The Lord’s Resistance Army in the DRC

Abstract

The syncretistic Ugandan rebel group, known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), has been in the news for several years for its brutal methods and horrific guerrillapolitical campaigns. Thousands of people were killed or had to flee from attacks, firstly in the northern parts of Uganda, but later in the (former) Sudan and also the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This article aims to examine and shed light on the way the LRA units moved from Uganda into the socalled ungoverned spaces of a neighbouring country, namely the DRC, from where they no longer pose a serious threat to the Ugandan state and national security in Uganda, but attack civilian targets in and around the north-eastern DRC. Against this background the article further aims to explore and discuss the role of the LRA as a source of insecurity in the DRC and the negative impact of this movement on DRC–Uganda relations and related regional instability.

Africa Insight Vol 43(1) – June 2013