Robbed of innocence at 12

Gulu- In a windy afternoon last month, Edwin Komakech, aged two, plays with his fellow children at the army’s 4th Division barracks in Gulu as their mothers watch.

His healthy looks defy the two-year life in the Lord’s Resistance Army captivity in the jungles of Central African Republic until last month when he and his mother Ms Nighty Arach and 13 others were freed by the rebels’ warlord Joseph Kony.

His mother Ms Arach, 24, narrates the story of her life in LRA custody and endurance of nine-month pregnancy in the jungles without medical care for her and her three kids.
Ms Arach, now a mother of three, was abducted in 2002 aged 12 in Agago, which was then part of Pader District before it was carved out to become a district of its own. Ms Arach returned on August 9 this year. It means she was aged 12 at the time of the abduction.

Ms Arach lost her second born baby due to the hazards of jungle life, which include poor hygiene, lack of medical care, being on transit most of the time for fear of being attacked by the pursuing government soldiers.

“We the women suffered a lot in captivity with challenges to take care of the children, fend for them coupled by day and night movements,” she narrates.

In her story, she tells how many women lost their babies and expectant mothers who died of birth complications due to lack of medical care.

“You can imagine, when you are nine months pregnant and there is an attack at the neighbourhood yet you have more children to help out. In most cases, you help yourself to deliver your baby because there is no one to wait or take care of you in such a situation,” Ms Arach says.

She cites many occasions when pregnant mothers would get caught up in crossfire between the LRA and the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces yet they also had children to care for.

“Some people had five children, and it’s your responsibility as a mother to cater for them in case there are attacks launched in the hideout,” Ms Arach says in a mixed tone of sadness and relief.

Dr Hope Kusasira of Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, says antenatal care is critical for expectant mothers.

“During antenatal mothers, need a lot of medical check-up to ascertain the position of the unborn child.

After giving birth, mothers are given six weeks to manage their condition, which is critical for a mother who has just delivered and for those in captivity they miss out all these necessities. Antenatal and post antenatal care helps in detecting early diseases so that early treatment can be administered. Expectant mothers also need better nutrition as the babies feed through their mothers,” said Dr Kasasira.

Carrying food stuff and water was another challenge for mothers. In many cases women and the children would collapse and die after going for many days without food or water.

“Imagine losing an 11-year-old child after going through hell to raise him or her up,” she grieves.
Ms Delis Abang, 26, a former wife of LRA’s deputy commander Dominic Onwgen, who was indicted by the International Criminal Court, also revealed her share of the plight during the bush life.

“The fact that many girls were defiled when they were abducted at a very tender age, when time comes for giving birth they get problems like obstructed labour, Coupled with no medical care at the time of giving birth, they often die,” she says.

She says during the maternity period of all her three children, she moved 10km with the pregnancy looking for food. Sometimes she would move with a gun for protection and on many occasions they had to loot villages in remote areas to get food.

“We give birth on God’s mercy because there is no antenatal care in the bush. Once in a while they would give as pain killers with no prescription just because you were feeling pain,” Abang narrates.

At times they would receive medicines looted from health centres but there was no prescription. Another risk was of taking an over-doze or swallowing a wrong medicine which would be fatal or worsen the sick person’s health condition.

“Some people would take drugs that are not meant for the particular ailments they had and it would result in health complications. But even getting someone to give you such medicine would be a struggle since many people would keep them for only their children,” she says.

Ms Abang explains that men’s main task was to fight at the frontline while the women were to take care of the children. “Our ‘husbands’ did not care about the children’s welfare, so long as they would go and loot some food,” she says.

Gender-based violence
There were cases of domestic violence in case children escaped from their mothers’ custody. The father would beat the mothers and accuse them of giving away their children to the government that is hunting for them.

“At times some mothers would entrust their fellow women with their children so that in case they get an avenue to escape, they can get back home with their children,” Abang explains.

Suspected cases of conspiracy to escape would be punished severely, including unleashing 50-100 strokes of the cane.
The story of life inside the LRA bases sound as horrendous as scenes in a horror movie. In case a soldier died and left a widow, the rebels would scramble for her and some times she would be killed if she refused.

Ms Abang had a three-week old baby on the day they were ordered to go back home. Ms Abang had just given birth five days before but found walking tens of kilometres less painful than staying an extra day in captivity.

“For the entire four -day journey, we were depending on wild fruits and yams we kept on roasting in areas where we made stopovers to rest,” Abang reveals.

The UPDF 4th Division spokesman Capt Mark Mutono, said Kony ordering the return of the people he abducted means he is losing the war.

“Kony and his top commanders are now incapacitated. We hope that many more will still return home,” projects Capt Mutono. “If Ongwen is able to accept his children to return home, it’s a gesture that we shall rescue all those still in captivity.”

All the rescued LRA abductees were taken to Gulu Central Protection Unit for psychosocial treatment before returning to their original homes.

Formerly abducted women under their Women Advocacy Network association say they have remained the guardians of their children years after returning from captivity.

POST-CAPTIVTY STIGMA

Ms Evelyn Amony, the chairperson of Women Advocacy Network who spent 10 years in LRA captivity, says they see the fathers of their children, but they cannot approach them for support.

“Our children are always abused and linked to their rebel fathers. When we returned from captivity, we hoped for better treatment, but it has never been the case. Even our own relatives have turned swords against us,” she says.

She reveals that majority of the former LRA fighters changed their names for fear of reprisal from their brutal commanders in case they escaped from the bush.

“Many girls find themselves in limbo since they cannot trace the family members of the men who fathered their children,” she says.

That’s not the only pain. Majority of the girls have been shunned by their own families who fear that the children born to the LRA fighters could turn violent like their fathers.

The Pajule Clan Chief George William Lugayi appealed for healing treatment for former abductees.

“We engaged all stakeholders in rescuing the abducted persons and why would they be mistreated upon their return? Over the years, the Acholi lived together. The war should not ruin our cultural norms and traditions,” he urged.

Regional Public Relations officer and Advocacy Manager, Invisible Children, Michael Mubangizi, says in August and September, the LRA released 72 women and children.

The Invisible Children, an NGO, brings awareness on the LRA activities in northern Uganda and the neighbouring countries.

Mr Mubangizi says that besides initiatives to end the LRA conflict forever, the Invisible Children runs several programmes on rehabilitation and reintegration of the victims.

“We rehabilitate and reintegrate the victims in partnership with World Vision and Gulu district administration runs a rehabilitation centre for war victims,” he says.
Invisible Children, assists abducted persons to come back home and reunite with their families.

The NGIO also facilitates them to reintegrate into society by providing them with projects such as Village Savings and Loans associations and Functional Adult Education to give them psychosocial counseling, education and vocational skills.

The two-decade war in the north has claimed thousands of lives and displaced over two million people.

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