Summary:

• A Ugandan court has ordered the government to pay 10 million Ugandan shillings ($2,740) to each victim of Thomas Kwoyelo, a former LRA commander convicted of war crimes. Kwoyelo was sentenced to 40 years in prison for crimes like murder, rape, and enslavement. He is the first senior LRA member to be tried and convicted in Uganda.

KAMPALA, Dec 16 (Daily Telegraph) – A Ugandan court has directed the government to pay up to 10 million Ugandan shillings ($2,740) in compensation to each victim of Thomas Kwoyelo, a former commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), following his conviction for war crimes. Kwoyelo, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison in October for crimes including murder, rape, and enslavement, is the first senior LRA member to be tried and convicted in Uganda’s courts.

The ruling comes after the court determined that Kwoyelo, who was deemed “indigent,” could not pay reparations to the victims. As a result, the government was held responsible for compensating those affected by his atrocities. The court emphasized that the scale of his crimes, which included kidnappings and mutilations, highlighted the government’s failure to protect its citizens, triggering its obligation to provide reparations.

Kwoyelo was captured by Ugandan forces in 2009 and stood trial for his role in the LRA, a brutal rebel group led by Joseph Kony that terrorized northern Uganda for nearly two decades. Despite the group’s decline after relocating to neighboring countries in the mid-2000s, its legacy of violence remains deeply etched in the region.

The court also awarded additional compensation to victims for property damage and other crimes committed by Kwoyelo’s forces. The ruling marks a significant step in Uganda’s efforts to address the long-lasting impacts of the LRA insurgency.

busiinge@telegraph.co.ug