Uganda: US Places US$5m Bounty on Kony’s Head

By Newsfromafrica

WASHINGTON--The US has pledged to offer a reward of up to $5m (£3.3m) for information that leads to the arrest of wanted Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, under the War Crimes Rewards Program.

The latest development came as the US and Uganda suspended the search for Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the Central African Republic after last month’s coup. The two governments have blamed it on “hostility” for the new regime.

Writing in the Huffington Post, Secretary of State John Kerry said that the State Department is tightening the screws on murderers like Kony.

“Through the expansion of the War Crimes Rewards Program, the Department of State is offering up to $5 million for information that leads to the arrest, transfer, and conviction of the top three leaders of the LRA: Joseph Kony, Okot Odhiambo, and Dominic Ongwen. All three are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Kerry wrote.

Kony, whose LRA has waged war in Uganda and the region for over two decades, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes. He and his fighters are thought to be in the CAR or neighbouring countries.

US authorities say the reward is also being offered for information on two other top LRA leaders, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen.

Earlier, Ugandan troops in the CAR suspended their hunt for Kony and returned to their bases in the country.

Rebel forces took power 10 days ago in the CAR and ousted President Francois Bozize, whose government was a supporter of the mission to find Kony.

The Ugandan forces are in the CAR under an African Union mandate, assisted by soldiers from other African nations, as well as US special forces.

The African Union suspended the CAR's membership after the Seleka rebel group seized power and overran the capital, Bangui.

"We have reorganised our forces, collected them in defence, as we await the decision that will follow consultations going on between the African Union and participating countries," Ugandan army spokesman Col Felix Kulaijye said.

Joseph Kony and the estimated 200-500 fighters of his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have waged war in Uganda and the region for more than two decades.

He claims the LRA is fighting to install a government in Uganda based on the Biblical Ten Commandments.

But his rebels now terrorise large swathes of the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and the CAR and he is wanted by the International Criminal Court for rape, mutilation and murder of civilians, as well as forcibly recruiting children to serve as soldiers and sex slaves.