The Lord's Resistance Army: Violence and Peacemaking in Africa

332 Pages·2021·7.993 MB·English

by  Mareike Schomerus

The Lord’s Resistance Army
TheLord’sResistanceArmy(LRA)isoneofAfrica’smostnotorious
armed rebel groups, having operated across Uganda, South Sudan,
Sudan,theCentralAfricanRepublicandtheDemocraticRepublicof
theCongo.WhentheyenteredtheJubaPeaceTalkswiththeUgandan
Governmentin2006,thepeacedealseemedlikeagifttofighterswho
hadforyearsbarelybeensurvivinginCentralAfrica’sjungles.Yetthe
talks failed. Why? Based on exclusive interviews with LRA fighters
andtheirnotoriousleaderJosephKony,MareikeSchomerusprovides
insights into how the LRA experienced the Juba Talks, revealing
developing dynamics and deep distrust within a conflict system and
how these became entrenched through the peace negotiations. In so
doing,Schomerusoffersanexplanationastowhycurrentapproaches
toendingarmedviolencenotonlyfailbuthowtheyactivelycontribute
to their own failure, and calls for a new approach to contemporary
peacemaking.
mareike schomerus, PhD, is a researcher and commentator, as
well as co-editor of volumes on African secessionism and the border-
landsofSouthSudan.Herrecentworkmergesbehaviouralsciencewith
the qualitative study of violent conflict, political contestation
andgovernance.

’
The Lord s Resistance Army
Violence and Peacemaking in Africa
Mareike Schomerus
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108485920
DOI:10.1017/9781108662505
©MareikeSchomerus2021
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
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noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
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Firstpublished2021
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Schomerus,Mareike,author.
Title:TheLord'sResistanceArmy:violenceandpeacemakinginAfrica/
MareikeSchomerus.
Othertitles:ViolenceandpeacemakinginAfrica
Description:Cambridge;NewYork,NY:CambridgeUniversityPress,2021.|
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2020037934(print)|LCCN2020037935(ebook)|
ISBN9781108485920(hardback)|ISBN9781108725354(paperback)|
ISBN9781108662505(epub)
Subjects:LCSH:Lord'sResistanceArmy.|Insurgency–Uganda.|JubaPeace
Talks–History.|Peace-building–Africa–Internationalcooperation.|
Uganda–Politicsandgovernment–1979–|Civilwar–Africa.
Classification:LCCDT433.285.S432021(print)|LCCDT433.285(ebook)|
DDC967.6104/4–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020037934
LCebookrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2020037935
ISBN978-1-108-48592-0Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication
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accurateorappropriate.
Contents
Listof Figures page vi
Acknowledgements vii
Noteon theText viii
Listof Abbreviations and Acronyms ix
1 Introduction:SeekingPeacewiththeLord’sResistanceArmy 1
2 TheLord’sResistance Army:AContinuum ofWar,
Peaceand Information 32
3 TheJuba Peace Talks withthe Lord’sResistance Army
in 2006: ‘While Talking, ThereIs Troop Movement’ 70
4 ‘Am I an Animal?’:Identity, Rulesand Lossin the Lord’s
Resistance Army 111
5 TheJuba Peace Talks withthe Lord’sResistance Army
in 2007: ‘We Don’t Know If We Can Trust’ 136
6 ‘Reach Out a Hand and Pull It Back’:TheLord’s
Resistance Army’s ‘Connect/Disconnect’Meets
International GalvanicSurges 157
7 TheJuba Peace Talks withthe Lord’sResistance Army
in 2008: ‘Maybe We Came Too Close to the Enemy’ 194
8 ‘LRA Has Already BecomeaSystem’:Representation
and Distrust in the Lord’sResistance Army 228
9 ‘We Are All Learning in This Peace Process’:Peacemaking
and the Legacy ofthe Juba PeaceTalkswith the Lord’s
Resistance Army 261
References 288
Index 312
v
Figures
1.1 Joseph Kony and his deputy Vincent Otti,June 2006 page 3
3.1 Vincent Otti and Dominic Ongwen, July 2007 79
3.2 Jan Egeland meets the LRA while journalists wait out
of earshot, November 2006 100
3.3 A UN helicopterarrivesin the village ofNabanga,
November 2006 106
3.4 Map ofareas ofLRA movement. Redrawn byCox
Cartographic Ltd from Conciliation Resources 108
4.1 Vincent Otti draws the coatofarms ofthe Lord’s
Resistance Army 112
6.1 Vincent Otti presents himself for apressconference,
September 2006 189
7.1 Joseph Kony and Okot Odhiambo,June 2006 195
7.2 Women demonstratingat the re-opening ceremony,
January2008 203
7.3 Dignitaries and delegates wait for the final signing
ceremony, April2008 207
7.4 DavidNyekorach Matsanga resignsfrom the LRA/M
delegation, April2008 209
vi
Acknowledgements
Many people have had a role in bringing this book to life. It lies in the
complicated nature of writing about violent conflict that I will never be
able to thank some of those people for what they have done. So rather
thanmentioningjustafewbyname,Iwouldlikeyoutoknowthatifyou
played apart, I am grateful to you.
Itiseasiertopubliclythankthosewhopushedthebookoverthefinish
line: thanks to my brother Hajo for great cover design. Thanks to two
very kind and enthusiastic reviewers who might never know how much
theirwordsmeanttome.AndthankstoMariaMarshandDanielBrown
at Cambridge University Press for their much-appreciated support.
vii
Note on the Text
MostoftheeventsdescribedheretookplacebeforeSouthSudanbecame
independentin2011.Priortoindependence,itwasreferredtoassouth-
ern Sudan, whichis reflected here.
The terms Lord’s Resistance Army/Movement (LRA/M) are for ease
ofreadingusedasiftheydescribestrictlyorganisedentities–theydonot.
What they do represent is analysed in more detail in Chapter 8.
The textuses amixtureofanonymisation and attribution.This either
reflects the type of permission given by the interviewee or whether a
statement was given as amatter ofpublicrecord or privately.
AttimesIusesquarebracketsindirectquotationstoclarifyidiomatic
expressions or figuresofspeech. All photoswere taken by me.
viii