History+of+the+Country

Child Soldiers Home | History of the People | Other Issues in Uganda | Call to Action | Works Cited | Webquest | Extra Info History of Child Soldiers in Uganda The use of child soldiers has become a major problem in Uganda since the beginning of the war in the 1980s. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda (GoU) have been at constant war with one another. Their fighting has left 2 million innocent people caught in the middle.

The war began when a woman named Alice Lakwena claimed God had spoken to her and ordered an overthrow of Uganda’s government because of the government’s unjust treatment of the Acholi people. Her movement, called the Holy Spirit Movement, gained momentum and resistance increased. Lakwena was later exiled, and there was no leader of the movement. A man named Joseph Kony took control and formed the group into the LRA. Kony’s LRA did not have the same momentum the Holy Spirit movement had. With no supporters, they resorted to abducting children. It is estimated that over 90% of the LRA’s current soldiers were abducted as children (Invisible Children).