Uganda: The state and its struggle against the Lord's Resistance Army

This chapter examines Uganda's struggle against the Lord's Resistant Army (LRA). It argues that starting in 1987 under the leadership of Joseph Kony, the LRA waged one of the enduring and protracted conflicts that defined the postcolonial history of Uganda. The tumultuous experience during much of Uganda's postcolonial period is the direct opposite of how the country started. The LRA insurgency is a continuation of insurgent groups that emerged in Northern Uganda to contest the National Resistant Army's capture and hold to power. In any country when issues of insurgency arise, the State becomes the principal. The insurgency led to mistrust and lost of confidence in the government of Uganda among the population. The effect of the LRA insurgency on the local people, as it was on the State, is well articulated in literature. In Northern Uganda in particular, many people went into exile or got displaced within the country.