UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
served as an opening for Joseph Kony to launch the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA),
which sought to fulfil the prophesized liberation of the Acholi people and Uganda, as
well as salvation by God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Lukoya, Kony, and
Lakwena respectively). Although Severino Lukoya surrendered to the Government, the
participants believed that many of his followers did not surrender but instead joined
the LRA and continued the rebellion against the government of President Museveni. 326
Severino Lukoya’s HSM II did not abduct and forcefully conscript civilians, as did the
LRA. His mode of mobilisation consisted of convening prayers with the local population,
teaching them about the scriptures, and promising liberation from the sin and oppression
they had experienced under the Museveni government. The participants revealed that
during the prayer services, Lukoya would cure the sick and deliver prophecies about the
future of Uganda and Acholiland.
These methods gained him a significant number of followers who were anointed,
initiated, and commissioned into the fighting force for the salvation war.Participants
noted that the Movement never gained momentum. In August 1988, Lukoya was taken
prisoner by Kony but later escaped and was captured by the NRA. After serving several
years in prison he was pardoned. 327
Though the rebellion ended in 1989, participants expressed their discontent about
the brainwashing and indoctrination of the Acholi community by Lukoya, which they
believed to have resulted in the death of thousands of innocent civilians. 328 An elder in
Awach commented that;
“The recurrent bloodshed in Acholiland is a manifestation
of unaddressed wrongs committed in the land; we are still
going to suffer from endless deadly wars, mysterious deaths,
misfortunes and unexplained strange happenings if we fail
to cure what went wrong here and in other parts of Uganda.
I am talking as an elder, we cannot cure this alone, we need
the government, we need the wrong-doers and we also need
everybody to cleanse Uganda so that innocent blood shed
stops and we begin to see and feel peace, not the peace of
being in the IDP camps because the LRA is in the villages.” 329
65. The Opio and Ocen Insurgency (1987 - 1988)
Opio and Ocen, born in Awach sub-county, are twin brothers. Former Uganda National
Liberation Army (UNLA) fighters, they returned home to Gulu District after the defeat of
the UNLA in fear of the newly established National Resistance Army/Movement (NRA/M)
Government. As the insecurity in Northern Uganda grew, due to grave human rights violations
326 Doom, R. and Vlassenroot, K. (1999) Kony’s Message: A New Koine? The Lord’s Resistance Army in
Northern Uganda. African Affairs 98 (390), pp. 5-36
327 Research conducted in Gulu District
328 Research conducted in Pader District
329 Research conducted in Gulu District
148