Just days before Christmas, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), now based in Central
African Republic, are reported to have killed at least two people, injured four and
abducted an estimated 50 in a weekend attack in Southern Sudan. Nineteen aid agencies
have called for efforts to prevent mass killings by one of Africa’s most feared rebel
militias over the Christmas period.
Blamed for terrorizing northern Uganda
for more than two decades, the LRA were pushed out of the areas by the Ugandan army
in 2005 -- first into Sudan, but they have since spent more time in Democratic Republic
of Congo and Central African Republic, after nearly two years of peace negotiations
ended in failure.
Although the final agreement has not been signed, Uganda
has been able to begin recovering from years of violence.
“It really an ongoing
time of celebrating now in northern Uganda because peace has continued to prevail,”
says Carol Morgan, Uganda country director for Concern – an Irish charity working
in the world’s poorest countries.
Morgan says that with the help of the international
community, people have made progress in rebuilding their villages and their lives.
Meanwhile,
flooding in other parts of the country is severely affecting this year’s Christmas
celebrations.
“A lot of people’s coping mechanisms are slowly eroding away,”
Morgan told Vatican Radio. “Many of these houses, for this year, will not be able
to afford to buy the animal [for Christmas dinner].”
Listen to Carol
Morgan’s full interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: