UGANDA

COMPENDIUM OF CONFLICTS IN UGANDA
98. The ADF Insurgency (1996 – present)
Participants reported that the Allied Democratic Front (ADF) became active in 1996 in
Kasese District, under the leadership of Jamil Mukulu, who was trained by Bin Laden
in Sudan. Allegedly, the ADF received financial support from Laurent Desire Kabila, the
Sudanese government, as well as Muslim extremist groups. 437 Analysis of the relationship
between financers and the ADF suggests that these stakeholders may have defined the
violent anti-civilian character and long duration of the insurgency. 438 It has further been
suggested that financing by foreign states/groups may be part of a larger, unending
‘tit-for-tat’ game, with states funding internal insurgencies in neighbouring states as
reprisals for those states doing the same. 439
The proclaimed aim of the ADF is to overthrow the Government of Uganda by force. The
rebel group initially adopted the agenda of the Bakonzo and Baamba as a justification
for fighting, even though the ADF leadership is not exclusively from the Rwenzori region.
The ADF leadership was able to mobilise support by appealing to the frustrations of the
437 Refugee Law Project (2003) Displacement in Bundibugyo district: A situation analysis, Working Paper No.
10
438 Hovil, L. and Werker, E. (2005) Portrait of a failed rebellion: an account of rational, sub-optimal violence
in western Uganda. Rationality and Society, 17(1) pp. 5-34
439 Byman, D.L. et al. (2001) Trends in outside support for insurgent movements. Santa Monica, RAND
198