ENTEBBE – The government of Uganda has successfully repatriated two young women who were forcefully wedded to the elusive Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel leader, Joseph Kony.
The two women, accompanied by three children, arrived yesterday at the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) Airbase in Entebbe.
They were flown in from Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), under the close escort of Major General Richard Otto, the Chief of Defence Intelligence and Security (CDIS).
The Identities of the Returnees
According to an official statement signed by Colonel Chris Magezi, the Acting Director of Defence Public Information, the returnees include a Ugandan national and a South Sudanese citizen.
Ikol Grace (33): A Ugandan national who was abducted at the tender age of 10 in 2003 from Amuria District in Eastern Uganda. She returned with her two children, Ayuma Maria (8) and Oryema Bosco (2).
Aniyessi Teregina (33): A South Sudanese national who was abducted in 2006 at the age of 13 from Yambio, Western Equatorial State in South Sudan. She returned holding a 2-year-old orphaned child belonging to Kony’s wider camp.
The UPDF confirmed that Ms. Teregina will be fully facilitated to safely travel back to her home country of South Sudan in due course.
A Bold Escape from Captivity
The repatriation follows a dramatic escape earlier this year. In January, an armed group launched an attack on Kony’s camp located south of Darfur, near the volatile tri-border region connecting CAR, Sudan, and South Sudan.
Taking advantage of the chaos during the skirmish, a total of 8 Kony wives and 13 children managed to break free from years of captivity.
While the Ugandan and South Sudanese nationals were flown to Entebbe, the remaining women and children—primarily Congolese and CAR citizens—were handed over directly to authorities and families in their respective home countries.
The Ongoing LRA Defections
This latest repatriation marks a continuation of the steady disintegration of Kony’s remaining inner circle. Military records indicate that between 2023 and 2024, more than 150 former LRA returnees, including several of Kony’s wives and children, have successfully escaped captivity in CAR and been safely resettled back into Uganda.
Once a dominant terror force in Northern Uganda, the LRA has been reduced to scattered remnants operating in the dense, ungoverned border tracts of Central and East Africa.
The return of these women highlights the ongoing regional intelligence efforts led by the UPDF to handle the human casualties of the decades-long conflict.