Agency
The Ugandan government is in the final stages of negotiations to repatriate 49 former fighters of the defunct Holy Spirit Movement (HSM), led by the late Alice Auma Lakwena, who have lived in exile in Kenya for nearly four decades.
Mega FM has exclusively established that the former fighters, including some of Alice Lakwena’s children, have been engaging the government through leaders of the Acholi Cultural Institution to facilitate their return home.
Represented by three delegates, the group has for years been seeking government support to return from the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Garissa County, Kenya, where they have lived since fleeing Uganda following the collapse of the HSM insurgency.
The Commander of the Fourth Infantry Division, Maj. Gen. Felix Busizoori confirmed over the weekend that the government has been holding discussions with the former rebels and that they have now agreed to return.
He noted that upon their arrival, the former fighters will undergo rehabilitation and skills development programmes before being reintegrated into their respective communities.
Lakwena launched the insurgency in 1986 against the government of President Yoweri Museveni, recruiting thousands of fighters, largely from the Acholi Sub-region.
She died on January 17, 2007, at the Ifo Refugee Camp in Kenya. Her remains were later repatriated and buried in Gulu after prolonged negotiations between her family and the Ugandan government.
