Joseph Kony’s Eldest Son Pleads with Father to Return Home
By our reporter
Moses Komakech, the eldest son of the elusive Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel’s chief Joseph Kony has appealed to his father to abandon rebellion and return home.
He said on Monday that as a family, they wish that his father could return home and take up responsibilities as the head.
“He wants peace. That is what I know. He wants peace for Acholi, for Uganda and for everybody. As a family, we want him (Kony) to come home so that we live in peace and harmony,” he said.
Komakech last met his father in 2006, during the failed Juba Peace Talks.
“I was taken there (Juba) by the government of Uganda on his request. That when I last met him,” he said.
Komakech described his father as a peace loving person. According to Komakech, Kony loves peace and wish the country well.
He also called on Ugandans to reconcile and live in harmony after the end of the brutal LRA led conflict in northern Uganda. Kony has been listed by the US among the four most wanted war criminals.
Through the Department of State under the War Crimes Rewards Program, the US wants him tried for his alleged role in the over two decades’ violence that rocked northern Uganda.
The conflict left hundreds either dead or abducted, and millions displaced from their villages.
On July 8, 2005, ICC issued arrest warrants against senior LRA Commanders, including Kony and his deputy Vincent Otti, Raska Lukwiya and Dominic Ongwen, the Commander of the Sinia Brigade.
The world’s court has since terminated the criminal proceedings against Otti, Lukwiya and Odhimbo after forensic analysis on their remained indicated that they were deceased.
In a press statement released on Friday, The Pre – Trial Chamber II terminated the proceedings against Vincent Otti, following a request made by the Office of the Prosecutor.
Kony is charged with 12 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war crimes.
The crimes he allegedly committed after July 1, 2002 in northern Uganda. But he has avoided arrested for the last 17 years.
The US has also offered US$ 5 Million (approximately UGX 19 Billion Shillings) for any information that can lead to the arrest of Joseph Kony.
Other most wanted war criminals are Fulgence Kayishema, Aloys Ndimbati and Charles Sikubwabo for their alleged roles in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that left nearly 800,000 people dead. LRA Harvesting Wild Honey for Survival, according to a new Report.
The government of Uganda has also ruled out possibilities that he can benefit from the amnesty.
A new report indicates that Joseph Kony and his rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) are combing the jungles of the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) looking for wild honey for survival.
According to the report published in the African Arguments on March 10, 2023, quoting defectors, the group’s main activities consist of subsistence farming and sometimes selling honey at local markets.
In 2017, there were reports that LRA commanders Owila and Ladera who are active in CAR and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), were trading in ivory with a group of Sudanese traders who later sell it in the black market.
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Caption: Undated photo of Joseph Kony, the LRA rebels’ commander
