For the past 20 years, the main cause of poverty in Northern Uganda has been the insecurity caused by the activities of the Lord’s Resistance Army, led by the warlord Joseph Kony. In a campaign of terror stretching over two decades, Kony’s renegades have been attacking towns, slaughtering and maiming the inhabitants, raping the women, and kidnapping the children who are subsequently brainwashed to become killing machines so that the slaughter can continue.
To avoid the brutal attacks, millions of people from northern Uganda have been living in camps for internally displaced persons. Their inability to carry out normal farming activities has led to intense poverty. In the past couple of years, the LRA have been hiding out in northern Democratic Republic of Congo, because the towns there and across the border in southern Sudan have been more defenceless and hence easier pickings.
In recent months, the governments of Uganda, DRC and southern Sudan have agreed to tackle the LRA problem co-operatively, and on 14 December a joint operation by the armies of the three countries was launched to wipe out the known LRA bases. Ugandan fighter jets took off from Yambio in southern Sudan, and attack helicopters took off from Dungu in DRC to bombard the LRA bases in five locations. When troops moved in to assess the damage, there were no bodies to be found. Apparently someone had tipped off the rebels. The war continues.