Opoka trapped in Pader â€"Army
Nov 20, 2002
FORMER political assistant to Dr. Col. Kizza Besigye, James Opoka, has been trapped in Pader district in northern Uganda with other Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel commanders
By Grace Matsiko in Gulu
FORMER political assistant to Dr. Col. Kizza Besigye, James Opoka, has been trapped in Pader district in northern Uganda with other Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel commanders.
Efforts by Opoka, a recent entrant into Joseph Kony’s ranks, to cross into Sudan have been met with heavy casualties on his forces, local UPDF commanders have said.
They said Opoka was trapped in the vast Pader jungles with the LRA chief political commissar, Sam Otto.
“He is now cornered. He has lost many of his forces to our troops. In the most recent encounter, he lost a battery pack for his satellite phone and other valuable items,†a senior UPDF officer said.
“He has tried to flee Pader to Kitgum or the Sudan but failed because of the net we have put around him,†the officer added.
Military sources said Opoka’s last attempt to cross into Sudan failed last week when the UPDF attacked his group and forced it to withdraw.
Army spokesman Major Shaban Bantariza yesterday said the UPDF suspected Opoka was still in Pader. He said like the rebels in the Sudan, Opoka’s group had been trying to cross the border.
In another development, LRA leader Joseph Kony has given Opoka one of the young abducted girls, Anna, for a wife, the surrendering rebels have said.
The 16-year-old girl, said to have been abducted in Gulu, was given to Opoka, an ex-Makerere University Guild President, to thank him for joining the LRA, military sources said.
It is a tradition among LRA commanders to distribute amongst themselves young abducted girls as mistresses, with Kony taking the most beautiful ones.
Gulu LC5 chairman Lt. Col. Walter Ochola and two of the former LRA commanders told The New Vision in separate interviews on Monday, that Kony gave Opoka the under-age girl for a wife.
“We got the information that Opoka got a girl called Anna. She is one of the girls whom the LRA commanders took as wives,†Ochola said.
The former LRA fighters, now with the UPDF in Gulu, told The New Vision that Opoka’s mistress was among several abducted girls put under heavy guard for fear that they would escape.
Military intelligence sources said before joining Makerere University, Opoka was one of the defeated Holy Spirit Movement fighters led by Alice Lakwena.
The army recently said Kony promoted Opoka to the rank of ‘Major’.
The army has also published photographs of ‘LRA rebels’ with a man they claimed was Opoka.
FORMER political assistant to Dr. Col. Kizza Besigye, James Opoka, has been trapped in Pader district in northern Uganda with other Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel commanders.
Efforts by Opoka, a recent entrant into Joseph Kony’s ranks, to cross into Sudan have been met with heavy casualties on his forces, local UPDF commanders have said.
They said Opoka was trapped in the vast Pader jungles with the LRA chief political commissar, Sam Otto.
“He is now cornered. He has lost many of his forces to our troops. In the most recent encounter, he lost a battery pack for his satellite phone and other valuable items,†a senior UPDF officer said.
“He has tried to flee Pader to Kitgum or the Sudan but failed because of the net we have put around him,†the officer added.
Military sources said Opoka’s last attempt to cross into Sudan failed last week when the UPDF attacked his group and forced it to withdraw.
Army spokesman Major Shaban Bantariza yesterday said the UPDF suspected Opoka was still in Pader. He said like the rebels in the Sudan, Opoka’s group had been trying to cross the border.
In another development, LRA leader Joseph Kony has given Opoka one of the young abducted girls, Anna, for a wife, the surrendering rebels have said.
The 16-year-old girl, said to have been abducted in Gulu, was given to Opoka, an ex-Makerere University Guild President, to thank him for joining the LRA, military sources said.
It is a tradition among LRA commanders to distribute amongst themselves young abducted girls as mistresses, with Kony taking the most beautiful ones.
Gulu LC5 chairman Lt. Col. Walter Ochola and two of the former LRA commanders told The New Vision in separate interviews on Monday, that Kony gave Opoka the under-age girl for a wife.
“We got the information that Opoka got a girl called Anna. She is one of the girls whom the LRA commanders took as wives,†Ochola said.
The former LRA fighters, now with the UPDF in Gulu, told The New Vision that Opoka’s mistress was among several abducted girls put under heavy guard for fear that they would escape.
Military intelligence sources said before joining Makerere University, Opoka was one of the defeated Holy Spirit Movement fighters led by Alice Lakwena.
The army recently said Kony promoted Opoka to the rank of ‘Major’.
The army has also published photographs of ‘LRA rebels’ with a man they claimed was Opoka.