Joseph Kony
| Joseph Kony | |
|---|---|
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| Born | August 1961 (age 55) Odek, Uganda |
| Nationality | Ugandan |
| Known for | Leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Weight | 82 kg (180 lb) |
| Spouse(s) | 88 wives as of 2007 |
| Children | 42 children as of 2006 |
Joseph R. Kony (pronounced [koɲ]; born August 1961) is the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a guerrilla group that formerly operated in Uganda. While initially purporting to fight against government suppression, the LRA allegedly turned against Kony's own supporters, supposedly to "purify" the Acholi people and turn Uganda into a theocracy. Kony proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium and claims he is visited by a multinational host of 13 spirits, including a Chinese phantom. He is considered by some to be the focus of a cult of personality. Ideologically, the group is a syncretic mix of mysticism, Acholi nationalism, and Christian fundamentalism, and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments and local Acholi tradition.
Kony has been accused by government entities of ordering the abduction of children to become child soldiers and sex slaves. 66,000 children became soldiers. 2 million people were displaced internally from 1986 to 2009.
Kony was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, in 2005 but has evaded capture. Kony has been subject to an Interpol Red Notice at the request of the ICC since 2006. Since the Juba peace talks in 2006, the LRA no longer operate in Uganda. Sources claim that they are in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or Central African Republic or South Sudan. In 2013, Kony was reported to be in poor health and Michel Djotodia, president of the Central African Republic, claimed he was negotiating with Kony to surrender.
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