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Former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) fighter, Thomas Kwoyelo alias Latoni has pleaded with the court asking it to forgive him for having married minors for “wives”.
It’s criminal in Uganda for one to have canal knowledge of minors.
The LRA kidnapped thousands of children from Lango and Achol. Children were recruited into the brutal rebellion.
The top commanders would force young girls into sex enslavement or what they claimed as marriage.
Most of the enslaved girls ended up bearing children with top commanders including Thomas Kwoyelo.
Kwoyelo who is facing trial in the Gulu-based court did not deny the fact that some of the abducted children or women ended up being sexually enslaved to commanders including himself.
He spoke in Luo telling the court that he did not force the girls but wooed them to become his wives after Joseph Kony had anointed them.
Kwoyelo denied having personally conscripted the women and girls into sex slavery.
Kwoyelo was concluding his defense at the International Crimes Division of the High Court where he is facing crimes against humanity charges.
Court records indicate the witnesses were abducted at the age of 11 in 1996 and 1997 respectively and were later married at 13 years by Kwoyelo.
