Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kampala (Agenzia Fides)- Alice Lakwena, the woman who inspired the Lord’s Resistance Army LRA, has died in a refugee camp at Dadaad, in northern Kenya, close to the Ugandan border where she lived in exile for 18 Years. In the 1980s Alice Auma changed her surname to Lakwena meaning messenger in Acholi and founded the Movement of the Holy Spirit.
Under her leadership in 1986 the Movement of the Holy Spirit launched guerrilla war in northern Uganda. The main group of 7,000 men was defeated by government troops in 1987, in a series of battles which left about 5,000 rebels dead. The causes of the heavy number of casualties can be traced to the ‘magical’ practices of Lakwena, who would anoint her warriors with a ‘miraculous oil’ which she said had the power to protect them from enemy bullets. From the ashes of the Movement of the Holy Spirit in 1989 there arose Lord’s Resistance Army LRA led by Alice’s cousin, Joseph Kony,.
The LRA and its predecessor, the Movement of the Holy Spirit, were a response to the seizing of power by Yoweri Museveni in 1986 who overthrew a military junta composed mainly of Acholi military officers. The former rebel leaders took refuge in Sudan and started various guerrilla movements the LRA being the most recent representative.
In 2004 there were rumours that Alice Lakwena was trying to mediate between the LRA and the Kampala government (see Fides 28 April 2004), but the talks led to nothing.
Only in 2006 talks were started between the LRA and representatives of the Ugandan government thanks to mediation by the authorities of Southern Sudan. However the talks appear to have stalled following a rebel request for the negotiations to be moved from Juba in Sudan to Kenya (see Fides 12 January 2007). The bone of contention is an International Penal Court warrant for the arrest of LRA leaders on charges of crimes against humanity. Yesterday 18 January, the LRA announced that it was sending a delegation to the La Hague Court, “so they can hear our story” said the Movement’s number two Vincent Otti.
Humanitarian agencies in northern Uganda have urged to government and rebels to resume talks immediately. A new outbreak of hostilities would cause fresh terror among the local people, at last enjoying some meagre benefit of the cease-fire. Hundreds of thousands of displaced persons have returned to their villages but at least 1.4 million are still living in camps. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 19/1/2007 righe 37 parole 469)
