Holy Spirit Movement

Last updated

The Holy Spirit Movement (HSM) was a Ugandan Christian rebel group centered around founder Alice Lakwena (Auma). Alice, an ethnic Acholi, [1] was purportedly directed to form the HSM by Lakwena, one of her spirits, in August 1986. The movement grew to adopt a military wing and waged a major but short-lived rebellion as part of the insurgency (1986–1994). It may have inspired Joseph Kony to begin his Lord's Resistance Army. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Technically, the Holy Spirit Movement was the political wing of Alice's organization and the Holy Spirit Mobile Force (HSMF) was the military wing, but there was no real separation of functions and the titles were used interchangeably. [5]

Growth

Following the collapse of Tito Okello's Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), several soldiers left to create a separatist guerilla movement headed by Odong Latek, the Uganda People's Democratic Army. [5] This army fought for Acholi supremacy over regions historically belonging to the ethnic group. [6] [7]

In 1986, Holy Spirit Movement founder Alice Lakwena (at the age of 27) and her supporters were given weapons by former UNLA officers. [5] She thus began commanding her own troops, which she called the Holy Spirit Battalion, one of four rebel groups seeking to gain control over the Gulu and Kitgum districts of Uganda. [8] The Holy Spirit Battalion and the UPDA held a steady alliance until the Battle of Corner Kilak yielded a more contentious relationship. [5] After an independent UPDA attack on Gulu on 20 April 1987, UPDA soldiers grew fearful of the Holy Spirit Battalion, leading to many defecting and joining Lakwena. [5]

Independently in April 1987, another 'spiritual medium', Joseph Kony, held a Holy Spirit Army of his own, consisting of over 5,000 men, including defectors from the UPDA's Black Battalion. [5] [9] While Kony and his Holy Spirit Army was not affiliated with Lakwena and her Holy Spirit Battalion, the former was joined by Lakwena's father, Severino Lukwoya. [5]

Lakwena launched an offensive in Southern Uganda in August 1987, as her numbers grew stronger and stronger. [5] Lakwena was known to recruit disillusioned professional soldiers from the UDPA, and coerce young men from local villages to join her by killing their family members. [5] After fighting a fairly successful campaign in Uganda, Lakwena and 118 followers crossed the Kenyan border, and were arrested as illegal immigrants, on 26 December 1987. [5] [10]

After Lakwena's arrest and detention in Kenya, several former rebels again took up arms and formed what was known as 'Lakwena Part Two'. [5] 'Lakwena Part Two' was less of a unified rebel movement, and more broadly encompassed different rebel groups that operated under a spiritual medium. [5] These mediums never engaged in physical combat, but were instead more influential in strategizing and creating the belief system of their armies. [5]

Beliefs

Alice Lakwena felt she was connected to the spiritual world, and could become possessed by spirits. [5] [8]

Alice was a spiritual medium and healer in her town of Gulu, which was a common role for women to hold. [10] However, Alice claimed to be a nebi, which is the Swahili word for 'prophet' instead of ajwaka, the Swahili word for a normal medium. [5] Alice followed Catholicism, but it is widely unknown if she converted because her spirits instructed her to, or if she converted before becoming 'possessed'. [5]

Alice claimed to become possessed by spirits in either January or May 1985. [5] According to reports, she grew numb and disappeared into the bush, where she claims she spent 40 days and 40 nights living off of the wilderness. [5] She also claimed to be possessed by several ghosts, including a North Korean, Miriam, and Medina. [10] [5] Her 'chief spirit' was the one that communicated God's word directly to her. [5] [11] The 'chief spirit' was an Italian man who had died by drowning in the Nile at the age of 95; he was called 'Lakwena' which means 'the messenger' in the Acholi language. [5]

Her main reason for violent war efforts was to 'purify the aggrieved Northern Acholi people'. [12] Lakwena was repeatedly cited as telling Alice to cleanse tribes of their sins, and to eradicate "bad people", both within her ranks and outside of them. [11] [5] The men that fought for her were fully convinced they were fighting for God and proper judgement, not against an enemy. [5] As such, she convinced her followers to take up arms against the National Resistance Army (NRA) under Yoweri Museveni and restore Acholi purity and supremacy. [13] This goal slowly began to become more universal as time progressed, with Alice modifying her goals for Acholi purity to aim more for total African and global purity. [13]

Rules for Alice's Holy Spirit Battalion (called Holy Spirit Safety Precautions) were biblical in format and unusual in content. [11] Things such as sexual intercourse, alcohol consumption, tobacco usage, and certain foods were prohibited. [5] [11] It was also prohibited for followers to be angry, to eat food cooked in a saucepan, to have more or less than two testicles, to eat with people not anointed with oils, and to kill snakes. [5] Oftentimes, soldiers would receive odd instructions, like reciting mantra-like phrases on the front lines before proceeding into battle, and sprinkling themselves with water before drinking after a battle. [5] After being recruited as a follower, Alice would cleanse a person of their past sins, by placing her hands on their head. This signified her role as a spiritual elder of sorts. [5]

In terms of weaponry, Alice Lakwena convinced her soldier followers that she gave them special weaponry that was enhanced by spiritual powers. [14] [5] For example, she told soldiers that rocks she gave them would turn into grenades when thrown, [14] and if they drank water that had been blessed, then they would be immune to gunfire, as any bullets that they came into contact with would immediately turn into water. [5] Alice also created charms and potions with snake-bone and beeswax that followers were told would turn into swarms of animals and insects when thrown at enemy troops. [15]

The media (western and local) played a role in reporting about Alice's Holy Spirit Movement. [5] This caused her to create a branch of the movement called the Department of Information and Publicity. [11] This bureaucratic organization worked to create a softer image of the brutal practices of the HSM. [11] Alice and Lakwena also gave an interview in October 1987 to try to clear the air about their motives and goals in fighting. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord's Resistance Army insurgency</span> Ongoing insurgency in central Africa

The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is a conflict involving the Lord's Resistance Army against the government of Uganda. Following the Ugandan Civil War, militant Joseph Kony formed the Lord's Resistance Army and launched an insurgency against the newly installed President Yoweri Museveni. The stated goal was to establish a Christian state based on the Ten Commandments. Currently, there is low-level LRA activity in eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. Kony proclaims himself the 'spokesperson' of God and a spirit medium.

Joseph Rao Kony is a Ugandan militant and warlord who founded the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations Peacekeepers, the European Union, and various other governments including the United Kingdom and United States of America.

The National Resistance Army (NRA) was a guerilla army and the military wing of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) that fought in the Ugandan Bush War against the government of Milton Obote, and later the government of Tito Okello. NRA was supported by Muammar Gaddafi.

The Uganda People's Democratic Army (UPDA) was a rebel group operating in northern Uganda from March 1986 to June 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Auma</span> Ugandan Acholi spirit-medium and revolutionary

Alice Auma was an Acholi spirit-medium who, as the head of the Holy Spirit Movement (HSM), led a millennial rebellion against the Ugandan government forces of President Yoweri Museveni from August 1986 until November 1987. The primary spirit she purportedly channelled was that of a dead army officer called "Lakwena", meaning messenger, which the Acholi believe to be a manifestation of the Christian Holy Spirit. The combined persona of Alice Auma channelling the spirit Lakwena is often referred to as "Alice Lakwena". Auma's HSM was ultimately defeated in November 1987 by Ugandan forces led by Yoweri Museveni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betty Oyella Bigombe</span> Ugandan politician

Betty Oyella Bigombe, also known as Betty Atuku Bigombe, is a Ugandan politician who served as the Senior Director for Fragility, Conflict, and Violence at the World Bank from 2014 to 2017. She was appointed in June 2014. From May 2011 until June 2014, she was the State Minister for Water Resources in the Uganda Cabinet. She was appointed on 27 May 2011. She concurrently served as the elected Member of Parliament (MP), representing Amuru District Women's Constituency. She resigned from the two appointments on 1 June 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord's Resistance Army insurgency (1987–1994)</span>

The period from 1986 to 1994 of the Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is the early history of the ongoing insurgency of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group in Uganda, which has been described as one of the most under-reported humanitarian crises in the world. The Lord's Resistance Army was formed in early 1987 out of the conflict following the successful rebellion of the National Resistance Army (NRA), though remained a relative small group through the counterinsurgency of the NRA. As the peace talks initiated by Minister Betty Bigombe failed Sudanese support to the LRA intensified the conflict.

Justine Odong Latek was a Ugandan brigadier who served in the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) during the Ugandan Bush War and later led the Uganda People's Democratic Army (UPDA) during the 1986–1994 war in Uganda.

The Aboke abductions were the kidnapping of 139 secondary school female students from St. Mary's College Secondary school by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on 10 October 1996, in Aboke, Kole District, Uganda. The deputy head mistress of the college, Sister Rachele Fassera of Italy, pursued the rebels and successfully negotiated the release of 109 of the girls. The Aboke abductions and Fassera's dramatic actions drew international attention, unprecedented at that time, to the insurgency in northern Uganda. A book titled "Aboke Girls" was written by Els De Temmerman about the abductions and effects of the abductions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Oyite-Ojok</span> Ugandan military commander

David Oyite Ojok was a Ugandan military officer who held a leadership position in the coalition of Uganda National Liberation Army and Tanzania People's Defence Force which removed military dictator Idi Amin in 1979 and, until his death in a helicopter crash, served as the national army chief of staff with the rank of major general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ugandan Bush War</span> Guerrilla war in Uganda 1980–1986

The Ugandan Bush War was a civil war fought in Uganda by the official Ugandan government and its armed wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), against a number of rebel groups, most importantly the National Resistance Army (NRA), from 1980 to 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord's Resistance Army</span> Christian terrorist multinational organization

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is a Christian extremist organization operating in Central Africa and East Africa. Its origins were in the Ugandan insurgency (1986–1994) against President Yoweri Museveni, during which Joseph Rao Kony founded the LRA in 1987.

Acholi nationalism is a political ideology that seeks self-determination by the Acholi people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Kampala</span> 1986 battle of the Ugandan Bush War

The Battle of Kampala was a battle of the Ugandan Bush War that took place from 17 to 26 January 1986 in which forces of the National Resistance Army (NRA) attacked and captured the Ugandan capital, Kampala, from the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). As a result, the Ugandan government was deposed and replaced by a new one under NRA leader Yoweri Museveni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acholi people</span> Ethnic group of South Sudan and Northern Uganda

The Acholi people are a Nilotic ethnic group of Luo peoples, found in Magwi County in South Sudan and Northern Uganda, including the districts of Agago, Amuru, Gulu, Kitgum, Nwoya, Lamwo, Pader and Omoro District. The Acholi were estimated to number 2.3 million people and over 45,000 more were living in South Sudan in 2000.

Child soldiers in Uganda are members of the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group that has been abducting young people since 1987 to fill out their ranks. Children and youth are usually abducted from their homes, often with one or more others, and in characteristically violent ways. New abductees are subjected to an intense period of integration and homogenization. Once indoctrinated, recruits are retained by threats of violence, cultivation of an intense in-group identity, and a belief in spiritual monitoring and punishment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War in Uganda (1986–1994)</span> Period of mass insurgency in Uganda between 1986 and 1994

From 1986 to 1994, a variety of rebel groups waged a civil war against the Ugandan government of President Yoweri Museveni. Most of the fighting took place in the country's north and east, although the western and central regions were also affected. The most important insurgent factions were the Uganda People's Democratic Army (UPDA), the Uganda People's Army (UPA), Alice Auma's Holy Spirit Movement (HSM), and Joseph Kony's army. Several smaller rebel factions and splinter groups of the larger movements waged their own campaigns; the rebels often clashed with each other. All belligerents, including the government, targeted civilians and committed human rights violations. In course of fighting that involved tens of thousands of troops, the Ugandan government was able to gradually defeat or contain most rebel factions. The operations in the north and east caused great destruction and resulted in high civilian casualties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon Balmoi Laker</span> Ugandan politician

Sharon Balmoi Laker is a Ugandan politician. She is the district woman representative of Gulu district under the National Resistance Movement political party at the eleventh Parliament of Uganda.

Heike Behrend is a German social anthropologist, specialized in African and Media studies. From 1994 until 2012, she was professor of Ethnology at the Institute of African Studies and Egyptology at the University of Cologne. Her scientific career is based on her fieldwork in African countries, particularly Kenya and Uganda. Her research is focused on ritual practices, religion, and memory, exploring the intersections between local African beliefs and global influences. Further, she has contributed several studies and curated exhibitions on photography in Africa.

Eric Odwar was an Ugandan military officer and rebel leader who successively served in the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), Uganda People's Democratic Army (UPDA), and Holy Spirit Movement (HSM). He played a substantial role in the Ugandan Bush War, being one of the main counter-insurgency commanders of the government during this conflict. In 1985, he and other UNLA commanders overthrew the government of Milton Obote. A few months later, the National Resistance Army (NRA) won the Bush War, whereupon Odwar fled into exile and helped to organize a rebellion against the new Ugandan government. At first, he led a unit of the UPDA insurgent group, but later switched allegiance to the HSM. He was killed in combat in January 1987.

References

  1. ↑ Uganda: A Country Study. The US Library of Congress.
  2. ↑ "The Warlord". Invisible Children. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  3. ↑ DOOM, R.; VLASSENROOT, K. (1 January 1999). "Kony's Message: A New Koine?The Lord's Resistance Army in Northern Uganda". African Affairs. 98 (390): 5–36. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a008002. ISSN   0001-9909.
  4. ↑ Van Acker, F. (1 July 2004). "Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army: the new order no one ordered". African Affairs. 103 (412): 335–357. doi: 10.1093/afraf/adh044 . ISSN   0001-9909.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Allen, Tim (July 1991). "Understanding Alice: Uganda's Holy Spirit Movement in context". Africa. 61 (3): 370–399. doi:10.2307/1160031. ISSN   1750-0184. JSTOR   1160031. S2CID   145668917.
  6. ↑ Day, Christopher R. (1 July 2011). "The Fates of Rebels: Insurgencies in Uganda". Comparative Politics. 43 (4): 439–458. doi:10.5129/001041511796301623.
  7. ↑ "The horror in Northern Uganda". mtholyoke.edu. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  8. 1 2 Behrend, Heike (1999). Spirit Possession, Modernity & Power in Africa. Univ of Wisconsin Press. ISBN   978-0-299-16634-2.
  9. ↑ Apuuli, K P (18 October 2007). "Amnesty and international law: the case of the Lord\'s resistance army insurgents in Northern Uganda". African Journal on Conflict Resolution. 5 (2). doi: 10.4314/ajcr.v5i2.39391 . ISSN   1562-6997.
  10. 1 2 3 "Alice Lakwena and the Holy Spirit movement". The East African. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hutchinson, Sharon (2000). "Review of Alice Lakwena and the Holy Spirits: War in Northern Uganda 1986-1997". The International Journal of African Historical Studies. 33 (2): 399–400. doi:10.2307/220674. ISSN   0361-7882. JSTOR   220674.
  12. ↑ "Uganda's mystic rebel leader dies". 18 January 2007. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  13. 1 2 Allen, Tim (2010). Lord's Resistance Army: Myth and Reality. London, England: Zed Books. ISBN   978-1-84813-903-9.
  14. 1 2 "Alice Lakwena's Holy Spirit Movement". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  15. ↑ "Alice in Uganda's Bloody Wonderland". The Economist. 24 October 1987.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.