UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
Joseph Kony, who claims to be Alice Lakwena’s cousin, began his insurgency in early
1987. Like Lakwena, he was driven by spirits that spoke through him, and he preached
that he had been sent by God to destroy all evil forces. His rebel group, eventually called
the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), did not tolerate any other form of worship, including
indigenous beliefs. He declared witchcraft and sorcery to be evil. He said he had come to
teach the Acholi to follow the Ten Commandments.
In the early years of the insurgency, the LRA gained some support from Acholi communities
because of widespread discontent with atrocities committed against them by the National
Resistance Army (NRA). Initially, Kony started fighting in Gulu, where he employed
similar supernatural battle tactics as did Alice Lakwena. However, later he adopted
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