New details on Kony whereabouts emerge, Russians join hunt

Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organisation operating in the Central African Republic (CAR) has made life difficult for Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony and his remaining Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) fighters.

The Russian group has been arresting many LRA armed fighters who are fleeing another fighting in the Darfur, a region in war-torn Sudan.

The Wagner Group, also described as a private military company — a network of mercenaries and a former unit of the Russian ministry of defence — is also blocking many LRA fighters from entering communities in CAR, forcing some fighters to desert Kony. Some of them have surrendered to the mercenaries and the authorities.

This, according to sources, has been proved by the most recent defections of the group surrounding Kony in his hideouts on the border between CAR and Sudan in Darfur, where several of Kony’s fighters were on the move.

Marianne Moor, the head of Pax Netherlands, a nongovernmental organisation that has been involved in the Disengagement, Disassociation, Reintegration and Reconciliation programme, told New Vision on Thursday, February 27, 2025, that the only remaining group that still exists of LRA is the one protecting Kony himself.

The second group dissolved after the wife of the commander approached Moor, carrying a message from her husband of his willingness to return home if his life and that of his people was guaranteed. Moor said she was involved in the process and the group returned to Uganda.

“We now know that Kony was recently operating at the border area between Sudan and CAR, but when the situation became too hot because of the ongoing war in Sudan, security became very difficult and Kony sort of moved more towards CAR, which gave some members of the group an opportunity to start defecting,” Moor said.

“At least the Sudan war makes the security situation more vulnerable for Kony, but being in CAR is also risky for the LRA group, of course, because several Kony people have been arrested by the Wagner Group, others have defected and ended up with the authorities.”

Moor said that although Kony moves between the border areas of Sudan and CAR, it was difficult to tell his exact hideout since he has been, of recent, on the move after the situation became difficult for him in Sudan.

“We know that wherever the group enters deep inside CAR, there is now more military presence that makes it difficult to settle. For example, in that particular region where he has been operating, there is the presence of the Wagner Group who arrested some of the LRA combatants, mainly Congolese,” Moor said, adding that the arrested combatants have been repatriated to their country.

She said she has had a long history with the LRA group, helping them to reintegrate in the three countries.

Moor said there had been several defections from the LRA group, which she also attributed to fighters receiving information of their colleagues who left earlier and benefited from the amnesty by the three countries and, therefore, assured of a safe haven.

She said the group that arrived in Uganda on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, which included Kony’s wife, Judith Can and his three children, were straight from the Kony nucleus group but had information of earlier defectors who were received back. Others, Moor said, especially those that Kony abducted from DR Congo, were taken back to their country. The NGO has so far repatriated 156 combatants to Uganda.

Moor said the mounting pressure on Kony’s remaining group is likely to result in more defections.

Among those repatriated are former LRA fighters, their wives (both Congolese and Central African) as well as their children.

Kony’s wife and children, Moor said, deserted by themselves six months ago and reported to the CAR government authorities, who have been keeping them until they agreed with the Ugandan government to repatriate them.

“Under the current circumstances where the security situation of the last group of Kony is becoming more difficult, more people will defect or desert because when the group is on the move, it becomes easier for those tired to defect or escape,” Moor said.

She said it was still difficult to tell the exact number of Kony combatants remaining in the bushes, but added that according to informed estimates, the group might not be big anymore.

“He has a limited number of combatants, unless he has been recruiting recently, you never know. We know it is a limited group,” Moor said, adding that from her judgement, Kony may not be of any significant threat to Uganda unless he regroups and kidnaps more fighters.

The other reasons for defecting, Moor said, would be that many of the fighters around Kony are mainly Congolese and CAR nationals who were kidnapped and recruited in the camps.

“But now, seeing life becoming harsh for them, when they get the opportunity, they leave,” Moor said.

“Others are tired of the war and most of those who were kidnapped always want to go back home to join their families if they get the opportunity,” she said.

Moor added: “In general, it is good for rebels to come out especially when they are given an opportunity to work on their future, unlike when they see no future when they come out. That is why it is important to motivate people to come out and provide them with some prospects.”

The organisation has worked out an intensive programme in Gulu and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which includes offering medical, mental care and vocational training for the children and former combatants to start a new life.

It is also facilitating reconciliation processes of the ex-fighters with the communities, which includes traditional cleansing as one of the processes of involving communities in the peace process.

“Our message has always been that sustainable peace is possible and for those who remain in the bush, it is for the Governments to decide whether amnesty will be granted,” Moor said.

“Right now, militarily, we know that Kony is no longer a threat, but it is important for him to come out of the bush because in the end, you can only have sustainable peace if everyone comes out,” Moor said.

She appealed to LRA fighters still in the bush to utilise the opportunity to return home.