How Will the Rural Poor Acholi Community Benefit from Kacoke Madit

Hon. J.H. Pen-Mogi Nyeko, B.VM, M.Sc, Ph.D.
(MP- Kilak County)

Mr. Chairman, I sincerely take this opportunity to thank the organisers of this Kacoke madit for the foresight and great effort they put to make this meeting a reality. I also wish to thank all the Acholi communities who travelled from different parts of the world to attend this important meeting.

I would, without doubt, like to believe that amongst us here today are some of the most highly educated Acholi with extensive international and national exposure. I therefore, rest assured in my mind, that we shall use our knowledge and experience for the benefit of the less privileged Acholi whose only exposure of the world is their homestead and the immediate villages.

Mr. Chairman, in my view, the primary question we must ask ourselves is -How will the ordinary poor rural Acholi population benefit from this Kacoke Madit? We shall have failed to assist the rural Acholi community who have now suffered for over 10 years if this meeting cannot resolve to stop the war in the Acholi land.

Mr. Chairman, at national level, there is a general believe that the LRA war is an Acholi affair and the Acholis should solve it. At regional level neighbouring districts blame Acholi for their continuous suffering under LRA. But the truth on the ground is that the Acholi people have suffered more than any other tribe in the hands of LRA.

There are people in Acholi who have I ( St parents, brothers, sisters and sometimes the whole family is wiped out. People have lost properties. They have no homes and they have lost hope. The idea of this Kacoke Madit has given them hope. The resolutions of this meeting, therefore, should give them a permanent hope for the future.

Mr Chairman, we in GuIu Support the Children Organisation (GUSCO) have been working closely with World Vision and have interacted and assisted over 3000 LRA rebels victims who managed to escape and returned home. We have sent over 50 of the badly traumatised victims for treatment at the Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Traumatised Victims based in Kampala. The stories of these innocent young Acholi abducted by Joseph Kony is horrifying. World Vision and UNICEF have compiled testimonies from some of the victims. Recently, GUSCO got a grant of over $ 400,000 for the victims. Most of you here are in a better position to assist the suffering people of Acholi by virtue of your international contacts. There are too many guns in Acholi land now. Please do not send more.

Considering the prolonged suffering of our people at home, people who have no means to take refuge abroad, in Kampala, Gulu or in Kitgum, I suggest that the burden now falls on this meeting to resolve the following-

1) The war in Acholi land must stop immediately without any preconditions.

2) No right thinking Acholi should support or supply arms to LRA which is being used for causing terror and suffering in Acholi.

3) Acholis gathered have, in their individual or collective capacity must start looking for humanitarian assistance for the poor displaced population back home.

4) We must use our knowledge, international experience and resources to draw our a long term Acholi Development Master plan.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, we shall only be pretending to be seen to be concerned about the plight of the rural poor Acholi if we are vague in our resolution to end the war in Acholi land.

Some Experiences of Children Adducted By The LRA. Extracts from Shattered Innocence Page 24 and 25.

Case One    David O.    Aged 12 years

I come from GuIu district. I was abducted by rebels at the beginning of 1995 and stayed with them until I was rescued almost one year later.

It was around 9:00 p.m. and we were sitting by a fireplace in the compound of our home telling and listening to stories. Suddenly, we were surrounded by rebels.

They abducted me and another boy. I have not seen him since and I don't know whether he was killed or is still somewhere in the bush or in Sudan.

While with the rebels, my main assigned duties were to carry looted foodstuffs like simsim, groundnuts and millet. I was also taught how to use a gun and have practised shooting.

I have bad memories of the war. I witnessed continuous killing. If a child's load was too heavy or if he was clumsy and fell with it, he would be beaten and sometimes killed. If you get out of the line or have swollen feet as a result of walking long distances, you could be killed. I saw a number of children killed with bayonets, clubs and guns. I was forced to participate once.

Sometimes when I am sleeping, the boy we killed visits me and accuses me of killing him when he was innocent. Sometimes, even during the day, I hear him crying begging for mercy to me not to kill him.

Case Two.    Justine O.    Aged 12 years.

My name is Justin O. Rebels came to my home and abducted me at around 8:00 PM. Together with other children we were made to walk very long distances even at night with heavy luggage on our heads. I saw about 25 children who, when they became tired and weak and were unable to walk, were cut with pangas. I was so scared and I feared anytime it would be my turn to be killed.

I stayed in captivity with the rebels for eight months . While in Sudan, there was food shortage. We were put into groups of four boys and each group was given one plastic mug of sorghum seed to last us three weeks. We resorted to eating wild leaves that turned out to be bitter and slippery. We also ate leaves of potatoes, cassava and tomatoes for survival.

On mission to Uganda, we often were 'hit' by the National Resistance Army (NRA). I saw many children get killed or seriously wounded during fighting. Though I was trained in fighting and had a gun, I mainly carried out guard duties. One day our camp was attacked by Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and many people were killed. I managed to escape being seriously hurt and was arrested by SPLA. They then handed me to the Uganda army.

I usually get nightmares. But to me killing had become normal, like shaking hands in greeting. I also sometimes hear and see in my dreams children wounded by mortar shells crying out for help. My biggest fear was getting killed. Even here at the Counselling Centre, I sometimes dream that I am still in the bush with the rebels and wake up yelling and swearing. I am here with other children who understand how I feel because they have gone through the same suffering.