LRA returnees cleansed

Gulu. More than 80 returnees formerly abducted by the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) rebels were cleansed during rituals performed at the Acholi Chiefdom headquarters in Gulu Town at the weekend.
The returnees were drawn from Acholi, Lango and Teso sub-regions where the LRA two-decade war spread.

The ritual
Cleansing is a ritual that forms part of the reintegration of formerly abducted persons. It is intended to exorcise evil spirits and bad omen from the returnees as they rejoin the community.
The ceremony, organised by the Acholi chiefdom, saw child mothers, youth, children and former commanders of the LRA, cleansed.
Speaking during the ceremony, Pajule chief, Rwot George William Lugayi, said the ritual was to purify the returnees of any bad omen they could have got while in LRA captivity.
“This ritual performance is a way of cleaning all the bad omen that our brothers and sisters stepped on and evil activities they encountered while in captivity,” Chief Lugayi said.
“We fully welcome them back to the community by reassuring them that after being away from their homes for a long time, we want to ensure that these people are considered as part of us,” he added.
He said the rituals are not satanic but an Acholi cultural rite practiced when one is received after being away for a long time in captivity.
Former LRA rebel commander Caesar Acellam, who returned from captivity in 2012, was among those cleansed.
He told Daily Monitor he was glad with the gesture and acceptance by the community despite the ugly past.
“I feel happy that I am now a free man. There is nothing more painful than being away from home and living a life without being accepted. I thank my people for welcoming me back,” Mr Acellam said.
The Prime Minister Acholi Ker Kal Kwaro, Mr Polly Phillip Okin, warned the Acholi community against hounding the returnees for crimes they supposedly committed while in captivity, saying they were under the command of LRA leaders.
“People should learn forgiveness and reconciliation to ensure peace in our society,” Mr Okin said.

The numbers

1.5 million
The number of people the two-decade LRA war in the north displaced. Tens of thousands lost their lives.

20,000
The number of people abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army and have since returned and been reintegrated into the community. The figure also includes children born in captivity, according to the Amnesty Commission.

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