Former LRA Lwala girl abductees disagree over 500 govt iron sheets

Former abductees of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels during a June 24, 2003 attack on Lwala Girls Secondary School in Kalaki District have disagreed over the criteria of sharing 500 pieces of iron sheets handed to them by government.

The iron sheets were pledged in 2018 by the Minister of Disaster Hillary Onek and his then deputy Musa Ecweru- during the unveiling of a monument in memory of the female abductees.

Doreen Italo, the coordinator of the Lwala Girls Abducted Students Association (LWAGASA) said the iron sheets are still in the school custody because members have failed to agree who should receive them.

The stalemate follows an unprecedented surge in the number of target beneficiaries.

“On the dreadful day that left our future shuttered, about 180 students were recorded to have been abducted but the numbers have since grown, making it difficult for the decision to be reached on how the available pieces of iron sheets should be shared,” she said.

Most of the abductees were either conscripted into the LRA ranks while others were forcefully turned into wives of the rebel group commanders.

LWAGASA chairperson Priscila Amuge said available records show the school had 634 students at the time of the militant’s raid.  

According to Amuge, some of the previously abducted girls who missed out on heifers that were provided by government view that they should be considered first, a decision that has been disputed.

“Since we were rescued, we have written to the president for over 10 years to have our matters addressed but the letters have not been replied to,” Ms Amuge said observed.

On Wednesday Teso affairs minister Kenneth Ongalo reached out to the school to talk to the former abductees on how to share the iron sheets.

“The 500 iron sheet pledge was made when I was here, and I think it is time we stop talking about problems and find lasting solutions,” Ongalo said.

 According to him, the ex-abductees should start a new life and forget pledges such as the Shs400million promised to them by 10^th Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga from salaries of law makers.

“I recall the speaker asked us to move a motion on the floor of parliament. It was supported by the MPS but when it came to deducting shs1million from each legislator, people rebelled,” the minister said, adding that it is hard for the LWAGASA members to get the money since Kadaga is no longer speaker.

Ongalo pledged 600 more iron sheets to top on the 500 pieces for the former LRA abductees to share.

“For you to get the 30 pieces of iron sheets each, I will demand that you put up walls, those iron sheets I will deliver,” he confirmed to the former LRA abductees, majority who came back with children fathered by rebels.

Jane Ekayu, the executive director for child office Uganda, an entity that helped rehabilitate LRA victims before they were handed over to their parents, said certain aspects in line with the rehabilitation of these girls was not done.