Bad weather in Wau Town, northwestern South Sudan, delayed the planned repatriation of 46 former abductees of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to Uganda, a senior military official has confirmed.
The returnees, comprising 22 men, 12 women, and 12 children, were expected to arrive in Gulu City on Sunday afternoon aboard a chartered plane. The group had defected from LRA ranks and had been residing in Darfur in Western Sudan, a volatile region affected by ongoing conflict and insurgencies.
Maj. Gen. Richard Otto, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) Chief of Defence Intelligence and Security, said on Saturday that authorities had remained in contact with the returnees as they trekked on foot to cross into South Sudan. Speaking to relatives and former LRA combatants gathered at Gulu City on Sunday to welcome the returnees, Gen. Otto confirmed that the group had safely arrived in Wau Town after being picked up at the South Sudan border by joint South Sudanese and Ugandan security teams.
According to Gen. Otto, the group spent four days navigating high-risk security routes aboard a three-wheeled motorcycle before trekking on foot for two more days to cross into South Sudan at a designated pickup point. He explained that a plane scheduled to transport the returnees from Wau to Uganda on Sunday couldn’t make a flight due to heavy rains in the area.
Gen. Otto said the repatriation has now been postponed to Monday, adding that the returnees are expected to arrive at Gulu Airfield in Gulu City. “Since morning, we have been waiting for them, but there is too much rain in South Sudan. We waited up to 11 a.m. when it subsided a bit, but then it started again. The plane from Juba cannot land at Wau Airfield because it has no runway lights,” Gen. Otto said.
He added: “We found there was no reason to rush their repatriation because they are safe and they also need time to rest.”Gen. Otto urged parents and relatives to warmly welcome the former abductees, noting that some are returning with children born in captivity. “Some of them have children whose mothers or fathers may come from different nationalities. Please welcome them with open arms because it was never their choice to be captured or born in captivity,” he said.
He also warned families against discriminating against returnees, especially in matters concerning access to clan land. “Don’t start looking at those returning from captivity as if they have come back to grab your land. Some of you wish they had died in captivity simply because of the land,” he said. Rwot Charles Onama, the clan chief of Pajimo Clan in Kitgum District, encouraged former abductees who have already undergone rehabilitation to support and motivate the returnees once they arrive in Gulu.
Rwot Onama also appealed to parents and relatives to wholeheartedly embrace the returnees to ease their reintegration into the community. The latest group brings to 51 the total number of former LRA abductees and fighters repatriated from Sudan and the Central African Republic between May and June this year under the coordination of Gen. Otto. The returnees will undergo rehabilitation conducted by Terra Renaissance, a non-governmental organisation at the former SOS Children’s Village rehabilitation center in Laroo-Pece Division, Gulu City.
Last year, a total of 146 former LRA abductees and fighters repatriated from the Central African Republic were successfully reintegrated into their communities after undergoing rehabilitation at the same center. The LRA, led by elusive leader Joseph Kony, launched a brutal rebellion in Northern Uganda for more than two decades. The conflict resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians, displacement of more than a million people, abduction of thousands of people, among them children and women forcefully conscripted as fighters And sex slaves-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
