Critical Incidence Response

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Lord’s Resistance Army: Child Soldiers in Indigenous Communities

Modernization has brought about recognition of the long lost human rights that

have been violated for many years. Among these rights, are the child rights that pertain non-

discrimination, best interest of the child, right to life, survival and development of the child

(Christopher). For years, violation of these rights have led to major humanitarian crisis in most

nations. A classic example is the use of underage children by Ugandan soldiers in the Lord’s

Resistance Army (Un.org). This involved recruitment of children in indigenous Uganda, to the

army as child soldiers who were used to advance their illegitimate reign. These children were

exposed to inhumane conditions at their early ages, thereby opportunistically robbing them of

their innocence. Some of the children that are now soldiers attest to the fact that life is never the

same again once you start a family. Despite the fact that the country has recovered politically and

economically, the humanitarian crisis of the 1990’s remains unaddressed, with various people

suffering from post-traumatic stress disorders.

The Critical Incident

The use of children as soldiers in the Lord’s was at its peak during the 1990’s and

early 2000’s where children were forcibly taken against the will, under the authoritarian regime

of Joseph Kony, a person that had been declared the most wanted warlord in Africa (Sturges

157). The army that was responsible for atrocities such as rape, killing and physical torture

preferred to use children because they could easily be manipulated to believe the draconian

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values and belief systems propagated by the rebel group (Allen and Koen 22). While male

children worked as soldiers, young girls served as bush wives at the time, believing in the

supposed supernatural powers of Kony (Sturges 155). Abductions hit an unprecedented scale in

the late 1990’s and local communities were forced to undertake indigenous practices such as

bending spears, ritual cleansing and lighting bonfires around the abducted individuals in order to

save them from manipulation.

Recent statistics from humanitarian organizations have indicated that the

population of underage soldiers made up an approximate 90% of the entire army. Recruits were

as young as eight years, abducted through organized raids in various villages within the country.

Violence turned into a way of life for such children because the few that attempted to escape

were killed (Sturges 163). Uganda was largely hit by this crisis, with some regions recording

malnutrition rates of up to 30%. The fear of being abducted for instance, negatively affected the

planting season in 2004, threatening to exacerbate a serious food crisis in the country (Apuuli

25). Health facilities similarly failed as facilities ran out of medical stock and workers fled

different regions to escape the attacks propagated by the Lord’s Resistance Army (Acker 336).

While there are peace process that have been advanced in neighboring countries such as Sudan

and Somalia, the country has only remained tenuous and a greater proportion of the success

stories presented to economic policy makers around the globe masks the humanitarian crisis

(Apuuli 27). It is a shuddering contrast of the conflict that has hit northern and eastern Uganda

over the years.

The Incident’s Dimensions

The humanitarian crisis in Uganda as propagated by LRA took spiritual,

emotional and physical dimensions, with future implications as well. Spiritually, insurgent

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leaders such as Joseph Kony and Alice Lakwena suggested that they could offer a supernatural

solution to a government that was otherwise despised (Acker 339). While children were easy to

manipulate into committing atrocities, therefore, they were undergoing spiritual manipulation,

believing that Kony and other insurgent leaders had supernatural powers. Upon realization that

the abductions had grown in scale, the local communities sought spiritual solutions as well in the

form of ritual cleansing. Whereas such an approach did not offer lasting solutions, former

abductees such as Jaclike Akot opine that these practices helped in maintaining their sanity (The

New Indian Express). The people of Acholi similarly reacted to LRA acts when they opted out of

the political solutions provided and instead decided to form the Holy Spirit Movement, aimed at

using spirituality to facilitate community ownership of security matters (Acker 363).

Physically, the kind of torture that was inflicted in young children was

phenomenal. The movement that was initially designed to set the Ugandan society free from all

forms of evil gradually justified killing and physical torture, arguing that cleansing alone could

not be used to dispel the spirits from the people (Allen and Koen 24). Lakwena was initially

recognized as a representation of the word of God but over time, she opted to purify the native

land through combat as well. In her presentation, she argued that killing was divine, likened to a

surgeon’s act of extracting rotten flesh from a body (Fisher). Among the physical tortures that

people suffered included rape, beating and being forced slavery.

Emotionally, some of the victims of this war have never recovered from the

torture that they were forced to propagate. Norman Okello joined the LRA at the age of twelve

and for two years, he experienced atrocities that are still fresh in his mind (Will). A typical day

for an LRA soldier as Norman recounts, included frequent beatings, hunger and bullying, which

were only interrupted in case there was a raid. Norman has suffered a lot of psychological

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distress since his retirement from the army and even years of therapy have not helped in

rebuilding his shattered life.

‘Years of therapy involved rebuilding of his personality by the repetition of one

simple message; it wasn’t your fault. The counselors always insisted that he had

to entirely leave what he had done in the bush. He admits that group therapy

involving some form of role play with young abductees has been helpful but life

is never the same once a person has killed. He is married and currently a normal

member of the society but he agrees that the nightmare still exists’ (Will)

Positionality

I am undertaking this analysis from an objective position, given the fact that I have never

experienced such a traumatic experience. I have read of humanitarian crises in various parts of

the world, especially in relation to the position of American troops in various African countries

in an attempt to restore order. This analysis gives insights into the rot that defined Ugandan

politics at the time. This notwithstanding, I have been a victim of post-traumatic stress after the

loss of a loved one through terrorist activities and this in some way will bring an emotional twist

to this analysis.

Links to the Existing Literature

Max Fisher records the events that have been narrated by former LRA soldiers,

pointing out that Kony was possessed in some way and this explains why he was madder

compared to Alice Lakwena. Casts of rotating spirits could possess the soldier at least thrice each

day and it was believed that no one could question these spirits (Fisher). The children that he

abducted were programmed with beatings, drugs and emotional manipulation, a reason why he

established a long-lasting insurgence army. While drawing spiritual support from Alice Lakwena

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who was possessed as well, Kony was keen on establish a self-perpetuating army but this turned

the rest of the country against him (Fisher).

Matti Stephanie on the other hand presents the order of events carried out by the

U.S administration in an attempt to root out such insurgence groups. In 2005 for instance, the

international Criminal Court announced that it had issued warrants of arrest against key LRA

leaders including Joseph Kony (Matti 27). In 2008, the American Treasury identified Kony as a

‘specially designated global terrorist’ (Matti 28). Obama similarly signed a rapid disarmament

program against the group, which was supported unanimously by both houses. By the time the

U.N Security Council was mandating AFRICOM troops to carry out military operations against

LRA, however, it emerged that most of the operations had been moved to Congo (Matti 27). This

is of the implication that such militia groups are not limited to a single country. Insurgence

groups have been regional especially in Africa, affecting countries such as Sudan, Uganda,

Burundi and Somalia, an aspect that makes it barely possible to neutralize them through foreign

military intervention alone.

Interpretation

In a majority of the developing countries that have been hit by humanitarian

crises, healing practices, self-determination and traditional indigenous ceremonies are used to

facilitate healing (Vontress 126).A number of themes emerge from this larger approach and they

include:

1. Connecting with all living things

2. Recognizing nature and animals as the greatest teachers

3. Cleansing

4. Developing the spirit/energy required to heal

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Whenever people take time to perform a traditional ceremony, it literally clears their

mind and their spirits such that answers to all life’s problems flow freely (Vontress 127). In the

LRA case, traditional ceremonies such as lighting a bonfire around the affected people were

observed and this was meant to help them recover from traumatic experiences. In terms of

cleansing, people like Akot were subjected to cleansing practices like stepping on eggs because it

was believed ti dispel the spirits.

Connecting with families after LRA’s acts is rather difficult, explaining why Norman had

a difficult time bonding with his family. Despite the numerous therapeutic practices, he had to

settle down, marry and engage in everyday activities such as cultivation of crops and animal

rearing. Traditional belief systems posit that nature and animals in general offer great lessons

from where people can learn (Vontress 128).

One of the reasons behind the success stories recorded by insurgence groups in Uganda

draws from the fact that the leaders had a strong connection with untold spirits, an aspect that

gave them the strength required to fuel such atrocities as depicted by Kony and Lakwena.

In summary, Uganda may have recovered partially from the actions of the Lord’s

Resistance Army but the traumatic experiences resulting from this regime live in the hearts of

many. As most researchers opine, militia groups are regional in nature and civilization should

drive people into using collaborative approaches to realize a lasting solution as opposed to

cleansing, traditional practices and self-determination.

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Works Cited

Acker, Frank Van. “Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army: the New Order No One

Ordered.” African Affairs, vol. 103, no. 412, Jan. 2004, pp. 335–357., doi:10.1093/afraf/adh044.

Allen, Tim, and Koen Vlassenroot. The Lord’s Resistance Army: Myth and Reality. Vol. 1, ser. 3,

Zed Books, 2010.

Apuuli, K P. “Amnesty and International Law: the Case of the Lord\s Resistance Army Insurgents in

Northern Uganda.” African Journal on Conflict Resolution, vol. 5, no. 2, 2007,

doi:10.4314/ajcr.v5i2.39391.

Christopher, Bono. “Five Major Child Advocates: Children's Rights Are Everybody's

Responsibility.” UNICEF, 20 Nov. 2009, www.unicef.org/media/media_51860.html.

Fisher, Max. “The Bizarre and Horrifying Story of the Lord's Resistance Army.” The Atlantic,

Atlantic Media Company, 17 Oct. 2011, www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/10/the-

bizarre-and-horrifying-story-of-the-lords-resistance-army/246836/.

Matti, Stephanie. “In Pursuit of the Lord’s Resistance Army: How to Deter Illegal Resource

Extraction by Ugandan Forces.” Africa Today, vol. 59, no. 1, 2012, p. 27.,

doi:10.2979/africatoday.59.1.27.

Sturges, Paul. “Modelling Recent Information History: The ‘Banditry’ of the Lord’s Resistance

Army in Uganda.” Information History in the Modern World, 2011, pp. 155–174.,

doi:10.1007/978-1-137-26743-6_8.

The New Indian Express. “Uganda: Former Child Soldiers from the Lord's Resistance Army Help

Other Rebel Abductees Heal.” The New Indian Express, 2010,

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www.newindianexpress.com/world/2018/jan/02/uganda-former-child-soldiers-from-the-lords-

resistance-army-help-other-rebel-abductees-heal-1742447.html.

Un.org. “Uganda: Child Soldiers at Centre of Mounting Humanitarian Crisis.” United Nations,

United Nations, 2018, www.un.org/events/tenstories/06/story.asp?storyID=100.

Vontress, Clemmont E. “Animism: Foundation of Traditional Healing in Sub-Saharan

Africa.” Integrating Traditional Healing Practices into Counseling and Psychotherapy, vol. 3,

2009, pp. 124–137., doi:10.4135/9781452231648.n11.

Will, Storr. “Kony's Child Soldiers: 'When You Kill for the First Time, You Change'.” The

Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 12 Feb. 2014,

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/uganda/10621792/K

onys-child-soldiers-When-you-kill-for-the-first-time-you-change.html.

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