Gulu City, Uganda: A total of 133 ex-Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) returnees, including men, women, children and those from other countries like Central Africa Republic and South Sudan and DR Congo (DRC)-who returned to Gulu in December 2023 and January 2024 graduated in vocational skills training including, Carpentry and joinery, Saloon and Cosmetology, Tailoring and garment cutting respectively.
On December 31, 2023, PAX and APRU, a DR Congo based NGO had announced a total of US Dollars 100,000 that was meant to rebuild the lives of the ex-LRA returnees.
Dr. Kenneth Omona, the State Minister for Northern Uganda in the Office of the Prime Minister(OPM) has commended the government of Uganda for skilling the 133 former Lord’s Resistance Army(LRA) returnees through vocational skills training.
Dr. Omona remarked that it was the effort of the government and other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) including Amnesty International and PAX-Netherlands that put together resources to allow for the rebuilding of the returnees’ lives.
Omona further asked the district leaders like Resident District/City Commissioners (RDCs/RCCs) to help them get accommodated into the communities so that they are able to start a fresh start in life, now that they are skilled.
”They are supposed to be supported by the local leaders so that they are supposed to be contracted by the locals to make furniture, school uniforms, etc, as a way of bringing money to their pockets”, remarked Dr. Omona.
The Minister also asked the Acoli Cultural Instituted by Rwot David Onen Acana II to spearhead efforts to re-settle the returnees into the original home lands.
Denis Nkwasibwe, the Amnesty Commissioner in charge of Acholi Sub-region said that the achievement has been realized because of the government’s efforts of instituting the Amnesty Commission that allowed for the return of the returnees back home.
Nkwasibwe stated that receiving such skills training is very important in that it shall offer a first-hand means of earning a living, since the majority of them lack the key means of production, especially land.
“Since land re-acquisition may be a challenge, having the vocational skills shall help them re-start building their lives afresh,” he said.
Nkwasibwe, however, made a call to the Members of Parliament from the Acoli Sub-region to help push for more funding for Amnesty International to help in supporting such endeavors of supporting persons who have been victims of war.
Graduates Speak Out
Faridah Dawa, one of the graduates and a foreigner from DRC said that she is grateful to God for enabling her to attain such a milestone. “I thank President Museveni for the amnesty extended to us together with PAX and other partners who invested in us,” said Dawa.
He added that from the skills training, she can now read and write, but when she returned from the bush, she could not read and write.
Ali Doctor Achaye, one of the graduates and a leader of the returnees, thanked the parties who put together the resources that have enabled them to get vocational skills. He further explained that the skills attained shall help them in starting smallscale entrepreneurship in line with their area of study.
District leaders speak out
Christopher Opiyo Ateker, the Gulu district Chairperson L.C 5, said that whereas the returnees have been skilled, there is still a need to focus on their re-settlement-which one of the key issues talked about when they arrived in December 2023 and January 2024.
Opiyo stated that the sub/region is still facing the problem of homeless people, including young people and children locally referred to as “Aguu”, because of their wild nature-that they need to call for a combined effort to resettle them.
Similarly, Fearless Obwoya, the Pader District L.C5 requested that the government and the sponsors to not stop only in giving the training, but also add more resource support in forms of tools that they may use for starting their workshops.
Additional Start-Up Support in Fulfilment
Maurine Moore, the Program Coordinator at PAX-Netherlands, the lead NGO that extended funding in skilling the returnees said that upon completing the training course, the institution has given a start-up of Sh. 264,000 to each of the 133 graduates to help them to start rebuilding their lives.
Similarly, Dr. Omona has delivered the government’s package of Shillings one million (Sh.1m) for all the 53 households where the 133 returnees hail/belong.
Rwot David Onen Acana II, the Acholi Paramount Chief, congratulated the graduates upon completing their skills training and asked them to use the skills attained to better their lives by putting it to work.
Rwot Acana II explained that whereas the Sub/region has been affected by war over 20 years ago, it is through hard work that can change people’s lives, cautioning them from refraining from dubois social behaviors such as drunkenness, laziness, and idleness.
The Paramount Chief added that cultural institutions shall endeavor to re-resettle the returnees systematically through the right formula of identifying their original homesteads, but asked those who can afford to get land on their own to put it to good use through commercial farming.
The graduates were celebrated on Saturday (April 26, 2025) at the OPM office on Lower Churchill Drive, Laroo-Pece Division, Gulu City, after taking a one-year training course at their host center at the SOS Children’s home in Gulu City.
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