The roots of Kony

The roots of Kony

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A woman performs a ritual in the Holy Spirit Movement church founded by Alice Lakwena, a cousin of Joseph Kony.

Kony is the leader of the rebel group Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which has been accused of crimes that include abducting children to serve as fighters and sex slaves.

. ODEK VILLAGE, Uganda. Reuters/James Akena
A church bell hangs from a tree brunch outside a catholic church and a school in Odek, Kony’s birth village.

Kony lead the LRA to rise up against the government in northern Uganda in the late 1980s.

Having earned a reputation for carrying out massacres and mutilating victims, the extremist group left Uganda about a decade ago and has roamed across parts of Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Central African Republic since then.

. ODEK VILLAGE, Uganda. Reuters/James Akena

Children play on top of Got Awere in Kony’s birth village Odek. Kony, a former choirboy who claimed to be guided by spirits only he could hear, regarded the hill as his "church.”

In 2005, the warlord was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. He remains at large.

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Slideshow

Children clean the interior of a granary in preparation for grain storage.
. ODEK VILLAGE, Uganda. Reuters/James Akena

Children clean the interior of a granary in preparation for grain storage.

A girl attempts to climb out of a granary after cleaning it.
. ODEK VILLAGE, Uganda. Reuters/James Akena

A girl attempts to climb out of a granary after cleaning it.

A girl walks home after shopping.
. ODEK VILLAGE, Uganda. Reuters/James Akena

A girl walks home after shopping.

People walk on a dusty road in the main commercial area of Odek village.
. ODEK VILLAGE, Uganda. Reuters/James Akena

People walk on a dusty road in the main commercial area of Odek village.

Severino Okoya (left), 87, preaches a sermon to his followers during Sunday service at the Holy Spirit Movement church. Severino is the father of the founder of the HSM and the uncle of Kony.
. GULU TOWN, Uganda. Reuters/James Akena

Severino Okoya (left), 87, preaches a sermon to his followers during Sunday service at the Holy Spirit Movement church. Severino is the father of the founder of the HSM and the uncle of Kony.

A woman sits on the floor inside her house.
. ODEK VILLAGE, Uganda. Reuters/James Akena

A woman sits on the floor inside her house.

A child sits among the followers of the Holy Spirit Movement during Sunday prayers.
. GULU TOWN, Uganda. Reuters/James Akena

A child sits among the followers of the Holy Spirit Movement during Sunday prayers.