200 people still missing 15 years after Barlonyo attack

A total of 206 people, who were abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels at Barlonyo internally displaced people’s (IDP) camp in Lira District 15 years ago, are still missing.

Heavily armed men, believed to have been led by LRA commander Joseph Kony, raided Barlonyo on February 21, 2004, killing more than 300 civilians.

At the time of the attack, the camp, located in the present Agweng Sub-county, was housing 11,643 people. Those killed were buried in a mass grave in the camp.

Mystery
The former camp leader, Mr Moses Ogwang, while speaking during the 15th anniversary of Barlonyo memorial prayers on February 21, said 302 people were either shot dead or burnt to death when the rebels raided the camp.

“A total of 206 people, who were abducted by the rebels, have never returned; same as another 72 people, who were injured and taken to Lira Regional Referral Hospital,” said Mr Ogwang.
“It is assumed they all died and their bodies were taken for burial by relatives to their villages or buried in a public cemetery in Lira municipality,” he said.

“We have been making several appeals to government to compensate the relatives of the Barlonyo massacre but nothing has been done,” he added. The programme manager for the Refugee Law Project, Mr Francis Nono, said they have been pushing government to take the issue of war reparations very seriously because “this will help in the healing process”.

The programme coordinator of the African Youth Initiative Network, Mr Denis Odwar, said their organisation has been offering psychosocial counselling and physical rehabilitation to war survivors.

However, the archdeacon of Boroboro Cathedral, the Rev Robert Edinga, in his sermon, accused some non-governmental organisations of taking advantage of the Barlonyo incident to mint money from foreign donors.

NGOs criticised
Rev Edinga, who represented Lango Diocese Bishop Alfred Olwa, said: “There are NGOs who write good proposals to donors in the name of lobbying for financial assistance for projects to address the challenges the war survivors are undergoing, but when this funding comes, they divert it to enriching themselves, yet these people are here suffering and still traumatised.”
The minister of Tourism, Prof Ephraim Kamuntu, who represented the Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda at the memorial service, observed that Uganda has had a very turbulent past as a result of chaotic regime changes.

“As we mourn with you, there is one thing we must remind ourselves of, that is the turbulent past, which led to loss of lives. Let us guard the present peace and avoid a repeat of the past violent experiences, which caused a lot of bloodshed in this country,” he stressed.

Prof Kamuntu also commissioned a resource and documentation centre in Barlonyo, which he said will be promoted as a tourist site.

“I am going to instruct the Uganda Tourism Board to promote this place as an important tourist destination and I urge you, the community, to take advantage of the tourists who will be coming to earn money,” he said.

ABOUT BARLONYO
Location. Barlonyo is where a number of internally displaced people from parts of northern Uganda lived as a result of a 20-year LRA insurgency. It is located in Orit Parish, Agweng Sub-county in Lira District.
Massacre. The government blamed the LRA for a massacre of about 200 civilians at the IDP camp on February 21, 2004.