritualism embedded in their culture. She later went into exile, where she died. -
Yoweri Museveni
LinkYoweri Museveni fights his way into power with an army that recruited children. Many view his am the one who brought stability and peace to Uganda, but the people in the northern region of the country, especially the Acholi, thought otherwise. Due to poverty and dissatisfaction in northern Uganda, groups that oppose Museveni's regime increase in popularity. -
The Start of Kony
LinkKony made his first appearnce as a spirit medium and supposedly as Alica Lakwena's cousin. He claimed that northern Uganda was being exploited and marginalised by President Museveni's national government in southern Uganda. Throughout 1987, Kony gained followers and military strength by adding small units of the rebel Uganda People's Democratic Army and through violent competitions with other rebel groups for resources and soldiers. -
The start of the LRA
LinkVideoThe leaders of the UPDA signed an agreement with the Ugandan government in which most of the former rebels were added to the government's army. Kony refused to go along with the the agreement and broke off along with other soldiers. He combined his military background and religious beliefs to create the Uganda Christian Democratic Army which he renamed the Lord's Asistance Army in 1991. -
Gulu Peace Accord
LinkIn July of 1987, many UPDA soldiers accepted an offer of amnesty from the NRA, which was President Museveni's National Resistance Army. Peace talks began occuring between the NRA and UPDA, or Uganda People's Democratic Army. In this peace accord, more than two thousand UPDA soldiers were added to the national military. Joseph Kony, a former UPDA fighter, refused to accept the peace accord and split off to form the Uganda People's Democratic Christian Army, which is known today as the LRA. -
LRA: Most Wanted
LinkIn 2005, the International Crime Court, or ICC, issues warrants for the arrest of the five leaders of the LRA, 3 of whom are alive still. These 5 members are Joseph Kony, as #1 on the most wanted due to his position as commander in chief and with 33 counts of crime against humanity and war crimes, Vincent Otti; second in command (dead), Raska Lukwiya; army commander (dead), Okot Odhiambo; army commander and deputy chairman, and Dominic Ongwen; director of operations. -
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Juba Talks
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Juba Talks
LinkThe Juba Talks were a series of negotiations between the LRA and Uganda's government regarding ceasefire and possible peace treaties. The talks began in September of 2006 and were lead by Riek Machar, vice president of Southern Sudan. Joseph Kony, however, refused to sign these peace treaties and two months later, in June, the LRA carried out an attack on a Southern Sudanese town, causing the government of Sudan to withdraw from its position as mediators. -
Garamba Offensive
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The Garamba Offensive, codenamed Operation Lightning Thunder, began December 14th of 2008 after the LRA launched attacks on a Southern Sudanese town. This was in direct relation to the failure of the Juba Talks between Uganda's government and the LRA. In November 2008, President Geroge W. Bush signed the directive to the US Africa Command to provide assistance to the Ugandan government during the offense. -
The Makombo Massacre
LinkThe LRA's presence in the Central African Republic is confirmed in 2009. From the 14th to the 19th of December, an estimated amount of 321 people have been reported to be killed by the LRA in the region of Makombo in the Haut-Eule Province of Democratic Republic of the Congo. -
