Families still hopeful LRA abductees will return home

Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Some families in Acholi are still hopeful they will see their loved ones who are still missing from the two-decade-long armed conflict in Northern Uganda 15 years ago.

Between 1986 and 2006, it is estimated that the LRA rebels led by Joseph Kony abducted over 75,000 youth, including 38,000 children for use as child soldiers, sex slaves, and porters.

A large number of the abductees were children under the age of 18. They never saw their families again while over 20,000 of them have since returned and integrated into the community through aid-financed reception centres.

Yuspina Adoro, 68, lost her 12-year-old son after the rebels abducted him in 1992 from Laguti Sub-County in Pader District. To date, there has been no information about him, but Adoro says her hopes of seeing his son again has not yet vanished.

Lillian Lalam, a resident of Atiak Sub-county in Amuru District says that his brother disappeared after he was abducted in 1991. To date, he has never returned, but Amato says she is hopeful he may return someday though his memory keeps haunting her.

Bob William Labeja of Kitgum Municipality and former Battalion Commander says that his brother has never returned. Labeja implores Government to establish a truth-telling commission to enable the affected families to find meaningful closure.

The Chairperson of Atiak Massacre Site, Fred Okot, recalls a teenage boy named Brown David Nyong, a former student at Atiak Technical School. Nyong was among dozen students who were abducted during the raid that left 301 people dead on April 20, 1995, and none of them returned.

Many of such families are continuing to grapple with the regrettable disappearances of their loved ones caused by the armed rebellion in the region, and they only keep memories of them through annual commemorative prayers.

Aggrey Keith Akera, the Male Councilor for Atiak Sub-County says that during such memorial events, the district leaders, professional counsellors and religious leaders share moments of solidarity with the aggrieved families.

The LRA’s rationale for the widespread conscription of children and adolescents into the rebellion was based on the fact they are easily indoctrinated to stay longer into the rebel ranks because they exhibited more dedication and loyalty.

The LRA insurgency had displaced over 1.5 million civilians and an estimated 100,000 civilians were killed.

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