Lango Awakens Against Blood-Thirsty LRA Rebels

Dec 09, 2003

THE Langi have a saying: “Co too i rao,” meaning (men die in the battlefield.) Indeed this is the tune now being rehearsed in Lira and Apac districts.

By Denis Ocwich
THE Langi have a saying: “Co too i rao,” meaning (men die in the battlefield.) Indeed this is the tune now being rehearsed in Lira and Apac districts.
In the wake of indiscriminate massacre of innocent civilians by Joseph Kony’s rebels in Lira, blood is getting thicker. A strong solidarity is being anchored for a common cause and they are using their emblem –– ‘Amuka’ (the Rhino) as the shield.
“This is a joint struggle for the Langi who are within and without,” Lira district chairman, Franco Ojur said during a recent meeting at the district chambers, at which the “iriga” (popular) war under the ‘Amuka’ militia umbrella, was launched to wipe out the rebels from Lango.
At the charged and emotional meeting attended by cultural and political leaders, the Assistant Resident District Commissioner, George Ewai, brought up a passionate song which lightened up the mood for self-defence. The audience joined the singing: “Lango wek nino... Gini dong obino otiko wa. Dong myero wanote karacel, me wek wa ryem can.” meaning: (“Lango should stop sleeping and rise to the challenge facing it.”
“We cannot allow our people to continue dying as dogs. We should use all weapons, whether pangas or spears to defend ourselves,” charged Lira Mayor, Peter Owiny, whose town has been besieged by thousands of displaced people fleeing rebel attacks in the villages.
At the forefront of the defensive campaign is youth and child affairs minister and Dokolo MP Felix Okot - Ogong, who is now the chairman of the District Security and Defence Committee.
The audience applauded Okot-Ogong who was in full military uniform. “The uniform I am putting on is not for pride. As leaders we must help to defend our people against attacks,” said Ogong, who is co-ordinating the Amuka recruitment.
An equally determined Lira LC5 boss, Franco Ojur, said if the war is to be quelled, the population should greatly contribute to attaining peace. “Let us not look at this struggle as a struggle vested in the hands of government alone. We must lead our people from where they are camped (displaced) back home and the faster we do it the better.”
Drawing from his interaction with President Yoweri Museveni, Ojur said: “I have come to agree that Museveni as an individual has the will to end the insurgency. But there are loopholes we have identified and notified the President about.”
Museveni last month visited Lira and promised to get back and camp in Otuke, where most of the population have been displaced. Meanwhile, the Langi have pledged total collaboration with the government to extinguish the rebels.
On December 4, Okot said the first batch of 10,000 Amuka fighters was already undergoing training. “We are going to have a short, but very comprehensive training,” Okot said, adding that after the first batch, other significant numbers would be added as the situation warrants.
However, some people are worried about logistical facilitation for the local fighters. Said William Acol, the LC5 Councillor for Omoro said: “We started the idea of Amuka a long time ago, but unfortunately those who had joined were frustrated because there were no uniforms, no shoes, no salaries and no facilitation.”
He added: “Unless such weaknesses are addressed and a clear administrative structure created like in the case of Arrow boys in Teso, the enthusiasm to join Amuka will wane.”
But Okot said: “They are not joining because of money, but for the good of our people and peace.”
Each fighter, he said, would be paid sh60,000 per month for upkeep. At least 20 fighters will be trained in each of the 2,249 villages of Lira. In total, 100 local fighters will be on standby in every parish. But for the beginning, only the worst affected counties of Otuke, Moroto, Dokolo and Erute are to be targeted for immediate deployment.
“The UPDF director of training is already here in Lira,” Okot said.
All the religious and cultural leaders in Lango have thrown their full weight behind the anti-Kony initiative. “Some of the religious leaders are not only mobilising, but are also fully participating in the training,” said Dr. John Ricky Akeny, a former MP for Erute South and now a volunteer mobiliser for the Amuka drive.
“All the local leaders must wake up to mobilise people,” said Akeny, who is seeking for cash and other material donations from all the Langi and well wishers for the welfare of the fighters. “Even if somebody gives us posho or beans, that would be a good contribution.”
If all goes according to plan, Lira will end up with over 40,000 Amuka fighters. After the rebels are defeated, Okot said, the Amuka boys would be retained to defend the Langi against Karimojong raiders.
Members of the Lango Parliamentary Group, who last month stormed out of Parliament in protest of the war, have also been on the ground to mobilise the “wananchi” against Kony.
“They should neither go back to Parliament nor stay in Kampala. We want them here to join hands in mobilising people,” said Alex Oremo Alot, an LC5 Councillor for Barr sub-county.
Another LC5 Councillor, Mary Opio (from Otuke) corroborated: “The MPs should come back home and put on combat uniforms. Even Omara Atubo and Cecilia Ogwal should hold the guns and go to fight the rebels.”
Last month, the Lira District Council resolved that all councillors and leaders of different categories must mobilise for the mass enrolment in the Amuka arms defence.
“That is why I have decided that I, with all my executives, go in uniforms and start training to be exemplary,” Ojur said. Since early this year, the rebels, who are split into smaller guerrilla groups, have killed about 200 people in Lira and displaced more than a half of the 600,000-strong population in the district.
“The rebels are killing people everyday. Today you hear they have killed 12, the next day 10 and the other day four or two. This is unacceptable,” Okot said.
Among those who have expressed their willingness to join the militia group are army veterans, elders and youth, including women, religious and cultural leaders. They will be given military training and guns.
Minister Okot said Amuka co-ordinating office would be opened in Lira, where a monument is also to be erected in memory of fallen Amuka fighters. “All those who will die in this struggle shall be declared heroes; their names and photos shall be pinned here at the district chambers,” he said.
As of now, frustration and bereavement have pushed the Langi community to a strong spirit of unity and determination to fight a mass war against the rebels.
“The good thing is that the President has accepted to give us whatever number of guns we want. We are going to die in the battlefield,” vows Okot.
Ends

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});