Jim Muwanga
I have read very many of these reports, but do you know any Acholi family that
lost a relative because he or she attacked NRA? Do you know any NRA soldier
that got killed by Konny fighters? And the reason I am asking these two
questions is because in all wars I have seen out there, one must have two
sides attacking each other and real people die in that war.
EM
On the 49th Parallel
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni katika
machafuko"
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of jim muwanga
Sent: Monday, November 03, 2014 8:15 AM
To: ugandans-at-heart
Subject: {UAH} Former LRA commander tells of life with Kony
Tales from the bush: Former LRA commander tells of life with Kony
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Ketty Adong is trying to piece back her life after escaping from LRA rebels.
Photos by Rachel Mabala.
By Stephen Otage
Posted Saturday, November 1 2014 at 02:00
In Summary
Ketty Adong is a former rebel commander. She escaped from the bush in 2001 and
has been trying to rebuild her life in the civilian world after spending
one-and-a-half years with Joesph Kony’s men.
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As 32-year-old Ketty Adong from Alito Village in Kitgum District will narrate,
when she was abducted in 2001, she rose through the rebel ranks from heading
the cooking for the bosses to becoming a rebel commander. However, she does not
fancy the memories of the rebels’ lifestyle because it is only comparable to
that of beasts since rebels do not have permanent residence.
Adong recalls that on the night of her abduction from her village, she was
ordered to leave behind her one-month-old baby and join other captives. She
never stopped regretting not heeding an earlier warning to leave the mission
where they were taking refuge; she probably would have survived captivity
because the rebels’ plan was to attack the mission to get drugs.
“They broke the door and flashed torches at us. I was dressed in a petty coat.
I wished I had slept in the bush that night because I would have survived. I
heard the rebels murmuring that if they found people in the house they would
chop them into pieces but they instead captured us and tied us together with
ropes and the journey to captivity started.
When we got to the shop owned by the friend who had warned us of the impending
attack, the rebels asked him to surrender whatever he had for them to take to
the bush. When he only gave them a carton of salt, they got angry and shot him
dead. The first time they did a head count was at a place called Apala. We were
25.
The initiation
We were initiated into the bush life by smearing oil on our foreheads,
supposedly to make us strong. During the initiation, a woman among us was found
pregnant.
One of the boys was ordered to cut her into pieces as other women watched as a
reminder that they would in future be called upon to execute similar
assignments. As we continued our journey deeper into the bush, we found a
traditional wedding ceremony at Alito Trading Centre. All the people attending
the party were killed.
I never killed anyone while in the bush or met Joseph Kony individually. On
several occasions though, the commanders asked us to assemble somewhere in bush
to meet Kony, but we were only met by strong winds which would disperse us. I
think I survived being killed because the rebel commanders liked me since I
used to cook good food and never showed intentions of escaping.
When you join the rebels, you must know you are no longer a person. If a rebel
met a relative on the opposite side, they would have to kill the other because
battle lines have been drawn.
Once, I had to watch a little boy kill my uncle as I looked on. It made me
almost run berserk and that was when I decided I would have to leave the bush.
But I could not escape immediately because I had been ear-marked for promotion
as rebel commander for my loyalty in executing my duties of collecting
firewood, food and water as the head cook for the bosses. My first duties had
involved carrying loot to our bases.
We had specific days for killing
Our source of supplies were Kitgum, Gulu, Minakulu and Karamoja areas.
Sometimes, we had to cross rivers up to the border with South Sudan but we
never entered Sudan. We used to get food from people’s homes and sometimes the
rebels boarded vehicles to buy merchandise from Kampala or send money to
relatives in Kampala. Some rebels owned vehicles plying the Kampala-Gulu
highway. Another alternative was staging road blocks along the highway and
abducting people to carry the collected food.
My assignment for being promoted to commander was to pierce a woman’s lips and
lock them up with a padlock as testimony that I could handle daring operations.
I was pregnant and sick though, but my complaints only earned me 100 strokes of
the cane and I was still ordered to execute the assignment. But I secretly gave
the woman one of the keys and lied that I had only been given two and not three
keys.
Rebel operations are time-tabled. There are days to specifically carry out
abductions, collect food and for killing. The day for killing is purely to
carry out revenge on the people believed to have reported rebels’ hideouts to
government forces, especially in situations when the military ask villagers for
the hideouts.
The role of the abductees is to carry supplies. Rape is strictly forbidden
among the rebels and attracts a penalty of immediate death because they believe
it brings them bad luck. Even couples who intend to be married have to be
paired up by the commander. Pregnant women in the bush are assisted to give
birth by traditional birth attendants and the captured medical personnel.
Most times, the killings are carried out by young boys who have been trained to
kill because they do not mind killing anyone since they were initiated into
killing at a young and innocent age. It is mainly done with pangas and other
sharp objects, since guns would attract attention to the rebel hideouts.
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