/ 10 October 2003

Arrow Boys a thorn in LRA’s side

A new militia in eastern Uganda’s Teso region — recently the target of civilian attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) — is having more success fighting the insurgents than the country’s conventional armed forces have had in the past 17 years.

In the few weeks since they became active, the so-called ”Arrow Boys” — a rag-tag bunch of angry vigilantes — have apparently restored a semblance of order to one of the most war-torn expanses of Ugandan countryside.

Using guns procured from the Ugandan military, the Arrow Boys hunt down LRA rebels, capturing many and forcing others back to their hideouts in the north of the country or neighbouring Sudan. Such has been their success that local peace groups and church organisations are rallying the militia for more arms to help the Arrow Boys fight the LRA.

”When the LRA strike, the Arrow Boys have been there like a shot,” said Julius Ochen, a local councillor from Katakwi, eastern Uganda’s worst-affected district. ”This is what the army have never done…”

The LRA was originally formed to rebel against the loss of power in the north to southern tribes after the fall of Idi Amin and Milton Obote. It has since become one of the cruellest guerrilla movements in the world and aims to replace the government of Uganda with one based on Moses’s 10 commandments.

They attack villages and trading centres on a nightly basis, killing civilians by bludgeoning or hacking them to death, looting and burning homes and abducting children for forced recruitment into their ranks.

The United Nations Children’s Educational Fund (Unicef) estimates that about 9 000 children have been abducted by the LRA since the middle of last year.

Until recently LRA insurgency was confined to a few districts in the north, but since mid-June the rebels have relentlessly pushed southeast and displaced about 240 000 people in the eastern Teso region alone.

The self-styled Arrow Boys arose from this milieu.

”A week and a half ago my village was attacked,” said Rosalind Ibuga, one of Teso’s displaced civilians. ”We knew the LRA were in the area and we even told the army where, but they took too long … The Arrow Boys respond quicker because this is their homeland being attacked.”

Arrow Boys commanders say they have enjoyed support from the Ugandan army. ”They have secured roads, provided weapons to us and helped us with ammunition,” said group commander Sam Otai. ”Our trick is to track what they do. When they split up into smaller groups to try and lose us, we do the same.”

The fight back is not without its risks. Last week 10 Arrow Boys were reported killed along with eight civilians when the LRA launched a surprise attack on Katakwi district. Even so, pretty much everyone in the region says they are glad the Arrow Boys are there.

Should the rebels eventually be pushed out of the east by the group, the question remains whether eastern Uganda’s angry youths will be persuaded to lay down their arms. Many of the Arrow Boys were themselves once part of the Uganda People’s Army — a rebellion that tried to bring down the current government from 1987 to 1993.

But army spokesperson Major Shaban Bantariza said the Arrows are now fully under government control.