Oyam chairperson demands recognition for ending LRA war

Col (rtd) Charles Okello Engola. Photo By Bill Oketch

Oyam.
Oyam District chairperson, Col (rtd) Charles Okello Engola is demanding recognition from government for his role in ending the two-decade Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency in the northern Uganda.

“The money that the government was wasting for fueling the tanks, mambas and buffalos (armoured personnel carriers) to fight the Lord Resistance Army was saved by my intervention,” Col Engola told the Daily Monitor in an interview at his office in Oyam Town on Tuesday.

He added: “Many people have been given medals for their contribution to development in this country, Can you imagine, and nobody thinks about me.”
Col Engola, who commanded the UPDF 501 Brigade whose headquarter was at Opit in Gulu District, claimed he rescued more than 400 children for the LRA in 2002 and 2003.

He retired from the army in 2007 and contested for Oyam District seat on the NRM ticket, winning by 93 per cent.