The government of Uganda has kicked off the compensation processes of more than 900 people who were killed during the attack on Barlonyo Internally Displaced People’s Camp in Lira district on 21st February 2004.
On Friday, 31st January, 2024, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni laid a wreath on the mass graves of over 300 buried at the former IDP site in Agweng Sub County after they were massacred by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, LRA.
He emphasized the government’s commitment to maintaining the current peace, which is the bedrock of wealth creation.
“The lack of peace was due to bad politics and the building of the army on a tribal basis. Without proper budgeting and prioritization, we would not be having the peace we have today in Northern Uganda. Now we have peace; we can now talk about development, education, health, job creation, and wealth creation,” President Museveni said during a public rally held at Barlonyo Technical Institute.
The president urged local residents to concentrate on wealth creation at the household level, saying without it they won’t prosper.
While in Lira district, President Museveni also launched the newly constructed Barlonyo Health Centre III in Agweng sub-county, Lira district.
Dr. Kenneth Omona, the Minister of State for Northern Uganda rehabilitation, confirmed the process to compensate those who were massacred at Barlonyo by the LRA.
He said according to the verified list by the security, a total of 973 people were confirmed to have been killed during the LRA attack on Barlonyo.
This now corrects the previous record that had confirmed that only 300 people had lost their lives during the attack.
According to Omona, the decision to compensate the victims stemmed from the advice of the Attorney General after the government had been sued by the Barlonyo LRA massacre.
While in Barlonyo, the President also donated shs50 million to Barlonyo NRM cadres’ SACCO and another shs50 million to Veterans’ SACCO in Erute North County, Lira District.
The rally was part of President Museveni’s regional tour of the Lango sub region to assess the implementation of the Parish Development Model and other wealth creation activities.
During the rally, a section of strong opposition elders who had been opposing NRM government abandoned their political parties and defected to NRM party.
President Museveni will be heading to the Kigezi region to assess the implementation of PDM and wealth creation programs in the coming weeks.
