Cecilia I am now alone. All my relatives were killed. There were rumours that I was Kony’s wife. My parents and siblings were locked in a house and burnt by the Ugandan government soldiers. The only brother I was remaining with was killed by the rebels after I had come back from the bush.
Even the neighbours did not like me. I thought of going back to the bush so that I could be killed by the rebels instead of remaining alive when I am suffering.
I used to eat one meal a day. Another woman came and took my children away from me and looked after them. I stayed alone. The people in our village wanted to kill me themselves because they knew that when the LRA rebels came, they would kill them because of my escape [16]. Coming to the camp was of great relief to me. I am now safe. I got some loans to start a small business.
Interviewer Tell us about how you were abducted.
Cecilia I come from Pabbo west. The rebels abducted me when I was 12 years old. I stayed in the bush for 13 years. I came back with three children but one has since died.
The first problem I faced in the bush was they give you to a man not of your choice who may also be older than you. They hand you to that man by force. If you refuse they kill you. That is what happened to me. I was given to some elderly man to be my husband.
The other system they use is that they take off their shirts and pile them together, then they send girls to pick the shirts, when you get one, that one now is your husband. The moment you take that shirt to that man whether that man is so big and you are young, he still becomes your husband. If you refuse him they say that you are in love with the UPDF soldiers and the end result is that they kill you.
After assigning us husbands they started training us to become soldiers. The first training was by caning us. After that they then started training us on how to use weapons and how to shoot. After learning how to shoot, then we were regarded as real soldiers. We had to move wherever they told us to go. If you refused to go or collapsed on the way you would be killed because you were not fit to become soldiers. Starvation was also a big problem. When there was no food we had to walk many miles without getting water or food. The moment one would collapse you would be killed.
The other issue was that we had to eat raw sorghum [17] and then some leaves that animals feed on. When we reached places where there was no water, we had to drink a friend’s urine. If you tried to escape from the bush and was discovered, you would be caned to death. It was only by luck that one would survive. If one was fortunate and escaped from the rebels and came home, the rebels would be ordered to come back to the village where you were abducted to kill the people as an act of revenge. If they do not come immediately, they would wait for a few months then come later and kill many people. About twenty or even more. They would do that for compensation of the weapons that the person fled with.
If the person who escaped was a man he would be castrated, if it were a woman she would be taken as a slave. If they got you at your home, the rebels would kill you and cook you in a pot. The worst thing in the bush was caning. One time my friend escaped and I was caned on her behalf. (Reveals scars on arms and legs) I don’t know if peace will result from the ongoing negotiations. I wish the government can do their best so that they can stop war and we have peace.
 |
| Euan Denholm/IRIN |
I came back (from the bush) in 2002.
Kony said he will not come back as long as Museveni [18] is still the president because the administration of Museveni cannot be compared with his. He will not come home because the government of Museveni raided cattle from his home area and one of his top commanding of.cers was killed by Museveni’s soldiers. There was a time two of his commanders, Okello Director and Otti Lagony, told some rebels to come back to Uganda and report. Kony got to know of the plan. He arrested them and put them in a deep pit. They killed them to instil fear among those who were planning to escape and come back home.
Interviewer Why does Kony think he shouldn’t come back home?
Cecilia One day, Kony gathered all the people in his command and told us he won’t come back home but he did not tell us the reason. He said that if any person wanted to come back to Uganda they could come but he would not release any person. But anyone who tried to escape will be killed. When Kony would be talking to us, his power of spirit would come. When one had intentions to escape, his powers could point you out and say this person wants to escape but don’t kill him/her. He/she will meet his death at the right time. While Kony would be talking to us in his spirit, he did not know what he was talking about but there was somebody to record. One time when Kony’s power was coming, he went to a mountain in Gulu called Guludek to pray then he came back and told us what to do.
When the government is planning to do anything to the rebels, Kony’s spiritual powers tell him and he gathers people and he talks to them about what to do. So there was a time he told us that the government was sending a dog to come to us, so the dog came and did not do anything because Kony summoned us and told us what to do. Any plan the government is making, the spirit tells Kony and he tells his people what to do before any government action.
Kony told us that the war will continue as long as Museveni is still president because he knows whatever his plans are. The government says that Kony is abducting people but Kony told us, he is also recruiting people because Museveni’s government also recruits people illegally. Some people say that Kony was exchanging those people with guns but he was not.
What I experienced personally is that there is some connection between the Kony rebels and the Sudan Government. The Sudanese government helps the rebels with guns and ammunition. People say that Kony has heavy weapons but what I saw myself is that he has small ones. I have carried them myself.
Whenever the Ugandan government would get in touch with the Sudanese government, they would say that they are not conniving with the rebels. After that the Sudanese government would provide us with food, ammunition and other things.
There was a time when Kony clashed with the Sudanese government and they killed Sudanese soldiers. The contract between Kony and the Sudanese government was then breached. They later reconciled and continued providing us with ammunition. There was a time the Ugandan government worked hand in hand with the Sudanese government to get Kony but Kony was not moving far and was not caught. He was communicating with the Sudanese government by telephone.
Some people said that Kony has demons but he said he has no demons, he has the Holy Spirit. When he was going to meet us, he would tell us to clean our bodies with clean water, and then gather together. He came in a Kansan [19]. There is oil from a tree called Ya [20]. He would smear that oil with grass and a small stone before he came so talk to us. When he would be talking to us, it would not be Kony but the spirit talking.
Interviewer How did you get food in the bush?
Cecilia We would get it from the government of Sudan. When there was any delay, they selected some LRA rebels to go and fight the Dinka. [21] They were divided into two groups. Some would fight and others would collect food. The .ghting group would fight the Dinka and chase them away then the other group would collect all the food from the Dinka and carry it. Interviewer How did you manage to look after the children while you were in the bush? Cecilia Taking care of children in the bush was so difficult. Sometimes we would camp in areas and cultivate there. We could cook there and then move. At times we had to move and carry food, property and the young ones.
Interviewer How did you manage to deliver in the bush, were there doctors?
Cecilia Everybody is a birth attendant in the bush. When one is going through the labour pains, others help her to deliver. There were some people who were trained to look after the wounded.
Interviewer So you gave birth to all your children without any difficulties?
Cecilia For the first child, I had difficulties because I was still young. They wanted to take me to Juba for an operation. They tried and pushed me from different sides until I gave birth. When one had dif.culties in giving birth, they would be taken to Juba in a government hospital in Sudan to deliver. The young girls who are underage are taken to Juba when it is time for delivery.
Interviewer Is there anything good about Kony?
Cecilia There is nothing good in Kony. He cuts peoples ears, mouths, canes them… We used to walk long distances and many died on the way especially while climbing mountains. There was a time two friends of mine and I escaped. The two of us were summoned to kill one person. One soldier stood behind me, the other stood behind the other friend and ordered us to kill the friend of ours with whom we were trying to escape. So there is nothing good in Kony.
Interviewer How did you finally escape?
Cecilia We had settled and camped on a mountain with Kony and the gun ship was coming and we were ordered to run in one direction. I went the opposite direction so I went with my children and dropped the property that I was carrying. That is how I finally managed to escape. One child was running and the other two I carried them. They sent a soldier to look for us but fortunately there was a woman who hid us. That is how we managed to escape.
-------------------------------------------------
[16] Common rebel punishment for villagers who welcomed or hid escapees during the war
[17] Mainly used to make local alcoholic brews but also used as a food source during periods of scarcity
[18] Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda since 1986
[19] Traditional clothing
[20] Tree common in the north; its oil is used in cooking
[21] Prominent tribe of traditional cattle herders from south Sudan