People
Child Soldiers in Uganda, Africa – History, Facts and Statistics
Uganda is a country whose past is steeped in a rich history of political coups and instability. Uganda has seen over 4 coups since its inception and more than enough dictators. The most notorious is Idi Amin Dada, who expelled all Asians from the country in the 1980s.
Uganda Child Soldiers – History
The country is also home to one of the most deadly and inhumane rebel movements in the world: the Lords Resistant Army. The LRA is headed by Joseph Kony, who claims to be a medium and demands that Uganda be governed according to the Ten Commandments. It was originally seen as the movement of the Holy Spirit to rebel against President Yoweri’s oppression in northern Uganda.
It was created by Alice Lakwema (AliceAuma), a member of the Acholi ethnolinguistic group who claimed to be a messenger of the spirits. She led an army of rebels against the Yoweri Museveni, was defeated by his army and then fled.
Acquisition of Alice Lakwena who was exiled In 1987 Joseph Kony, who was said to be her cousin, changed the name to LRA and looked for ways to keep the system going. Things turned sour when a seemingly stable system turned brutal in its quest for sustainability.
After losing regional support, Kony adopted seditious methods such as stealing supplies and kidnapping children to fill his ranks, which marked the birth of child soldiers in Uganda. Joseph Kony incorporated child soldiers into his ranks, with a large part of his army being made up of child soldiers.
See also: 5 Bizarre Ugandan Cultural Practices
Child Soldiers in Uganda – Facts
The majority of child soldiers are kidnapped
Recruitment of child soldiers into the LRA has begun as a result of a general decline in the number of people willing to join the LRA, largely due to the atrocities committed against civilians by the rebel group. As a result, the rebel group resorted to kidnapping small children and forcibly recruiting them into the rebel group.
Child soldiers are forced to kill their parents and close relatives
In order to sever the bond between the future soldiers and their families, the new recruits are usually forced to kill their parents, close relatives and even neighbors. This is usually done to lower the recruits’ chances as they have nothing to fall back on. According to some former child soldiers, most recruits were forced to beat their parents to death, while in some cases a recruit was given a machete and up to 10 people were hacked to death. This was considered part of the initiation process.
Child soldiers who fail the initiation process are killed
The LRA uses fear as a tool in recruiting children. As such, children who do not go through the initiation process are usually killed to scare the other recruits. According to an eyewitness account, recruits who would not hack their parents or relatives to death would be hit in the neck by a club or systematically hacked up with a machete.
Most of the recruits are school children
The majority of recruits are school children. In the early 2000s, Joseph Kony and the LRA conducted systematic raids on schools in northern Uganda, kidnapping almost the entire student population. Villages were also targeted, but the LRA considered schools the best targets since the students were in dormitories, which simplified the whole process.
30 percent of child soldiers are women
Up to 30 percent of child soldiers in Uganda are women. You don’t necessarily have to fight. Their main job is to cook for the troops and also serve as sex slaves. The most notable abduction incident in LRA history was in 2005, when over 200 girls were abducted from a Catholic-run school.
Over 30 percent of the LRA are second-generation child soldiers
Second generation child soldiers can best be described as children born within the LRA. These children are increasingly being drawn into the ranks of the LRA.
Rituals are performed during initiation
Most communities in Uganda are superstitious in Germany. The LRA takes this into account when accepting new recruits into the rebel movement. Rituals are usually incorporated into the killings, with some recruits being forced to drink blood or take a blood oath. In one incident, a former child soldier said they were forced to write an oath on their chests in human blood and said the dead would come after them if they tried to escape.
Children who try to escape are killed
Children trying to escape the LRA are usually killed. The fugitive should lie face down on the ground and hit the back of the head repeatedly until he or she dies.
Child soldiers are far from their homes
Child soldiers in the LRA were usually stationed far from their home countries for long periods of time to reduce the chances of escape.
Child soldiers in Uganda – Statistics
A Human Rights Watch report said more than 120,000 children under the age of 18 are being deployed as soldiers across Africa. According to a United Nations report, minors make up nearly 90% of LRA soldiers.
The report goes on to say that up to 30,000 children have been kidnapped since the crisis broke in the 1980s; to work as child soldiers in Uganda. Some are intended to serve as wives of soldiers or their servants.
These children, who most often fall into the unfortunate category, are usually forced to join the group or are left with no choice but to join the group.
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