Bafida: The Congolese mother turning captivity into survival

GULU, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | The colony of bats swings over the tree branches, shouting into the air. Beneath them, children drag others into playful games as Bafida Agoyo enters her room carrying two kilograms of meat. A stone’s throw east of Pece War Memorial Stadium are buildings clustered among colonial heritage trees, now a rehabilitative home for former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) captives.

Agoyo, a 28-year-old Congolese mother of four, was transported to Gulu for reintegration on July 1, 2024, after leaving the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence training camp in Migera. Bafida wistfully recalls July 2008, when she became a victim of abduction by the LRA in her hometown of Faradje, northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At the time, soldiers from the Uganda People’s Defense Forces were on a peacekeeping mission in the area. Bafida remembers how the army battled Kony’s splinter groups, who had taken control of the region. A night before her abduction, the fighting had left one rebel dead. “My mother had sent me to sell salt and soap in the nearby market, but one person was dead on the road,” Bafida recalls.

Abandoning the market, Bafida returned home to find only her two-year-old brother and a five-year-old boy remaining; the others had fled for safety amid the gunfire. As the rebels split into smaller groups fleeing the area, they found Bafida hiding in a maize garden and abducted her.

“Put that child down and join the line and don’t look back,” Bafida shares her dreadful morning with Uganda Radio Network. She adds, “I told them the boy was young and I couldn’t leave him. One slapped my shoulder hard… the boy fell. ‘Tell mum they have taken me,’ I shouted to my 5-year-old brother.”

At the time, young Bafida was nurturing dreams of a religious life as a Catholic nun, but captivity shattered her spiritual vocation.

Life in the Hands of Kony

With her dreams dashed, Bafida’s first assignment in captivity was to care for the children of a top rebel commander. Every time Uganda’s troops attacked their camps, Bafida recalls the struggle to flee with the two-year-old boy. “The mother would carry one and I would help her carry the other,” she narrates.

Three years later, at age 14, Bafida was forcibly handed over as a wife to a junior commander. “If you refuse, they will kill you. I became pregnant and gave birth,” she further reflects. While Dominic Ongwen is already serving his sentence, the International Criminal Court has charged Kony with 36 counts of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The charge sheet alleges crimes including enslavement, forced marriages, and sexual slavery against young women. Today, Bafida, like many survivors, has returned from captivity with four children. Though she survived, at least two of the nine girls abducted with her were killed.

South of Garamba National Park, in Dungu’s tropical woodlands, Bafida lost more teammates in a fierce battle with Ugandan soldiers. At least five captives were sent to forage for food but walked into an ambush a few kilometers from the rebel camp. Two were killed, but Bafida survived, carrying a bullet lodged near her left lung.

“I have lived with much pain for 14 years now but the doctor has told me it’s risky for me to be operated on because I may die. They told me to live with it because they can’t remove it,” Bafida says, her tone low.

After 17 years in captivity, Bafida spent her time at Control Battalion, where another child-turned-commander, Acaye Doctor, eventually defected alongside her. Like Bafida, Acaye was abducted at 12 years old in 1998 from Pabbo in Amuru District, along with three of his brothers on their way to school.

A seven-day journey led him to Palutaka, south of Magwi County in present-day South Sudan, where Kony had set up a military camp. Within a week, Acaye saw 30 of his peers killed. “Those who couldn’t walk were killed. When we reached Sudan, all my brothers were killed,” Acaye recounts in a recent interview.

Under the protection of late commanders Vincent Otti, Otti Lagony, and Kony himself, Acaye eventually rose to the rank of junior battalion commander but later defected as a colonel. When Kony ordered the killing of commanders suspected of plotting to defect, including the now-convicted Dominic Ongwen, Acaye knew he was next.

The Ring of Defections

Fearing for his life, Acaye plotted mass defections, holding secret meetings with senior rebel commanders.

“When he (Kony) failed to sign the Juba peace deal and started threatening to kill commanders, 30 of us agreed to leave. We were not sure what would happen after, but we started leaving,” Acaye revealed.

By June 2014, Acaye broke away with 230 people, settling in Zemio town in southeastern Central African Republic. Another 130 fighters defected and settled at M’boki during the same period.

With the mass defections, Acaye revealed that between 2014 and 2024, 50 of Kony’s 78 senior commanders had abandoned him, severely weakening his influence.

Although Kony’s whereabouts remain secret, Acaye noted that 20 defectors have crossed into Sudan to engage in farming.

Seven years after his defection, Acaye’s group fought another fierce battle — this time against Azande militias opposed to the Central African Republic government.

Following their victory, Acaye says the group used traditional chiefs to initiate settlement talks with the government.

Their request was granted, under the condition of disarmament.

“We surrendered half of our guns as a commitment to peace, and they allowed us to remain in their land — but only if we did not kill or harm their people. We accepted,” Acaye further observed.

Once settled, the group was allocated land and engaged in farming before being repatriated to Uganda in July 2023, via Migera in Central Uganda.

Inside the Repatriation

Little was known about the rebel camp in the Central African Republic until the Dutch-based International Peace Organization, Pax, intercepted Acaye’s call via satellite.

Dutch peacebuilder Marianne Moor shares insights into the demobilization, recounting the challenges of reconciling the warring factions — the rebels, Uganda, and the Central African Republic.

Marianne notes that the timing of the peace deal coincided with the Russian mercenary invasion of the Central African Republic and a lack of commitment from international communities and the host government.

She recalls her first encounter with Acaye:”I opened up my satellite phone and showed them Northern Uganda and Gulu City and the people who were speaking Acholi,” Marianne recalls.

From satellite images and video recordings, Acaye eventually opened up for talks and requested that peace negotiators meet him after two months.

Within two months, Marianne and her team held a series of meetings with heads of state from the affected countries, urging them to commit to dialogue.

Four months later, Acaye signed the demobilization document.

“I had stayed in the rebel camp for a week. Some of our members had given up because there wasn’t a sign he would sign,” Marianne noted.

She adds, “I don’t speak Acholi but at night, I could hear them disagreeing about whether to come home or not. I told them if they didn’t sign the document, I would leave — and I would leave because our flight was the next morning… by 5 a.m., they came knocking at my door and we signed,” Marianne observed.

“We had to start the dialogue with Uganda and the Central African Republic. Sometimes you get horrible campaigns against you because you touch the interests of people who want the war to continue. But I want to say it’s very rewarding because, in the end, you see progress,” Marianne noted.

She remains hopeful that defections will isolate Kony:”LRA has reduced a lot and now that the groups in M’boki and Zemio are out, the question is: what number remains with Kony himself?” Marianne asked.

Before turning her focus to the Central African Republic, Marianne had spent five years in the Democratic Republic of Congo, rescuing about 70 captives from Kony.

Having left rural Netherlands 30 years ago, Marianne first pursued journalism but pivoted to peacebuilding after covering conflicts in Latin America and later working in the Great Lakes region.

“If you look at it in one week, you don’t see anything. In one year, yes, you’ll see something. But in 30 years, there’s tremendous progress. I don’t regret my decision. It’s hard work and it comes at a high cost — your private life, my children, my husband, and my family,” Marianne cheerfully reflects.

She adds, “Colombia isn’t what it used to be and I think Uganda will also deal with its past. What’s important is to provide rehabilitation to defectors, give them skills, and resettle them,” Marianne told Uganda Radio Network in an exclusive interview.

The New Home, the New Era

Many returnees are battling identity crises. Some have traced their ancestral lands, while others have yet to reconnect with relatives. With support from the Dutch government, at least 53 households undergoing rehabilitation are set for reintegration.

A total of 134 returnees have graduated with vocational skills from Tera-Renaissance and are expected to leave the rehabilitation center in Gulu by the end of the month. Among them are formerly abducted women from the Central African Republic and the DRC who have already been repatriated.

Bafida, with her four children born in captivity, has traced their paternal home and chosen to resettle in Uganda, though some of her village mates have returned to their home countries.

While still undergoing integration, Bafida has already planted an acre of groundnuts and another of cassava on land given by her children’s paternal family.

With new skills in tailoring and design, Bafida is hopeful about transitioning from captive to survivor.

“This woman (Marianne) has sacrificed her life for us. We still had guns, but she chose to come, whether she would die or not, she didn’t care — and now we are home to start another life,” Bafida shares.

Commissioner Denis Nkwasibwe, Regional Officer of the Amnesty Commission in Acholi, has urged returnees to safeguard their amnesty certificates. “Don’t abuse this certificate because you only get it once,” he warned.

State Minister for Northern Uganda, Dr. Kenneth Omona, has commended the affected countries for facilitating the repatriation of former abductees.

Dr. Omona revealed that Uganda has already repatriated 20 women to the Central African Republic and is committed to strengthening bilateral ties, including building a road network from Obo to the capital.

For returnees like Bafida, the fight for legal recognition is ongoing. However, the government has laid out a roadmap for granting citizenship status.

Plans are underway to secure vital documents, including travel documents and registration with the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA).

“You are members of the East African Community and Africans; Uganda will take care of you. You will choose to live here or resettle to your home countries,” Dr. Omona told the returnees. He added, “You have no apology to demand investments from Uganda.”

Meanwhile, the Paramount Chief of Acholi, David Onen Acana II, urged the returnees to embrace cooperatives, engage in farming, trade, and investment.

“You have come back with children. They are our children. It’s a different environment, and you may encounter challenges, but when you encounter land conflicts, the chiefs are there to help you,” Acana assured.

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