Anger in Gulu over child abduction

Community members in Gulu expressed anger and frustration at the effects on children of forced conscription, abductions and killings during a seminar in Paicho organised by the Gulu Support Children Organisation (GUSCO), the independent ‘Monitor’ newspaper reported on Monday. Gulu local leaders noted that child soldiers who were forcefully recruited, whether by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) or as homeguards, often lost their families’ love, while parents lamented that many of those abducted were maimed and badly educated. A UN report put the number of abducted children in Gulu district as of the end of September at 2,717. The ‘Monitor’ reported that Paicho was the worst affected sub-county in the district, with at least 600 children abducted. GUSCO planned to hold 36 seminars in the district to highlight the effects of war on children, the report added. Deputy Speaker Edward Ssekandi told parliament on Monday that Sudan had last week pledged to support Uganda in ensuring that children abducted by Joseph Kony’s LRA were released.