Dzaipi LRA Massacre: Dzaipi sub county, Adjumani District.
Dzaipi trading center is located 27 km east of Adjumani town in Adjumani District. When the Lords’ Resistance Army attacked Dzaipi and killed a total of 8 civilians on the 8th of March 2005, it was the very first time the Lord’s Resistance Army had come there. A witnesses from Dzaipi narrates that the day before the attack Dzaipi was very peaceful. And that in the same year, Dzaipi center was selected by the District Authority to host the celebration of the International Women’s’ Day. During the day, the celebration was going on smoothly as people enjoyed and jubilated. Yet in the midst of the party mood villagers noticed strangers drinking and dancing with them.
The situation changed abruptly late in the night when the LRA attacked. As a witness named Alfred narrated:
“We were seated down here (pointing to his house) and we saw fire burning at the center, because we were neighbors, immediately I rushed to wake him up, in just about three minutes before reaching his house was surrounded by the rebels. I heard bullets fired, the 1st in the air then very many into the house where my brother and the family was. My brother was shot in the knee, the wife in the jaw, and the child in the hand and later my brother died of the injury”,
Four of those killed were women and about 78 huts were burnt and properties were looted. Those who survived with injuries were taken to Adjumani hospital and those with critical condition were rushed to Lacor Hospital in Gulu District to save their lives. In response to the tragedy, the Government of Uganda under the Adjumani disaster preparedness committee provided some food rations which included posho and beans and blankets for affected families. But this was insufficient. Family members got 5kgs of posho, 2kgs of beans, and people had to find means of getting other resources for survival because they had already lost everything in the looting
The massacre greatly disrupted the socio-economic livelihood of very many villagers, which in turn directly impacted on schooling for children.
“It was the first time that this happened and it made people to feel very bad and most of us had to flee our homes and seek refuge in Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs), others ran to their relatives in Gulu town. The killing took place in an open space and these people were attacked on their way back home after the celebration. That ground was the killing site. The 8 who were killed were buried some 2 kilometers from the killing site at Dzaipi mission burial site. Surprisingly, there was a small detach call Okuleago (small barracks) not more than 2 kilometers from the massacre site. But because they were few in number, the Uganda People Defense Forces (UPDF) could not respond immediately, and they waited until dawn. This made the civilians to feel bad and some decided to leave their homes including me, I left for 5years”, An eye witness account.
Life upon return was not easy because many still lived with trauma and had to start a new life. To date, the LRA soldiers who are commonly called or known as “Acholi” have left a set of deep and untreated wounds and injuries in the minds and the heart of the community of Dzaipi.
On 8th of March 2005, the LRA of unknown number attacked Dzaipi sub-county headquarter that had on the previous day held its annual commemoration of women’s day. According to survivors, they had started witnessing strange non uniformed and a few uniformed soldiers not at least from Dzaipi barracks but yet continued dancing together till morning. Prior to the attack, the LRA had through one community member delivered a letter announcing the intent to attack Dzaipi. Though the notice reached a small army barracks with had about 30 soldiers under the command of Abiriga, it was not given serious attention. Early alert threats through letter was noticeable strategy of LRA brutal massacre across northern Uganda evidence in Mucwini, and Pajule.
GPS Location Dzaipi LRA Massacre (N03.39705, E031.95579), Elva 710m Dzaipi Center, killing site