Museveni meets son of fugitive warlord Kony
Photo taken on August 25, 2023 shows President Museveni at State House with Brig Ali Ssalongo Kony, one of the children of LRA rebel leader Joseph Kony. PHOTO/HANDOUT
What you need to know:
- The Ugandan government recently confirmed plans to grant general amnesty to at least 100 capitulating former LRA rebels and their families.
- Kony is believed to have dozens of children from several mothers in different parts of Africa.
President Museveni August 25 hosted the son of Joseph Kony, guaranteeing to improve the welfare of the fugitive Ugandan warlord’s family.
In Uganda’s northern region, the Kony-led Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group launched a decades-long bloody rebellion against Museveni, shortly after he had captured power in 1986.
In photos posted on social media, Museveni said he met the family of the Catholic altar boy turned hardline militant, led by his son Brig Ali Ssalongo Kony.
“They informed me of their desire to rehabilitate and to support the rest of the family to engage in productive activities like farming. This is a very welcome idea which we shall support,” Museveni noted.
Kony, whose 2005 arrest warrant remains unexecuted to this day, is one of the people on the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) most wanted list- on allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Photo taken on August 25, 2023 shows Brig Ali Ssalongo Kony, one of the children of LRA rebel leader Joseph Kony together with some of the warlord's family members during a meeting with President Museveni (not in picture) at State House. PHOTO/HANDOUT
Mid-August 2023, the Ugandan government confirmed plans to grant general amnesty to at least 100 capitulating former LRA rebels and their families upon return from mostly Central African Republic (CAR) where Kony’s insurgents spread.
“So, the Kony family will be an example and a role model for other people to see and emulate,” said Museveni who turns 79 in September.
Photo taken on August 25, 2023 shows some members of LRA rebel leader Joseph Kony's family during a meeting with President Museveni (not in picture) at State House. PHOTO/HANDOUT
“We will help them (Kony family) to set up a commercial farm so that they work together as a company and then share the profits. All the children and the wives should be shareholders. This is what I have been telling all Ugandans,” Museveni had pledged earlier.
In this file photo taken on November 12, 2006, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Joseph Kony answers journalists' questions at Ri-Kwamba in Southern Sudan following a meeting with UN humanitarian chief. PHOTO/AFP
With Kony still at large, LRA –lasting over 30 years- remains one of Africa’s longest-surviving rebel groups- famed through several deadly attacks in Uganda and other countries on the bloc.
Now, Museveni has offered to continue supporting victims of the brutal LRA campaign which claimed over 100,000 lives and displaced tens of thousands in Northern Uganda.
“We shall also continue our support for the Kony war victims across the country,” he said.
