Kony war victims seek compensation

Over 750 victims and relatives of people who lost property and lives during the 20-year-long insurgency in northern Uganda are threatening to drag the Government to court over delayed compensation.

A total of 759 victims of the attacks by  Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels from Arua city, Terego, Madi Okollo and Maracha districts, have, in a letter dated September 21, 2020, served the Attorney General, on behalf of the Government, with a notice of intention to sue.

Under their umbrella organisation, the Arua District Kony War Victims Association, the victims say the Government failed to provide them security and safety from LRA and to compensate them for the lives and properties lost.

The victims are seeking sh99b in compensation.

Alex Matua, 55, the chairperson of the association, said the decision to seek court redress comes after 12 years of attempts to seek justice without success.

Matua is demanding over sh600m for the loss of his merchandise.

"When Simon Ejua, the Vurra MP and state minister for transport, promised to help us, I gave him all the documents.

He took me to Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere, the general duties minister in the Office of the Prime Minister at the time.

He promised to assess our payment. However, up to now, nothing has been done," he said.

"When President Yoweri Museveni was campaigning in Arua, he also asked Aridru Ajedra, the state minister for finance, about the issue. But, that too, did not yield any results."

On April 19, 2017, the office of the Arua district chairperson wrote to the President, asking for compensation, but they have not received anything yet.

Victims' testimonies 

Some of the victims and their relatives who spoke to New Vision narrated how they lost capital and ran out of business during the insurgency.

James Adoroti, 58, a businessman, who escaped from Kony rebels twice, said he can hardly pay school fees for his children.

He added that one of his brothers, only identified as Adia, is still missing.

Agnes Adakuru, a victim, who met the rebels on November 26, 1996, on her way from Kampala, said she lost all her money in the attack on the bus.

She wants over sh200m as compensation from the Government so she can start rebuilding her life.

Harriet Opisia, 31, a resident of Atoro village in Maracha and a daughter of a victim, is demanding sh40m.

She said she was forced to drop out of school in Senior One after her father passed away and she had to take up the responsibility of looking after her eight siblings.

"My mother has cancer and she cannot be helped. I have many siblings to look after, but it is difficult as I have no source of income. I also depend on my husband for support," she said.

Taibo Chelina, whose husband and son were shot dead during the war, said she is still paying loans that she acquired before the incident.

"My 12-year-old son was shot twice on the chest. When my husband tried to save him, they ordered him to hand over the boy to them and go home. When he refused, they shot him in the arm. He was put onto a bus that was set ablaze," she said.