Joseph Rao Kony (pronounced IPA: [koɲ];^[6] born sometime between July and September of 1961)^[1] is the head of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan guerrilla group. While initially enjoying strong public support, the LRA allegedly turned on its own supporters, supposedly to "purify" the Acholi people and turn Uganda into a theocracy.^[2] Kony proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium, has nurtured a cult of personality, and claims he is visited by a multinational host of 13 spirits, including a Chinese phantom.^[2] Ideologically, the group is a syncretic mix of mysticism, Acholi nationalism, Islam, and Christian fundamentalism,^[7] and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments and local Acholi tradition.^[8][9]

Kony has been accused by government entities of ordering the abduction of children to become child-sex slaves and child soldiers.^[10] An estimated 66,000 children became soldiers and two million people have been internally displaced since 1986.^[11] Kony was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, in 2005 but has evaded capture.^[12] The LRA operates in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and South Sudan.^[13]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Kony was born in 1961^[1] in Odek, a village east of Gulu in northern Uganda,^[2][14] to father Luizi Obol and mother Nora, both farmers.^[15] He is a member of the Acholi people.^[2][16] Kony enjoyed a good relationship with his siblings, but was quick to retaliate in a dispute and when confronted he would often resort to physical violence.^[17] His father was a lay catechist of the Catholic Church and his mother was an Anglican.

Kony was an altar boy for several years but stopped attending church around the age of 15^[17] and also dropped out of school.^[2] As a teenager, Kony was apprenticed as the village witch doctor under Jamie Brow, his older brother, and when Jamie died, Kony took over the position.^[18]

Cult leader[link]

Kony first came to prominence in January 1986, as the leader of one of the many premillennialist groups that sprang up in Acholiland in the wake of the wildly popular Holy Spirit Movement of Alice Auma (also known as Lakwena and to whom Kony is thought to be related).^[2] Their relative loss of influence after the overthrow of Acholi President Tito Okello by Yoweri Museveni and his National Resistance Army (NRA) during the Ugandan Bush War (1981–1986) spurred resentment among the Acholi. Kony, along with a small group of followers, first moved beyond his home village of Odek on 1 April 1987.^[19] A few days later, he met with a small group of former Uganda National Liberation Front soldiers and managed to recruit them for his group. His first raid, carried out shortly afterwards, was on the city of Gulu.^[19]

Lord's Resistance Army[link]

Lord's Resistance Army insurgency
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Kony's group was originally called the United Holy Salvation Army (UHSA), and was not perceived as a threat by the NRA. By 1988 it had become a major player in Ugandan affairs: an agreement between the NRA and the Uganda People's Democratic Army (UPDA) left members of the UPDA unsatisfied, and many joined the UHSA as a form of rebellion. One such person was the UPDA founder Odong Latek, who convinced Kony to use standard military tactics instead of attacking in cross-shaped formations and sprinkling holy water. The new tactics proved successful, and the UHSA won several small victories against the NRA.^[20] The NRA responded by significantly weakening Kony's group through a military campaign named Operation North. The operation was devastating to the UHSA and, with their numbers reduced from thousands to hundreds, they engaged in retaliatory attacks against NRA collaborators and terror against general civilian population. The LRA say that spirits were sent to communicate this mission directly to Kony.^[20]

The bulk of Kony's foot soldiers were children.^[17] While estimates of the number of children conscripted since 1986 vary, some put the figure as high as 104,000.^[17] When abducting the children, Kony and his army often killed their family and neighbors, thus leaving the children with little choice but to fight for him.^[17] In 1992, Kony renamed the group the United Democratic Christian Army.^[21] For a decade, starting in the mid-1990s, the LRA was strengthened by military support from the government of Sudan, which was retaliating against Ugandan government support for rebels in what would become South Sudan.^[1]

Indictment[link]

On 6 October 2005, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that arrest warrants had been issued for five members of the Lord's Resistance Army for crimes against humanity following a sealed indictment. On the next day Ugandan defense minister Amama Mbabazi revealed that the warrants include Kony, his deputy Vincent Otti, and LRA commanders Raska Lukwiya, Okot Odiambo, and Dominic Ongwen. According to spokesmen for the military, the Ugandan army killed Lukwiya on 12 August 2006.^[12] The BBC received information that Otti had been killed on 2 October 2007, at Kony's home.^[22]

On 12 November 2006, Kony met Jan Egeland, the United Nations Undersecretary-General for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief.^{[citation needed]} Journeyman Pictures released a 2006 interview with Kony in which he proclaims, "I am a freedom fighter not a terrorist."^[23][24] He told Reuters: "We don't have any children. We only have combatants."^[25]

Religious beliefs[link]

Kony was thought among followers and detractors alike to have been possessed by spirits; he has been portrayed as either the Messiah or the Devil. He reportedly made annual trips to the Ato Hills in Uganda, where he would allegedly ascend to the highest of the hills and lie down in the hot sun for days. Kony believes in the literal protection provided by a cross symbol and tells his child soldiers a cross on their chest drawn in oil will protect them from bullets.^[17] He also believes in polygamy, and as of 2007 he was thought to have 88 wives, claiming Old Testament authority for this, along with 42 children.^[4][26] Kony insists that he and the Lord's Resistance Army are fighting for the Ten Commandments. He defends his actions: "Is it bad? It is not against human rights. And that commandment was not given by Joseph. It was not given by LRA. No, those commandments were given by God."^[27]

Betty Bigombe remembered that the first time she met Kony, his followers used oil to ward off bullets and evil spirits.^[28] In a letter regarding future talks, Kony stated that he must consult his self-styled holy spirit. When the talks did occur, they insisted on the participation of religious leaders and opened the proceedings with prayers, led by LRA's Director of Religious Affairs Jenaro Bongomi. During the 1994 peace talks, Kony was preceded by men in robes sprinkling holy water.^[14] According to Francis Ongom, a former LRA officer who defected, Kony "has found Bible justifications for killing witches, for killing [those who farm or eat] pigs because of the story of the Gadarene swine, and for killing [other] people because God did the same with Noah's flood and Sodom and Gomorrah."^[29]

Action against Kony[link]

Uganda[link]

The Ugandan military has attempted to kill Kony throughout the insurgency. In Uganda's attempt to track Kony down, former LRA combatants have been enlisted to search remote areas of the Central African Republic, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he was last seen.^[30]

United States[link]

After the 11 September attacks, the United States declared the Lord's Resistance Army a terrorist group.^[31] On 28 August 2008, the United States Treasury Department placed Kony on its list of "Specially Designated Global Terrorists", a designation that carries financial and other penalties.^[32]

In November 2008, U.S. President George W Bush personally signed the directive to the United States Africa Command to provide financial and logistical assistance to the Ugandan government during the unsuccessful Garamba Offensive, code-named Operation Lightning Thunder.^[33] No U.S. troops were directly involved, but 17 U.S. advisers and analysts provided intelligence, equipment, and fuel to Ugandan military counterparts.^[33] The offensive pushed Kony from his jungle camp, but he was not captured. One hundred children were rescued.^[33]

In May 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act,^[34] legislation aimed at stopping Kony and the LRA. The bill passed unanimously in the United States Senate on 11 March. On 12 May 2010, a motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill was agreed to by voice vote (two-thirds being in the affirmative) in the House of Representatives.^[35] In November 2010, President Obama delivered a strategy document to Congress, asking for more funding to disarm Kony and the LRA.^[36] In October 2011, President Obama authorized the deployment of approximately 100 combat-equipped U.S. troops to central Africa.^[37] Their goal is to help regional forces remove Kony and senior LRA leaders from the battlefield. "Although the U.S. forces are combat-equipped, they will only be providing information, advice, and assistance to partner nation forces, and they will not themselves engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defense," President Obama said in a letter to Congress.^[38][39]

African Union[link]

On 23 March 2012 the African Union announced its intentions to "send 5,000 soldiers to join the hunt for rebel leader Joseph Kony" and to "neutralize" him while isolating the scattered LRA groups responsible for 2,600 civilian killings since 2008. This international task force was stated to include soldiers "from Uganda, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Congo, countries where Kony’s reign of terror has been felt over the years." Prior this announcement, the hunt for Kony has primarily been carried out by troops from Uganda. The soldiers will begin their search in South Sudan on 24 March 2012 and that the search "will last until Kony is caught".^[40]

[edit] Kony 2012

Kony received a surge of attention in early March 2012 when a 30-minute documentary titled Kony 2012 by film maker Jason Russell for the campaign group Invisible Children Inc was released. The intention of the production is to draw attention to Kony in an effort to increase United States involvement in the issue. The Huffington Post commented: "The 27-minute video was posted on Vimeo and YouTube by Invisible Children and became a worldwide trending topic on the Internet. Personally, I have never seen an outpour of support from people on my Facebook news feed like this."^[41] The video has been viewed more than 80 million times as of 17 March. The film has quickly received attention from celebrities.^[42] Invisible Children hoped to raise Kony's notoriety enough to provoke a massive overnight poster campaign, which took place 20 April 2012.^[43][44]

See also[link]

	Uganda portal
	Biography portal

• International Criminal Court investigations
• Lord's Resistance Army insurgency
• The World's 10 Most Wanted

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Green, Matthew (2008). The Wizard of the Nile: The Hunt for Africa's Most Wanted. Portobello Books. ISBN 978-1-84627-030-7. 
• Briggs, Jimmie (2005). The Innocents Lost: When Child soldiers Go to War. Basic Books. 
• Bussman, Jane (2009). The Worst Date Ever: War Crimes, Hollywood Heart-Throbs and Other Abominations. Macmillan. ISBN 0-230-73712-9. 

External links[link]

• Hague Justice Portal: Joseph Kony
• Joseph Kony on Interpol's wanted list

The period from 1986 to 1994 of the Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is the early history of the ongoing insurgency of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group in Uganda, which has been described as one of the most under-reported humanitarian crises in the world. The Lord's Resistance Army was formed in early 1987 out of the conflict following the successful rebellion of the National Resistance Army (NRA), though remained a relative small group through the counterinsurgency of the NRA. As the peace talks initiated by Minister Betty Bigombe failed Sudanese support to the LRA intensified the conflict.

The origins of the LRA (January 1987 to June 1988)[link]

In January 1987 Joseph Kony made his first appearance as a spirit medium. Few took notice as numerous mediums claiming to be the torchbearers of a holy war emerged after the initial success of the Holy Spirit Movement of Alice Auma. Throughout 1987, Kony gained military strength by absorbing small units of the rebel Uganda People's Democratic Army, and through violent competition with other Acholi rebel groups for resources and fighters. In late 1987, he agreed to join the UPDA in attacking Gulu Town; however, he then betrayed them by attacking the UPDA headquarters in retaliation for UPDA attempts to steal food being delivered by Kony’s supporters.^[1]

Around this time, Kony changed the name of his group to The Lord's Army, reflecting the increased importance he placed on the religious aspects of his insurgency. At the beginning of 1988, prominent ex-soldier Otunu Lukonyomoi joined the LRA. He was popular for his high moral standards for the conduct of LRA rebels, especially in their treatment of civilians. This resulted in a rivalry with Kony, but the two managed to reconcile before it led to a split in the organization.

In June 1988, when it became clear that the UPDA would sign a peace accord with the NRA, Kony wrote a letter to an NRA officer requesting a meeting, but was attacked before talks could be held, allegedly due to a miscommunication between NRA units. The NRA leadership also found the mysticism of the LRA to be baffling.^[2] The end result was that Kony's attempt to engage in talks with the government was never fully explored.

A small domestic insurgency (June 1988 to March 1994)[link]

Lord's Resistance Army insurgency
Events
1987–1994 1994–2002 2002–2005 2006–2008 Juba talks 2008 Garamba offensive Lord's Resistance Army Holy Spirit Movement Joseph Kony ICC investigation
v t e

The June 1988 peace accord between the UPDA and the NRA, as well as the defeat the year before of the Holy Spirit Movement, left the group led by Kony as the only significant rebel force operating in Acholiland. Former commander Odong Latek of the UPDA and some of his soldiers refused to accept the accord and joined the LRA. Latek gained a lot of influence in the organization, and convinced Kony to adopt conventional guerrilla tactics. Prior to this, LRA forces normally attacked in a cross-shaped formation with designated persons sprinkling holy water, much like the Holy Spirit Movement.^[3] Tactics since consist primarily of surprise attacks on civilian targets, such as villages. These attacks are carried out by highly mobile groups of 15 that split into groups of three to six to disperse after the attack.^[4]

The LRA will also occasionally carry out large-scale attacks to underline the inability of the government to protect the populace. The tactical changes were reflected in the adoption of yet another organizational name, the Uganda Peoples' Democratic Christian Army (UPDCA). In October 1988, the highly respected Otunu Lukonyomoi was killed in an NRA ambush, following which a number of rebels left to join the NRA. This greatly weakened the LRA's fighting strength.^[5]

In mid-1988, President Museveni created the position of "Minister of State for Pacification of Northern Uganda, Resident in Gulu." He assigned the post to the Acholi Betty Oyella Bigombe, who was tasked with convincing insurgents to abandon their struggle. Protests at the connotation of the word "pacification" led to the revision of the title to "Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, Resident in Northern Uganda." Nevertheless, in late 1988 the LRA gave the NRA a number of defeats. Until 1991 the LRA continued to operate in small bands as a classic insurgency and raided the populace for supplies, which were carried away by villagers who were abducted for short periods. The fact that some units of NRA soldiers were known for their brutal actions ensured that the LRA were given at least passive support by segments of the Acholi population.^[6]

Operation North (1991 to 1992)[link]

March 1991 saw the start of a massive government attempt to destroy the LRA, later known as "Operation North." The whole of Northern Uganda was locked down and all humanitarian organizations were forced to leave in preparation for counterinsurgency operations. Operation North combined efforts to destroy the combatants while cutting away its roots of support among the population through heavy-handed tactics, including arbitrary arrests, torture and extralegal executions.^[7] While Operation North was prompted partially by the activities of the LRA, the World Bank had approved a loan on 5 May 1992 for reconstruction of Northern infrastructure, which could not be implemented in an insecure environment.^[8]

As part of Operation North, Minister Bigombe created "Arrow Groups", mostly armed with bows and arrows, as a form of local community defence. As the LRA was armed with modern weaponry, the bow-and-arrow groups were overpowered. Nevertheless, the creation of the Arrow Groups angered Kony, who began to feel that he no longer had the support of the population. In response the LRA mutilated numerous Acholi who they believed to be government supporters, cutting off their hands, noses and ears, padlocking their mouths shut through holes cut in their lips, or simply hacking them to death with machetes.^[9]

Kony would later explain the reasons for these actions: "If you pick up an arrow against us and we ended up cutting off the hand you used, who is to blame? You report us with your mouth, and we cut off your lips? Who is to blame? It is you! The Bible says that if your hand, eye or mouth is at fault, it should be cut off."^[10] While the government efforts were a failure, the LRA reaction caused many Acholi to finally turn against the insurgency. However, this was tempered by the deep-seated antagonism towards the occupying government forces.

The Bigombe talks (1993 to 1994)[link]

After the failure of Operation North, Minister Bigombe on her own accord initiated contact with Kony through an LRA sympathizer in June 1993. This led to the most promising diplomatic efforts of the first 18 years of the insurgency. Following Kony's reply that he would be willing to talk, Bigombe informed the military and President Yoweri Museveni, who approved further negotiations though he stated that military operations would continue.

In November 1993, the first face-to-face meeting between representatives of the LRA and government took place under an agreed cease-fire at Pagik in Gulu District. Bigombe represented the government and brought several Acholi elders as well as the commander of the Fourth Division, Col. Samuel Wasswa, who was responsible for military operations in the North, while the LRA sent members of Kony's inner circle. The LRA asked for a general amnesty for their combatants and stated that they would not surrender, but were willing to "return home." Bigombe reassured the LRA that they would not be treated as a vanquished foe, and Wasswa agreed to a cease-fire to allow the negotiations to continue.

However, several influential officers within the NRA felt that the government was caving in to rebel demands. Bigombe's superior, the Prime Minister, refused to support the peace process publicly or logistically, possibly because of a struggle over who would claim credit for a final peace deal. The ambiguous stance of the senior political leadership was also problematic. At a second meeting on 10 January 1994, Kony himself gave a four-hour speech in which he blamed the Acholis as "responsible for the war that had backfired with terrible results that everyone now blamed Kony for." In one-on-one talks with Bigombe, Kony asked for six months to regroup his troops.^[6]

The Bigombe talks collapse (February 1994)[link]

This demand for six months was widely perceived as excessive. It was later revealed that the military had learned that Kony was negotiating with the Sudanese government for support while talking to Bigombe, and felt that Kony was simply trying to buy time. Regardless, the sight of LRA combatants traveling openly and peacefully had created an expectation among the Acholi that a final peace was at hand. However, by early February the tone of the negotiations was growing increasingly acrimonious. The LRA negotiating team felt that the NRA officers were acting arrogantly as victors accepting terms from a defeated foe, contrary to the understanding reached at the first meeting, and traded harsh words over the negotiating table.^[6]

Bigombe apparently also felt caught between her dual role as government representative and chief mediator, and believed that she was not receiving adequate support from the government as a whole. Following a meeting on 2 February, the LRA broke off negotiations stating that they felt that the NRA was trying to entrap them. Four days later, President Yoweri Museveni spoke to a crowd in Gulu and announced a seven-day deadline for the LRA to surrender; otherwise the government would pursue a military solution.^[6] Whatever the reason, and regardless of whether or not the LRA was negotiating in good faith, this ultimatum ended the Bigombe initiative.

See also[link]

• Lord's Resistance Army insurgency (1994–2002)

Notes and references[link]

Amama Mbabazi
Prime Minister of Uganda
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 May 2011
President	Yoweri Museveni
Deputy	Eriya Kategaya
Preceded by	Apolo Nsibambi
Minister for Security
In office 24 February 2009 – 24 May 2011
President	Yoweri Museveni
Prime Minister	Apolo Nsibambi
Preceded by	Kabakumba Masiko
Succeeded by	Wilson Muruuli Mukasa
Attorney General of Uganda
In office 1 May 2004 – 9 March 2006
President	Yoweri Museveni
Prime Minister	Apolo Nsibambi
Preceded by	Francis Ayume
Succeeded by	Khiddu Makubuya
Member of Parliament from Kanungu District
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 February 2003
Preceded by	Constituency estabilished
Personal details
Born	Patrick Amama Mbabazi (1949-01-16) 16 January 1949 (age 63) Kabale, Uganda
Political party	National Resistance Movement
Alma mater	Makerere University Law Development Centre
Religion	Protestant

Patrick Amama Mbabazi (born 16 January 1949) is a senior Ugandan lawyer and politician. He is the current Prime Minister of Uganda, a position he has held since 24 May 2011.^[1] Prior to his current position, he served as the Minister for Security in the Ugandan Cabinet, from February 2009 until May 2011.^[2] He also served as the Secretary General of the National Resistance Movement political party from June 2010 until June 2011.^{[3] [4]} Amama Mbabazi also serves as the Member of Parliament for Kinkiizi West constituency in Kanungu District, a position he has held since 2003.^[5]

Background[link]

He was born in Mparo village, Rukiga County, in present-day Kabale District.^[6]

Education[link]

Mbabazi holds a law degree, Bachelor of Laws (LLB), from Makerere University, obtained in 1975. He also holds the postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice obtained from the Law Development Center in Kampala. He is an Advocate of the Courts of Judicature of Uganda and a member of the Uganda Law Society since 1977.

Professional career[link]

Prior to joining politics, he worked as State Attorney in the Attorney General's Chambers, rising to the position of Secretary of the Uganda Law Council. Between 1986 and 1991 he served as Director General of the External Security Organization (ESO), being the first person to serve in that position. In 1994, he served as a delegate to the Constituent Assembly that drew up the 1995 Ugandan Constitution. He became the Chairman of the National Resistance Movement Delegates Caucus.

He has also served as Minister of State in the President's office, in-charge of Political Affairs. Between 1986 and 1992 he was Minister of State for Defence. Subsequently, he served as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of Regional Cooperation. In 2004, he was appointed as Attorney General and Minister of Justice. He held that portfolio until he was appointed Minister of Defence in 2006, a position he held until he was appointed Security Minister.^[7] He served as Security Minister from February 2009 until May 2011, when he was appointed Prime Minister. He is the tenth Prime Minister in Uganda's history.^[8]

Diplomacy[link]

Over the years, Amama Mbabazi has represented Uganda in international fora, including the United Nations Security Council, where he argued for the International Community to allow the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) to pursue the Lord's Resistance Army fighters beyond Uganda's borders.^[9] He also represented Uganda at the signing of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement that resulted in the resolution of the Second Congo War.

See also[link]

• Cabinet of Uganda
• Parliament of Uganda
• Kanungu District

References[link]

External links[link]

• 04 November 2008 NRM Caucus Exonerates Mbabazi UGPulse.com
• Fallout From Temangalo Scandal