Uganda hands over 50 Congolese rescued from ADF

Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) has handed over 50 Congolese nationals to DR Congo authorities after they were rescued from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militias.
The Congolese nationals, who included six young men, were reportedly abducted from their homes in different parts of DRC following rebel attacks.

Many of them were subsequently indoctrinated and recruited into the rebel group that has been causing mayhem in many parts of the eastern Africa country and occasionally on Ugandans.

Maj. Gen Dick Olum, the UPDF Mountain Division Commander who is also commanding the joint operation between Congolese armed forces and the Ugandan military against ADF on Friday handed over the abductees to FARDC at Kasindi, just a few kilometers away from the western Uganda border at Mpondwe in Kasese District.

Maj Olum revealed that the Congolese nationals were handed over after undergoing several months of rehabilitation at Bridge Way, an international humanitarian organization that is charged with reintegrating ex-combatants into the community.

“What we are doing here is not an exchange programme; we are rather just handing to the [Congolese] authorities these young men and women who had been abducted by the ADF to reunite with their families. We appreciate the fact that some were abducted against their will while others were just lured into this senseless war,” Maj Olum said.

He said among those handed over include those who recently met President Museveni at his home in Rwakitura.
He cautioned them against ever being lured into the “bush” again and advised them to engage in activities that would enable them boost their financial incomes.

 “It is good news that the DRC has now joined the East African Community, and similarly the two governments have scrapped visa requirements for either nationals to enter either country. Therefore, use this opportunity to engage in cross-border trade since all you need is national identity card,” he added.
According to Olum, at least 20 ADF rebel commanders have been killed during army attacks carried out since the joint operation was launched in November 2021.

“We have hit the ADF rebels so hard in the areas of Ngambia Yua, Totomeka, Zulunguka Tingwe until they went to Semuliki region, especially in the areas of Nobili, Kamanago, Lusulube where we have also defeated them before they went into the greater Mwalika Valley where we have equally defeated them,” he said.
Col. Bokeon Okoko from the Congolese side who received the abductees on behalf of the DRC government hailed the Ugandan government for accepting to jointly work with them in operations against the militias labelled as a ‘terrorist’ organisation by the United States, and considered the deadliest group operating in eastern DR Congo.

The armed militias that roam mineral-rich eastern DRC have killed thousands of civilians in both DRC and border areas in Uganda.
“Once the presidents of the two countries agreed, we have been working together every day on how best to bring peace to this area. I am happy that we have made tremendous progress. It is precisely the reason we are here to receive some of our people who had been abducted by the rebels and have since been rescued by the Ugandan forces,” Col Okoko observed.

Ms Esther Mariam Furaha, one of the Congolese nationals, hailed the Ugandan government for rescuing them from what she described as terrible living conditions while in the bush under the command of the ADF rebels.

“I want to thank God that we are here today. I also want to particularly thank the forces from either country for working and fighting so hard to rescue us from the bush where we lived in a deplorable state. We have nothing but gratitude and urge you to keep doing the work you are doing to rescue the others who are still stuck in the bush,” she said.

Each of the 50 Congolese nationals was given a mattress, a suitcase full of clothes, a bucket, a basin and some money whose amount officials at Bridge Way declined to reveal to help them get back to their feet.