Former LRA abductees still waiting for support

Ms Acayo Grace, a former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abductee, had to wait for more than 17 years to get her resettlement package.
The 38-year-old resident of Cubu-Latara Village in Labongo Amida Sub-county, Kitgum District, was abducted in May 1994 when she was 13 years old.
She spent nine years in rebel captivity in Uganda and South Sudan.
Ms Acayo returned on August 8, 2002, and as was the mandatory requirement then, she was admitted to one of the many reception and rehabilitation centres in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts during the insurgency.
While here, the victims received counselling, basic life skills and other forms of rehabilitation before they rejoined their communities.
However, most returnees spent just months in the resettlement camps, which were constrained as a result of the overwhelming number of returnees.
Under normal circumstances, the returnees were supposed to receive resettlement packages immediately.
The packages then consisted of Shs263,000, 5kg of maize, bean seeds, two pieces each of hand-held hoes, saucepans, plates and cups, a mattress, a blanket, a jerrycan and a basin. The assistance was meant to kickstart their lives.
However, the notorious rebel outfit was still marauding the countryside, people were still stuck in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps then strewn across the entire Acholi Sub-region where the conditions were unbearable but at least provided relative safety to about 1.5 million people.
A few settled in urban centres with their relatives while others headed to IDP camps nearest to their home villages.
“When I returned from captivity, there was still insecurity, so I settled in [Kitgum] town where I struggled with petty trade,” Ms Acayo says.
“But when IDPs returned home, I also went back to my family home and resorted to farming,” she adds.
Seventeen years later on December 6, Ms Acayo travelled from her home, more than 10km away in Labongo Amida to the offices of Amnesty Commission in Kitgum Town to receive her resettlement package.
She was part of the 19 returnees, who are part of a backlog of more than 3,000 cases from Kitgum chosen to benefit that day.
The day coincided with a team from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Amnesty Commission led by the Permanent Secretary, Mr Benon Mutambi, that visited Kiryandongo, Gulu and Kitgum districts.
Mr Damian Kato, the secretary of the Amnesty Commission, says the visit was meant for the newly posted Mr Mutambi to get familiar with the various activities the commission was implementing.
The team inspected activities such as maize milling, tailoring, tablet and liquid soap making, carpentry and metal fabrication works.
“Our impression was that the returnees are eager to learn and to improve their lives through these income-generating activities,” Mr Kato says.
But why did Ms Acayo and others wait too long before receiving their resettlement packages?
“It is unfortunate that up to now, some of them are still going through these challenges. But the reason is mainly because we have been having budgetary constraints,” Justice Peter Onega, the chairperson of Amnesty Commission, says.
He says this financial year, his commission received an increment in budget allocation to the tune of Sh4.5b for its operations, which he said is still meagre given the magnitude of activities the body has to implement.
But the money is also released quarterly at slightly above Sh1b. These funds also cater for other activities such as sensitisation, reconciliation, administrative costs and salaries.
“The budget was purposely enhanced to cater for reintegration, and that is why maybe out of more than Shs1b, the greater part goes for this kind of activity,” Justice Onega says.
He adds that the commission constantly makes requests to government to increase their budget.
“We have been making that request repeatedly until one time when we went to Parliament and that was when we were given Shs4.5b per year so that most of it would go into reintegration processes,” Justice Onega says.
Ms Acayo received Shs462,000, which was a consolidated package of the cash and the other household items.
“I want to use the money I got to pay school fees for my child so that his and my future can be better,” she says.
Her son was only three years when she returned from captivity. He is now 19 years old and sat for Senior Four final exams last month.
“Since my own education was interrupted, I now want him to study well and improve the prospects of our future,” Ms Acayo adds.
Ms Acayo also faced stigmatisation when she returned.
“When you are raising a child, you face many other problems. You have to struggle to earn money so you are able to raise the child to live a life in the same way one born at home would,” she says.
Mr Draku Moses, the Amnesty Commission spokesperson, notes that the returnees are given trainings in life skills such as tailoring and bricklaying, but these groups still face several challenges.
For instance, Kica Pa Rwot Saving Group, a 30-member association of returnees in Lolojo, a Kitgum Town suburb, appealed for more financial and material support.
“The money we received from government is not sustainable for a long period. That is why we need more financial support,” Mr Nyero Christopher, the secretary general of the group, says.
He says the group also wants an ox-plough to start farming next year. They also plan to start poultry and piggery projects.
Justice Onega says they were saddened to find the electric sewing machine given to tailoring groups in Bombo and Kitgum lying idle due to inadequate power supply.
He says the group suggested they could still use the machines if they were given solar power.
“When we get the next funding, we will consider getting solar for all the areas where we gave electric tailoring machines,” he says.

Number of returnees
Available data shows that more than 27,438 returnees from 27 different rebel groups that have operated in Uganda have so far been demobilised and granted amnesty by the Amnesty Commission since its formation close to 20 years ago.
More than half of that (about 13,300) have been LRA rebel fighters and captives, followed by West Nile Bank Front (6,500), Uganda National Rescue Front II (3,252) Allied Democratic Forces (2,320) while the rest is spread among other rebel groups.
Out of these, more than 21,780 returnees have been given resettlement packages while more than 15,000 others have benefitted from the reintegration or livelihood support. There are more than 5,600 returnees across the country still waiting for their resettlement packages.