UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
86. Incursion of the Lord’s Resistance Army into Teso (1998-2005)
The incursion of the Lord´s Resistance Army (LRA) into Teso was described by participants
to have taken place in numerous phases. The first phase commenced on 16 June 1998
when the LRA looted the Orungu Roman Catholic Mission Centre in Katakwi District
before retreating to Acholiland. In 2000, several individuals, ostensibly with mental
disabilities, stayed in Soroti for a short time. It was subsequently alleged that they had
been LRA spies using mental disability as a disguise. 405
In 2003, 406 the LRA resurfaced when they stormed Obalanga sub-county, 407 Amuria
District, and looted a health centre and committed numerous atrocities, including
mass displacement, killing, raping women and girls, and conscripting children as child
soldiers. They subsequently spread to other parts of Soroti. The intensity and brutality
of the LRA operation in the Teso sub-region led to the formation of a militia called the
Arrow Boys in 2003, under the leadership of Musa Ecweru and Mike Mukula. The militia,
comprised of Iteso youth and men, fought to expel the LRA from their land. This local
405 Research conducted in Soroti District
406 Ibid
407 In Obalanga, the LRA infiltrated Teso in 2003. It became the largest Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camp
in Teso Sub region harbouring over 40,000 IDPs. Obalanga is also has the largest mass grave in Teso with
approximately 365 remains of victims buried in it. See: Justice and Reconciliation Project “Field Notes
XIV” (2012).
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