Otim Bony was abducted from his home in Uganda at age 11 and forced to become a child soldier for the brutal Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). He was made to participate in violent attacks and killings. After four years with the LRA, Bony and a friend escaped while on the move. Bony has since reunited with his mother and hopes to get an education, but his sister remains missing with the LRA. The LRA's atrocities have forced over 2 million people to flee northern Uganda to escape torture and violence at their hands.

1. 24 THE STAR, Saturday February 7, 2009
YOUNG Otim Bony is one of
tens of thousands of north
Ugandan children who have
been abducted from their
homes to be turned into brutal
‘child soldiers’.
The 16-year-old was taken as he
slept in his family home back in May
2004, when he was just 11.
He was turned into a slave-like kill-
ing machine for the evil Lord’s
Resistance Army (LRA) — who looted
his village, while kidnapping and
murdering the rest of his tribe.
He was forced through fear to take
part in attacks against the Ugandan
army and to participate in village
massacres — which the LRA has been
doing for more than 20 years.
Most recently, on Christmas Eve
last in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC), they burned over 200
people to death in a church after rap-
ing and killing women in the bush.
Bullet
Their war with the Ugandan gov-
ernment has caused the forced dis-
placement of almost the entire popu-
lation of the northern region, total-
ling two million people, since 1996.
About half of these are making
their way back due to a sketchy cease-
fire in the African nation.
“I feel bad about the whole thing,”
Bony told The Star about what he was
forced to do for the LRA.
During a raid on the national army,
Bony was told not come back to the
camp without a gun — and got grazed
in the scalp with a bullet while trying
to grab one off a soldier.
He was then shot in the left leg
while being carried away and,
although he is recovering from his
injuries, this bullet still remains
lodged there.
“After this they gave me a gun
and put me back out to fight,” he
said.
Upset
Bony bravely recounted his
horrific ordeal to The Star at his
home village of Bobi, in the
Gulu district in north
Uganda, in a round vil-
lage hut with a straw
roof, clay wall and
clay floor.
His words were
translated by Flora
Aling, project
officer for the
Trocaire-funded
Gulu District
NGO Forum.
When asked
how many
people he
killed while
with the LRA, he paused to think,
then said: “I have killed many.”
Bony recalled: “[The LRA] wanted
me to participate in the killing, but I
was too upset. They went to another
sub-county [in north Uganda] and
killed a lot of people.
“After a year they gave me a gun
and taught me how to use it.
“They told me to go and confront
the Government troops in the front
line,” he added.
Bony thought of ways to escape, and
confided in his sister — who was also
abducted to become a sex slave for an
LRA commander when she was just
13. She warned that they would kill
him if he was caught.
Escape
One night he
teamed up with a
friend, and the
pair tried to walk
away from the
LRA camp —
but other rebels
caught them.
B o n y
quickly
gave the
e x c u s e
that they
thought they
could smell
tomatoes and
wanted to try
and find
them.
Luckily, when the rebels checked,
they found there were tomatoes grow-
ing in the bush.
Not long afterwards, in early 2008,
Bony and his friend made their escape
while the LRA was on the move.
“As they moved we stayed behind
and walked in a different direction,”
he said.
Having escaped and dumped their
weapons, they walked for about a
month and lived mainly on water.
Ordeal
Eventually they found government
troops, who took them to an agency
that cared for former child soldiers.
Bony said his sister, who is now 18,
remains in “the bush” with the LRA.
“I still think about her a lot,” he
said.
When he was reunited with his
mother, Helen Abang, he was
delighted she was still alive —
having had nightmares during
his four-year ordeal that she
was killed.
“I was so excited when I saw
my mother again,” he said.
Bony said he now hopes to
get an education — and
that organisations
like Trocaire can
help him and
o t h e r s
a c h i e v e
this.
■SOME two million people in northern Uganda have been
forced to flee their homeland to avoid torture at the hands
of a merciless group known as the The Lord’s Resistance
Army (LRC).
The LRC have kidnapped, raped and brutally butchered
thousands of innocent people under the orders of religious
madman Joseph Kony.
■These atrocities follow the murders of more than 500,000
people under two former dictatorships in the one-time
British colony.
Trocaire aims to reduce poverty and social injustice by
forging long-term partnerships with local organisations and
communities.
■Star reporter Kevin Jenkinson and photographer Noel
Gavin (right) are in Uganda to witness the impact of
Trocaire’s 24-hour fast drive — and the work being done with the
€3.3 million donated by Irish people this and last year to aid the region.
HOW TO HELP... TO FIND out more about the Fast or to get a
sponsor form, here are the contact details:
Telephone: 1800408408
Text: 24hr to 51727
Internet: log onto www.trocaire.org
BRAVE AFRICAN TEEN TELLS OF HORRIFIC TIME AS CHILD SOLDIER
Abducted and
forced to kill.
I was only 11
BABY-FACED
KILLER: A child
soldier in action
REUNITED: Former
child soldier Otim
(right) with his two
sisters and mother
INNOCENT:
Many children
like these in
north Ugandan
village Bobi
were abducted
COURAGE:
Brave Otim
Bony talks to
Star reporter
Kevin
Jenkinson