Eunice Adong sits on a long wooden stool while her son, Allan, sits on a blue plastic chair in the doorway of a grass-thatched house.
Living in Lelacol Village, Barr Parish, Abok Sub-county in Oyam District, Adong and her son, who was fathered by an unknown member of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), have a long story of pain.
The 38-year-old mother was abducted by the LRA rebels during an attack on Aweikwo Village, Ajul Parish, Aleka Sub-county in March 2004. She was taken together with two other girls, namely Winnie Akello and Jennifer Akello. Days later, Winnie managed to escape while Jennifer and Adong remained in captivity.
Adong managed to escape after four years during a battle between the rebels and the government soldiers. She was pregnant. Her child was delivered at Teboke Health Centre III in Apac District.
Then a child mother, Adong stayed at the Rachele Rehabilitation Centre, where she took a tailoring course. When she returned to her village, she stumbled upon a silent war affecting children born of the LRA war. Struggling to find their place in society, these children face stigma and rejection.
‘Several people look at me as a former rebel, as someone from the bush, but I do not care. Yes, I was abducted and impregnated. I was not prepared for it, but there is no way I can reverse it,’ she says. Adong has since failed to find a husband, while her son faces complete rejection.
‘After the death of our father, my nine brothers shared the customary land, but neglected to include my sister and me,’ she laments.
Land is an important yet sensitive resource in northern Uganda. Several conflict-affected persons, some of whom spent over 20 years in the internally displaced people (IDP) camps, returned home to competition over access to land ownership.
This resulted in heightened tension and violence among war survivors. Soon after her father’s death, relatives began asking where Adong’s son would build a house and cultivate a farm when he came of age. They also inquired about where she planned to bury him.
Land plays a significant role in children’s lives, particularly in terms belonging, social acceptance, and financial security.
When life became unbearable, the distraught mother relocated to Abok Sub-county, about 17 kilometres away from her ancestral home. She lived in the home of a former abductee, Monica Adur.
‘I stayed at Adur’s place for two months. I rented a shop at Abok Trading Centre where I mended people’s clothes using a sewing machine donated to me by the Foundation for Inclusive Community Help (FICH). I also engage in small-scale farming,’ she explains.
From her sweat, the former abductee purchased a half-acre plot of land on which she built three grass-thatched huts and a garden. Her son, Allan, was a pupil at Abok Primary School until 2024, when he dropped out in Primary Six.
At school, children born of war are labeled ‘sons of the rebels,’ a reminder of their troubled past. At home, they are often left without relatives to turn to for support, which exacerbates their sense of isolation.
Allan wants to become a builder, but he has failed to raise the Shs300,000 required to pay for on-the-job training.
Hundreds suffering
Adong is among hundreds of women in the Lango and Acholi sub-regions who returned from captivity with children fathered by the rebels but are struggling to be accepted back into their families.
These children have been compelled to integrate into families and communities that often reject them because of their birth origins and identities. Even if their mothers remarry, their stepfathers eventually reject the children.
John Oweka, a Senior Two student, is another child born of war. His mother, Betty Atim, was abducted in 1996 in Ojwii Trading Centre in Aleka Sub-county. After being subjected to sexual slavery, Atim gave birth to a child whose name literally means ‘I have been abandoned.’
In 2003, she escaped and returned to her village. Luckily, she got married, but ten years later, the relationship turned sour after her husband began asking about Oweka’s father’s identity.
‘At that point, I returned to my father’s house. I engaged former LRA fighters, asking them about the whereabouts of the man who got me pregnant,’ Atim explains.
While the man’s whereabouts remain unknown, Atim bumped into his brother, who asked for forgiveness on behalf of his brother.
‘He said he would shoulder the responsibility of educating his nephew. My son now attends a private school in Kampala. During the holidays, he lives with my father in Ojwii,’ Atim says.
Peter Okello Ayo, the Minister of Culture in the Lango Cultural Institution, Tekwaro Lango, says the two-decade LRA conflict left a trail of destruction still visible today.
‘The majority of those fathered by the LRA rebels are being rejected because of the atrocities committed by their fathers. Some people still think these children will one day turn against them like their fathers did,’ he says.
The cultural leader, however, in a heartfelt appeal, urges the community to embrace children born of war.
“These children are innocent and deserve our love and acceptance. We must not stigmatise or reject them. We should support them to become responsible citizens. They did not choose to be born into war, so they should not suffer for it,” he cautions.
According to a United Nations estimate, the LRA rebels killed more than 100,000 people, abducted between 60,000 and 100,000 children, and displaced more than 2.5 million civilians in four African countries from 1987 to 2012.
Those returning from captivity were granted amnesty for any crimes they committed while under the rebels’ control. Figures from Uganda’s Amnesty Commission show that approximately 26,000 people have so far been pardoned. More than 5,000 of these are female, and two-thirds of them are under the age of 27.
Jasper Okello, the LC1 chairman of Akuki Village in Aleka Sub-county, says several women who returned from the bush are both feared and discriminated against, making it difficult for them to settle in their former villages.
‘Some of them were sidelined in the implementation of the rebuilding programs, such as the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) and Peace, Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP). The survivors also find it hard to marry, go back to school, or find jobs,’ he says.
Harsh realities
Monica Akullu was abducted in 1998 when the rebels raided Odyekcami Village in Abok Sub-county. She became pregnant from sexual violence and gave birth to a daughter.
‘I managed to escape in 2004. In 2005, I got married, but I decided to leave my daughter under the care of my parents because my husband would not accept me with a child fathered by another man, more so a rebel,’ she says.
Akullu’s daughter, now 21, has grown up with her grandparents. During the Covid-19 lockdown, she conceived and had to drop out of school in Primary Six. She wants to study a short course in tailoring or hairdressing. However, her grandparents do not have the funds to support her.
Evelyn Amony, a former wife of Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA, says that without access to land or inheritance, children born of war, especially young men, face uncertain futures, struggling to provide for themselves and their families.
The stigma surrounding their birth can be overwhelming, making it difficult for them to integrate into their communities.
‘Stigma and discrimination against former female captives and children across northern Uganda. People think children born of war have come to grab their land. When a woman returns from captivity with a child, her relatives can chase her away,’ she says.
Not all is lost, though. Amony says her organisation of former female captives, Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN), is working with partners to reunite these children with their extended families, offering a glimmer of hope.
Currently, WAN has a total of 975 members. Composed of 16 grassroots women’s groups within the Acholi, Lango, and West Nile sub-regions, it meets quarterly to discuss advocacy issues, work towards consensus building, and develop strategies to ensure that issues of contention are addressed.
Children born of war deserve a chance to heal, grow, and thrive. By promoting family reconciliation and economic opportunities, the organisation is helping to break the cycle of rejection and stigma.