Uganda welcomes back Kony wives and children

Two women and three children linked to Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony arrived in Uganda on May 21. They were flown in from Bangui, Central African Republic (CAR).

Ugandan Ikol Grace, 33, came with her two children, Ayuma Maria, 8, and Oryema Bosco, 2. South Sudanese Aniyessi Teregina, 33, returned with one of Kony’s orphaned children aged 2. They were escorted to Uganda by the Chief of Defence Intelligence and Security, Major General Richard Otto.

Colonel Chris Magezi, Acting Director Defence Public Information, said, “Ikol Grace was abducted aged 10 in 2003 from Amuria District while Aniyessi Teregina was abducted in 2006 aged 13 from Yambio, Western Equatorial state in South Sudan. She will be facilitated to travel to her home in South Sudan in due course.”

Earlier this year, eight Kony wives and 13 children escaped after their camp was attacked near the border of CAR, Sudan, and South Sudan. Other women, including Congolese and CAR nationals, were handed to their families.

Between 2023 and 2024, Uganda repatriated more than 150 LRA returnees, including some of Kony’s wives and children, from CAR.