Thank you very much listener, my name is Tabu Ojume and that’s the name I used even when I was still in the bush. I would like to send a message to my brothers and sisters and those I consider to be my father and mother who are still in the bush. I am here to give you a live testimony by talking in my own voice and giving you my real names so that you may believe what you hear. I am doing this because most of you do not believe that I am still alive because of the way I disappeared from amongst you.

I was abducted in 1997, I stayed in the bush for fifteen years and now I have come back home. I am here to give you feedback and let you know that I arrived home safely and I came from as far as Darfur in Sudan. I am sure some of you have never reached that far and especially for you the children abducted from Congo, Central African Republic or Sudan, first try to imagine that those who started the war have left and why should you remain fighting for a reason you don’t understand. Imagine that those people who abducted you came all the way from Uganda, a place you don’t even know its direction and if someone asks you why you are fighting, you can never be able to tell. Just do a favor to yourself and come back home because you are staying there for a reason you don’t understand and you will eventually die for a reason you can’t tell.

I am sure some of you may be thinking that this is a recorded voice and my body is now dead but imagine that I left you in the year 2011 and still talking up to now and you can judge whether I am dead or alive.

And to you Joseph Kony, you are now very famous and you will remain famous. I am talking to you because I know you listen to the radio every time. I cannot intimidate you into defecting because you even know that I can’t do that. I know what you have been talking about some of the high ranking officers in your government who defected and were trying to advice you. So for me I cannot force you in anyway because you even told us that you got possessed by spirits against your will, for that reason I also want to advise you against your will that try very hard to pray to God so that he may relieve you of these spirits so that you may once again live like a human being because you are not living like a human being now. You are suffering and this is not in your interest.

I remember very well what has been happening to you because of those spirits which we don’t know whether it is an evil or Holy Spirit but you call it Holy Spirit and you now abide by every little thing it tells you. You have been trying by yourself to get out of these things but it proved difficult for you. Now it is time for you to turn to the one and only true God to get you out of this suffering because it is now obvious that the spirit in you is actually an evil spirit.

So many things are being said but you should know that sin started long time ago that’s why there is forgiveness. If you have also been forgiving so many people for the wrong they have done to you then who are you not to be forgiven for the wrongs that you do. You are not Jesus Christ who was born of the Holy Spirit but you are the son of man so you can be forgiven just like any other human being. You are truly famous and people respect you.

I am sure you are jeering and despising me, but I will continue to give you more pressure to pray because without that the demon in you will never leave you. It will never happen that if you come out of the bush, then you will be killed. But that evil spirit will continue to let you suffer forever if you don’t turn to God. You know very well that with God nothing is impossible and you should also accept people’s advice even if on the other side the devil continues to deceive you, but still you should also listen to people because I know very well that people talk to you on phone internationally and you should know that most of these people are well-off and enjoying their lives while you are suffering. You are continuing to live in fear that you will die any time and yet death is something that one can never run away from it. Whether you are in the bush or living out of the bush you are still bound to die at a time that God has designated for you. So you change your life and do something new. Don’t stick to one thing you have tried for so many years and not achieving anything.

Now to you other commanders, because politics has entered you so much, you tend to inflict even more pain in the young ones who doesn’t know anything. Right now you are hearing my voice and you are contented that I am the one talking but you still turn to the children and tell them that I am dead but my voice is only recorded and you even go ahead to insult me. Fine, go ahead and insult me but you should know that you are just wasting your time to do that while I enjoy good life.

Now I want to ask you one question if you may answer. It is now a common saying in the bush that the people who are fighting LRA very hard are the defectors who joined the UPDF, why do you say so if they are killed? And by the way, it is in your interest if you want to join the government army then you are allowed, but nobody is forced to join the army like some of you say. I come back in the year 2011 and up to now I am staying as a civilian. Why have they not forced me into the army?

Let me tell you that even the government doesn’t do things on its own, but there are a lot of other NGOs and civil society organizations following the government very closely to see that the government does the right thing. So when you are staying there you should be imagining how you were abducted and taken to the bush forcefully and now you are left to fight. Those who abducted you have either defected or killed and they are no longer with you. So if the person who abducted you is not there, then what are you still doing.

You know very well that I myself had lost hope and swore never to return but I changed and did exactly the opposite and came home. You should see that if it is true that this fighting is in the interest of God, then that should be a very different type of God.

I continue to advice you the high ranking commanders to come out because you heard for yourself from Kony that it was not in his own interest that he started the war and even the government now know that Kony did not intend to start the war but something else is driving him. So why don’t you make a decision and come out of the bush and also advise him to leave war and come out because I am sure that at your level, he will listen to you. He will listen to you because you are more close to him than other young officers whose advises are always taken for granted that may be the government is intimidating them to say lies.

Now I want to tell you one more thing. We all know and believe that the spirit in Joseph Kony tells him a lot of secrets and if you want to escape, do not try to plot killing him because he will know and instead you will be killed. We have so many examples of that, including Vincent Otii. So just decide once and move out of the bush without even sharing with your closest friend because you can’t trust anyone. If you tell your friend about your plan to escape, he will be the one to kill you because he might have not made up his mind like you. First come out and tell him the truth of the matter like I am doing now but not to say that let me kill him so that if I defect them I will not be killed. It doesn’t work that way. That is all I have for you the commanders and I want to say that those who have hears should hear because for me it worked and I am living well.

I am now giving you a live testimony and telling you how I defected from Darfur and made it to Uganda. Now I want to tell you the young one still in the bush. I am aware of the level of politics going on there in the bush that’s why I can’t call your names anyhow because I am quite sure that if I call your names, you will be tortured and harassed very badly. So just hear my advice and come out. I was told that my best friend like Okello was killed on allegation that he knew about my defection plan. So I do not want to call names and cause you death. Just hear me, Tabu Ojume and come out. I walked alone from Darfur and I made it back home. It is all about being determined and trusting in God and you will make it. Remember the time when we were moving in a huge group of about five hundred people but imagine that we were almost finished.

If you come back home you will be able to do whatever you want to do. If you feel that you are still capable of going back to school, you will do so, if you want to go for farming, it is still possible. Let me repeat to you that death is actually something you cannot avoid. It is true that if you come back home and misbehave, you may be killed. For instance if you go robbing people of their properties, that is criminal and you may be killed because even before you went to the bush, thieves were being killed. So if you are coming back home do not think of killing or robbing or stealing people’s properties but just say you suffered and now you want to reform and live a good life.

Now if I may mention a few names though it may become an obstacle, I want to mention people like Okuti, I appeal to you people not to do anything to him simply for a reason that I have mentioned his name. I called his name because he is very weak. Such people should come out of the bush and leave war. Look, even if you have one child at home is better than when you have so many children in the bush. Try to change your life because if you have tried something for over fifteen years and it doesn’t work out for you, try something else. This war started from Uganda and now where are you? Do you think with the few ammunitions you have and bayonet can make you overthrow Uganda government? You even hear Kony saying frankly that this war is not to overthrow the government, then why don’t you think for yourself and save your life.

You the young officer should understand that you still have a lot of good things before you and that is the reason for you to defect and leave the old people who are enslaving you for their own benefits. They have benefited enough. But in case you are defecting, make sure that you don’t tell your friend because that friend will kill you. I came out alone not because I did not have friends. I had friends but they too could be my enemies. So be careful.

Now you the children abducted from other countries, you have learnt luo language very well and can understand me. Some of you even taught me your local languages. I advise you to just leave these things. Like you the Zande children who know how to hunt, just leave as if you’re going to hunt and disappear for good. It is better to go and live a good life because you are going to die for nothing. Why do you fight for a reason you don’t understand? Just defect and you will be taken back home to your families because you don’t have a cause to fight. You are seeing defection fliers that tell you what to do and why can’t you understand and save your life. I don’t have much to say but for those who have hears, should hear. Thank you.

My name is Alimo Christine. I am very happy that all the three of us who return are here and we want to greet you our brothers and sisters we stayed together in the bush but as you may be aware there is time for everything and that is why we have left you there. We did not leave you for any bad reasons. I want to thank you Latabu because we stayed with you for a very long time until this time that we have separated. I have reached home safely.

I also want to thank other young officers who played a role to protect my life and these are people like Oling and the rest. I am really grateful for your support. I want to appeal to you Latabu that you should not hesitate to return should you get any opportunity to do so.

I also thank you Min-Uhuru for the good guidance you offered when I was still with you but be sure that I am now back and I reached home safely and am now with my mother.

I would like to thank you Dr. Saidi for the protection you provided to me and now I am still alive and in good health. You prayed for me and it came true that I am home. I never had hope to see my relatives again but now I have a lot of hope because I have seen Amony’s mother with my own eyes and she told me about my people though I have not yet seen them with my own eyes.

I want to thank you the LRA who are listening to me now for having made arrangement to send me back home and God also supported it and now I am here. I do not have the power to force you to come home but if the time comes for you to return, do not waste it my brothers and sisters. It is not true that if you return then you can be killed because for us we returned and reported to the civilian and they never harmed us.

At first we were very nervous because we did not know the language there but the civilian welcomed us and handed us over to the government and later we were forwarded to the UN who facilitated our journey back home. We reached safely with all the children you send us with. Those who were abducted from Congo remained in Congo, those from Sudan also reached safely in Sudan and for us from Uganda are all here without any problem.

We also met people who returned before us and found out that they are engaged in different activities because here people don’t just sit but they do work to earn a living. I want to appeal to you who are still remaining there not to fear coming back home because the same God who guided us back home will guide you.

I want to give a very special thank to the government of Uganda and Congolese government for the continuous support you are extending to us as we return home. I also want to beg for forgiveness from the side of the government because we never intended to join the rebel group but we were abducted forcefully.

I can’t talk a lot but I am really happy because I have seen my parents. I thought I would never find anybody alive at home because I was abducted when I was only 11 years and stayed for another 14 years in the bush but due to the power of God I am here. God has manifested his power upon me.

We have met quite a number of people who returned before us and are doing different businesses that fits their capacities because most of these people were abducted when they were young and they cannot get any other job apart from skilled work.

I want to appeal to the parent of those who have remained in the bush to have good heart and should not feel jealous that their children did not come back. Time will come when they will get the opportunity to return. You should not go to witch doctors to consult because even in the bush, witchcraft is regarded as a very bad practice. There is time for everything. We were not abducted the same day but we were all abducted on different days and dates. So when time comes, they will also come back in the name of God but not in the name of Satan.

I also want to tell my parents to come and see me because I am really happy to be back here in Gulu.

Now there is rumor in the bush that Okot Copil is the one giving pressure to the LRA at battle field but I want to confirm to you that I have physically met Copil here in Gulu. He came and greeted us. Even Opio Makac and his wife, Latigiling and the rest are all here and they came to greet us.

My name is Arop Geofrey Cwego that you know very well. Do not be deceived that may be I am someone else. My brothers, I want to appeal to you to come back home. You know very well how people suffer in the bush. You can’t miss to hear gunshots, every time you are carrying food on your head and you can’t be sure of the next day whether you will be alive or dead.

What made me to escape and return home was the kind of life I witnessed in the bush which was really very bad. You are mistreated or even killed for no serious offence you have committed. For me there was a plan to kill me for an allegation that I slept with a certain woman and this was a lie. I started imagining even other problems I went through like my hand and back was stubbed with a knife and all these made me to defect and come back home.

You know very well that I escaped from Congo and walked up to kiliwa and from there I was taken to Dungu and to Bunia and later we were flown on a plain to Entebbe. We were later taken round the country to see the different developments in the country before we were finally brought to Gulu. While in Gulu we were kept at GUSCO and taught so many things. Now as I talk I am staying with my family in Copil village where we are farming.

So I really want to appeal to you to come back home and live a good life. It is true that I Arop Cwego is the one talking. I am sure people like Ayella still remember me. I am now married with one child and I appeal to you to come home my brothers.

Bush life is not good and you know it that’s why I insist that you should come back home. Ayella, I am sure you may have doubt in me because of the change in my voice but the truth is that when I escaped I was a little young but now I am big. So I want to even emphasize that you should come out and lead a proper and decent life at home. I don’t have much to say. Thank you.

My name is Opio but most of you from the bush know me by the name Aditi from Copil, I want to appeal to you my brothers to come out of the bush because whatever takes place there are not proper. For instance forcing people to kill is something I never wanted to do but I was forced into doing it. It is really not prober to be beaten like I was beaten while I was still there. So I appeal to everybody in the bush to come out.

I still remember people like Owila we lived together with in Gilber battalion. I request you to come home because life at home is very good, there is now total peace. For me when I came back home, I was first taken to GUSCO and later I was handed over to my parents who welcomed me with maximum happiness.

You know very well that in the bush there is no proper medication should you get wounded but at home you have access to health services whenever you are sick and you can be treated.

Human beings are not supposed to be treated like animals where your wounds are tied with banana leaves instead of receiving proper medication. So make up your mind and come out now.

I have stayed with you people like Atingo nyim, Oyoo and Olwere and all other people. My primary interest is that you should come back home and live a good life instead of suffering in the bush. Come and stay with us the rest of people who returned. For us we are enjoying peace and we meet with returnees from other places from time to time. Thank you.

I would like to give you a live testimony of how I defected and how I am now living at home. I defected on 20th of October 2011 and join the UPDF on the 23rd of the same month. You know very well what you wanted to do to me. I was one person who never wanted to come back home but now I am at home. I now want to confirm to you that life in the bush is not useful because everything you are doing there will never benefit you directly but I work for what belongs to me and for my own benefit. So don’t let anybody continue to enslave you to work for him.

I want to appeal to you my friends who are still there and I am going to mention your names and ask you to come back home. I am Okot Coo-pil also called Musa Abwona Abayo Lamgaba; very well known by Flatar and Abokoro. Even UPDF and civilian knows me; “Masu moja” literally meaning one eyed man. Now listen to me my friend Ojera, you know that you have a problem with your leg. Your brother Okech came and visited me when I returned.

Secondly, I want to ask you Okema Aloto to come back home because it is of no use to stay in the bush. Look, your wife has been taken away and what exactly are you still struggling for in the bush?

Thirdly, Ojara Adeng, your children are here at home and why can’t you come to take care of them. And you Oyoo ngwec mac, I am here with your parents. They cry every time they see me. What is the benefit of staying in the bush? Wokorac Ocuc, you are the son of my brother. Be sure that I cannot tell you lie. Just come back home. It is easy to come back home and nobody will kill you. If you fear that you may be killed, then ask yourself why have they not killed me? Lamola, Winnie your wife is here and still waiting for you because she can only live with you. Okulu Nanata, you should also come back home because there is no reason for you to continue staying there in the bush because your mother disturbs me a lot asking for you every time. And you Onen Unita, you Have so many children here and why do you still want to die in the bush and leave them? You should be able to see the difference in the way I lead my life now compared to yours. Ayella, if you think I am deceiving you then you are actually deceiving yourself because what I am doing all belongs to me and I have been given a lot of assistance and I am staying in our home and when I die I will be buried where my family members know.

Do not make people to start looking and chasing after you because for instance if I am to come back where you are living in Central African Republic, you won’t be able to live there at all. Even in Congo, if I am to come there, you will not be able to live. In fact everywhere, even in Omdafak I know all these places. You know very well what happen to you when I defected. And you Agweng, your children are now orphans and are you happy about this? Even mama Abum’s children are now orphaned and they are all here. The same applies to so many other women.

Look at people like ocan Labongo and so many other people who died in the Bush without any gain. Odomi, your sisters are here waiting for you. If you do not want to come out then that is up to you. I am sure you are worried of the ICC indictment, but you should also know that ICC will not kill you. You may be arrested and imprisoned and if your time to die comes then you will die a natural death. So I appeal to you the commanders to stop mistreating children.

How will people like wokorach who is a deaf live in the bush? And to you other children who are still there in the bush, why don’t you want to hear what people tell you? Even the government wants you to come back home and do something profitable. Even if you are a lazy person, there are so many easy works you can learn like skilled work, iron smith, woodwork, tailoring and many others. In fact you can do a lot of things that can bring you money which you can use to build your house, do business and do so many other things.

You know very well that I did not have any property but now I have a bicycle, goats and chicken and I have married my wife and staying with her very well. Do not be contented with the women you are abducting forcefully in the bush and you think they are free women. It is the money and knowledge you have that can bring good things to you. So I do not want to talk a lot but you should trust me and know that I cannot deceive you because I will not gain anything from it.

For me as Okot Copil, I am in our home village; Copil. Whether you are hiding in Congo or elsewhere trying to harvest Ladidi, you try but you should know that you don’t cultivate Ladidi and it will get finished one day and you won’t have it again. You are competing for food with animals and why can’t you let them eat what is meant for them?

How many enemies are you confronting? You are fighting animals, you are fighting Abokoro, government army, Janjawir and so many others. So many things want you. You just come back home by all means because the Congolese civilian have been sensitized and they will not kill you, even those in Central African Republic and Sudan will not kill you despite the fact that you killed or abducted their people and took them to the bush.

You the Zande children, what are you doing? Leave war and go back home. Kony, I am very sure that you are insulting me and your wives are laughing at me when they hear me talk like this but I don’t care about that because my life is now safe.

Kony let me tell you that whatever I am doing here is to my own benefits as opposed to what you are doing. You are moving from one place to another and one day you will fall in a trap. You know very well that I have been doing exactly what you would send me for. Do you thing I will fail to do it to you in case I am sent to follow you up? Wherever you are, be it Central African Republic, Chad, south or northern Sudan be very careful because you are being tracked down until one day you’re killed and your body will be brought back home. How was Binany got? How about Ocan Labongo? And how were other people like Abugoch found? So you continue to eat those wild fruits if you think it will help you but be sure of what I am telling you because I am sure that the government is determine to track you down this year until you are brought down whether you want or not.

So not to say a lot, I want you to know that for me I am back in Copil my village, and the assistance offered to me by the government have made my home very strong and I don’t just struggle for things like I used to do when I was with you. I am staying together with my wife without any worry that someone may capture or kill her because we are peacefully staying at home. Even when I go to do work, I leave her peacefully at home but you will never miss to carry saucepans on your head every time and babies at your back.

I want to confirm to you that I am doing so well and eating what I work for. So those who will hear my message and want to insult me, let them do so and I will find you, those who will come back will find me and those who first want to meditate about it, let them decide what to do because all of you know me. You young and high ranking officers who are really suffering, I want to tell you that Acelam Ceasar is enjoying his life at home with his wife, children and the rest of his family members including his mother. So I want to appeal to you to come back home so that together we may develop Uganda. Northern Uganda is now developing very fast not like it used to be those days when you left. The roads are well developed, trading centers have been built and so many other good things are going on. So come home and develop home and feel free to do whatever you want to do.

I want to thank God very much for having given me this opportunity to talk to my brothers who are still there in the bush.

I am living happily at home despite the fact that I am now disabled. I want to appeal to you my brother Odoki of Labala my village.

I met your sister Olimi, your father Alia and your child is at school and I met him when he came to visit your father.

Odoki, you remember we used to have our nickname; Ofono golic Ofono ket or Baliba Matata.

Samuel I want to request you to send your wife Ketty home if you have not yet made up your mind to come back home. For me as Ociti, I appeal to you to come home.

Okello RA, I was informed that you have changed your name and now you are called Abalo-tok. That is okay but I went to your home and met your parents and all their interest is that you should come back home. We are all children of Labala in Pabbo sub-county.

My message to you Kangul and my mother Aling is that, I went to Atiak and everybody there wants to see you home so that our people may be happy again.

My brothers and sisters, you know me very well that I was the RCM third battalion and later on RCM brigade trinkle but later on I got wounded and came back home. My only message to you is that you leave the war and come back home. You should have hope because we shall always keep in touch and I will share my telephone number with you later. If God allows, I will reach Congo and Central African Republic and share more with you. I only pray for you so that you may come back home because I met so many people who return like Okwera and the rest and we stay together with them in Okalocwan. So come back home. Thank you.

I am very thankful to those who protected my life and made it possible for me to come back home alive. My name is Ajok Beatrice. When I reached Gulu, I found my mother waiting for ma at mega fm radio station from morning to sunset because the information had reached her before and she was eagerly waiting for me. She welcomed me with a lot of jubilation and I am also grateful that she is still very healthy. I also want to thank the mother of Amony who is here with us. She is very healthy and she found her daughter in a good health condition. We also found Amony’s daughter in good health together with her father. His leg has been worked on very well and now he is able to work on his two legs. Amony also found her co-wife in good health condition and has gone back to her husband. Now my appeal to you who is still in the bush is that when you are given the opportunity to come back home, do not hesitate to come because nobody will kill you when you reach home. You will walk and reach safely. I also want to thank the government to Uganda, Congo and the united nation for supporting the return of the defectors and handing them safely home. I also reached home safely with my child. And we are all healthy. I also want to thank you the LRA for protecting my life right from the time you abducted me from my parents when I was a young girl but you kept me alive to date when I have grown big.