UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
74. The post-1986 northern conflict in Lango
People in Lango experienced the northern conflict differently than their neighbours
in the north. Despite similar experiences of NRA vengeance attacks, the Langi did not
sympathise as much with the UPDA as did the Acholi. This was largely because the UNLA
was commanded by those who had overthrown Obote, a Langi. Instead, the Langi felt
more sympathy for the HSMF. A number of young men joined Alice Lakwena, partly in
the hope that it might help them restore Obote’s power. When the HSMF passed through
Lango, the prevalence of guns is said to have declined drastically, possibly because these
new recruits took weapons with them.
The LRA first entered Lango in the beginning of the 1990s through Pader, in search of
food. In 1992, they burnt Abia Primary School and abducted people. LRA atrocities in
Lango intensified after 2003, when the war spread to the west and particularly the east.
This was partly due to the fact that the LRA rebels were again in search of food, which
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