LRA war victims seek counselling

Victims of the armed conflicts in northern Uganda are still in dire need of psychosocial support, a decade after the gun fell silent.

Residents of Amoko Village, Golo Parish in Latanya Sub-county, Pader District, say they are traumatised by memories of how their loved ones were brutally killed during the two decade Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency.

Mr Martin Olanya, a 78-year-old resident of Laming-Onyiko Village, lives a lonely life after 15 of his family members were killed in a single massacre by the rebels in August 1991.

“I’m mentally sick; because my brain no longer functions properly as it used to. My thoughts are stuck on the incident; worrying about the slain loved ones. My heart is always in pain…,” Olanya breaks down as he recalls the ordeal.

“I don’t even know who I should turn to because the only child who survived should have finished studies by now but we do not have the means,” he adds.

Olanya lost close relatives that included his wife, four children, daughters-in-law, two brothers and their wives.

His three children were also abducted by the rebels and their whereabouts are not known.
Olanya says, at around midday as his relatives gathered to witness two female abductees who had escaped rebel captivity but were intercepted and were being interrogated by the then area LC1 chairperson, the rebels stormed and carried out the grisly killings.

The chairperson of memorial prayer organising committee, Mr Denis Komakech, confirms that mental breakdown is common among the residents.

“People get weird dreams and others are still traumatised. They say sometimes they see their people who were slaughtered by LRA come back home in their dreams,” he said.

He adds: “These are serious problems and it is really difficult for us to work on that. There is need for specialists in counseling and guidance to come on board and help these people heal from their mental problems.”

Mr Olanya is one of the hundreds of residents and visitors who attended a memorial prayer at Amoko Primary School for some 256 people killed by LRA rebels in August 1991 from seven villages of Golo parish.

Mr Komakech estimates there could be more than 500 slain people in the parish alone, saying many others were killed during the decades-long insurgency are not yet included on the list.

A monument with names of the victims was constructed near the school in memory of the dead by Caritas, a Catholic humanitarian organisation, that helped organise the first annual memorial prayer in 2008. This year’s event was the fifth such memorial.

The construction of St Ambrose (Ambrosoli) Catholic Church dedicated to the memory of the dead is underway, with the foundation now ready.

Mr Komakech, however, says due to the financial challenges residents face, it will take time to raise Shs60m required to complete the structure.

He says the residents are faced with problems such as land wrangles, especially families that lost the key and elderly persons as some crafty people are grabbing their lands.

“In most cases, breadwinners were killed so the orphans and widows need support, especially in education and health care,” Mr Komakech says, explaining that most residents are living below the poverty line.