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On Wednesday, Uganda announced an amnesty offer for Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in exchange for their abandonment of rebellion activities against the government.
According to Chris Baryomunsi, Minister of Information and Communication Technology and National Guidance as cabinet spokesman, the government has opened an amnesty window for people who were recruited into the terrorist ranks of the ADF rebel group, but now wish to surrender and stop fighting innocent Ugandans.
“We want to announce that window for them to apply for amnesty, abandon the ADF, and come out. They will be given amnesty in accordance with the law,” Baryomunsi said in an official statement, without specifying the time frame.
The data from the Amnesty Commission of the Ugandan government indicates that more than 30,000 ex-rebels who took up arms against the state have been granted amnesty since the establishment of the commission in 2000.
Uganda offers amnesty window to ADF rebels
Uganda has announced an amnesty offer for ADF rebels in exchange for their abandonment of rebellion activities against the government, a government spokesperson said. #RUKIGAFMUpdates pic.twitter.com/2jV4BJojms
— Rukiga F.M (@rukigafm)
October 26, 2023
“Should you not be interested in that, then you can wait for the firepower from the UPDF (Uganda People’s Defense Forces) and Ugandan forces,” Baryomunsi said.
Furthermore, he emphasized that the hunt for ADF rebels is ongoing, and they will be pursued until they are defeated, similar to the way the Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony was defeated.
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) was a Ugandan rebel group that waged a 20-year-long insurgency until it was driven out of the country by the military in 2006 after failed peace talks.
The rebel group fled to neighboring South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic. Ugandan troops, in collaboration with their DRC counterparts, have been jointly combating ADF rebels since November 2021.
