KAMPALA, Uganda – Ugandan authorities announced on Wednesday that one of Joseph Kony’s wives and three of his children have been repatriated from the Central African Republic, while the notorious warlord remains at large.
Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 36 charges, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, allegedly committed between July 2002 and December 2005 in northern Uganda.
The ICC has scheduled a hearing in The Hague for September 9 to confirm the charges against him. Meanwhile, the United States has placed a $5 million bounty on information leading to his capture.
According to Maj. Gen. Felix Kulayigye, a spokesperson for Uganda’s military, Kony’s wife and children were flown back to Uganda on Wednesday. This follows previous efforts to bring back members of his family.
Kony and the LRA gained international infamy for their brutal tactics, including abducting children and forcing them into combat. The group, which formed in the 1980s, waged a violent insurgency against the Ugandan government and terrorized civilians across Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and what is now South Sudan.
Kulayigye stated that Kony is believed to still be in hiding somewhere in the Central African Republic.
The LRA’s influence has significantly weakened over the years, with many of its senior commanders either captured or killed. In 2012, the U.S.-based advocacy group Invisible Children produced a viral documentary that shed global light on the LRA’s crimes, including the abduction of children for forced labor and sexual slavery.
busiinge@ghettopost.com
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