By: Simon Wokorach
Gulu
The Ministry of Defence is to relocate 150 people who recently returned from the captivity of the Lords’ Resistance Army, LRA, in the Central African Republic for rehabilitation in Gulu City.
The returnees repatriated to Uganda between July and September 2023 include former fighters of the LRA, their wives, and children.
The last group that arrived on September 28, 2023 from Mboki and Bangassou in the Central African Republic, included 15 men, two of whom were South Sudanese and Congolese nationals, 14 women, and 32 children.
The Minister for Northern Uganda, Grace Freedom Kwiyocwiny, revealed that the government identified SOS Children Village in Gulu for rehabilitation.
According to Kwiyocwiny, the team shall reach Gulu on December 21, 2023, to the designated center for rehabilitation before being reintegrated into the community.
“We plan to keep them for a year before handing them back to the community where they were abducted,” Minister Kwiyucwiny noted.
According to the minister, whereas the government moves to rehabilitate the locals accordingly, the foreign nationals will choose whether to resettle in Uganda or get repatriated back home.
Akol wants returnees equipped
The Defence Spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Felix Kulayigye said that the Defence Ministry has already written to the Prime Minister about the rehabilitation program of the returnees.
Kulayigye noted that the reparation of the former fighters, and their families was coordinated by the United Nations and the Uganda government. The returnees currently been taken care of in Nakasongola District.
The Kilak North County member of Parliament, Anthony Akol, has urged the government to equip the group with vocational and other livelihood skills training before reintegrating them.
“They are coming to a different environment where they will work for everything. We have tasked the government to equip them with skills and provide start-up capital,” Akol told GNNA on Friday.
Akol also urged the local community to receive the returnees home with love and care, and allow them access to land and other natural resources.
