Ex-LRA commander Kwoyelo’s judgment set for July 12

Former commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group, Thomas Kwoyelo on Wednesday evening concluded his defense as he fought off charges in relation to the merciless killings and heinous atrocities committed by the Joseph Kony-led militias against the people of northern Uganda.
Kwoyelo concluded his defense after adducing four witnesses with himself included.

The category of his defense witnesses included a medical expert, a protected witness, and a cultural expert.
Following the closure of his defense, a panel of four justices presiding over the matter reserved their judgment for July 12.
The justices are Michael Elubu, Duncan Gaswanga, Stephen Mubiru, and Andrew Bashaija.

But before the court delivers its judgment, three court assessors are expected to give their layman’s opinion on whether Kwoyelo is guilty or not on July 5.

Kwoyelo seeks to meet President Museveni
On April 30 when Kwoyelo was closing his defense, pleaded with the court to link him to President Museveni since he is his fellow soldier and meet with him face to face.
He also asked the court to be lenient with him, reasoning that he doesn’t deny being with girls in the bush before marrying them as his wives.

The former LRA commander also pleaded with the court to release him such that he may return home and look after his wives and that he may also enjoy peace since he has never had peace since his abduction by Kony rebels several years ago.
Speaking to this publication last evening, Deputy Registrar of the International Crimes Division of the High Court that is handling this matter, Juliet Hatanga said she was happy that the court has kept its timelines of concluding this matter that has dragged on for about 15 years now.

“I am grateful that I have been able to keep the promise to the people in the field when we visited the community and we made a commitment that defense hearing will be done by early May,” registrar Hatanga said last evening
Adding: “As predicted, we expect to have concluded this matter by early July. This is a big milestone as this case has been my priority.”
 She also revealed that the victims' counsel has an admission of 103 war victims and that more applications like 200 are yet to be considered.

On December 18 last year, the court ruled that Kwoyelo had a case to answer and would defend himself on 78 counts under the case categories of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and other serious crimes under the Penal Code Act.
He faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Pagak's internally displaced people’s camp (IDP) in Amuru District between 1993 and 2005.

Kwoyelo was one of the top commanders of Joseph Kony’s LRA during the two-decade war in northern Uganda.
He was captured by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2005. Subsequently, he was brought back to Uganda and detained at Luzira Upper Prison.