{UAH} Got Awere: Kony’s hill of ‘divine’ power - Special Reports - monitor.co.ug
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Got Awere: Kony's hill of 'divine' power - Special Reports
Children play with the 'holy water' that is found on Got Awere. It is said LRA leader Joseph Kony used to treat his fighters' wounds using that water. Photo by Harriet Anena.
In Summary
He is believed to have held several prayer sessions on Got Awere to get divine powers to win the war against government, but even after guns have gone silent in northern Uganda, the hill is still associated with LRA's Joseph Kony.
Gulu - Cottons of cloud dot the blue sky that hang patiently over Awere Village. Down below, green elephant grass, Shea nut trees and all tribes of vegetation sway left, right, back and forth in loyalty to commands of the wind.
And amidst this vast vegetation, scattered homesteads and farmlands, sit Got Awere. This hill is not just any of the many that are found in Gulu District. Got Awere is the hill where Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony regarded as his 'church'. It is actually fondly referred to as Got pa Kony (literally meaning 'Kony's hill').
The discovery of that 'church' according to Emmanuel Olok, dates back to the early days of Museveni's ascent to the presidency. Olok, who went to school with Kony's mother in 1947 and shares a village with the rebel leader's family, still recalls how Kony's fondness with the hill started.
"Kony was just a child, he had no blemish. He was a good child but he started falling sick," narrates the 81-year-old man, on whose land the hill is located.
According to him, Kony's father - Luizi Obol -then started carrying out ritual sacrifice in a bid to heal his son.
The sickness, according to Olok, would make Kony's body shake as though he was possessed by evil spirits.
"Kony's father carried out all sorts of ritual sacrifice, including offering goats to the gods but nothing changed," explains Olok.
Seeking 'divine' help
It is during that time that Kony – whose name in Acholi means 'help', started seeking 'divine' help from Got Awere - a 100 meter tall hill.
"He would climb the hill every so often and pray from there," says Olok. And coming from a Catholic family background, Olok says Kony would recite the Holy Rosary from on top of the hill.
However, even with his new-found 'church', Kony's health situation did not improve, according to the old man.
"The prayer didn't work and Kony started moving aimlessly in the village," says Olok.
Shortly after, the village received news that the son of the soil had disappeared.
"We didn't know what went wrong or where he was," says Olok.
And although the village was concerned that one of their own had disappeared, they didn't attach any fear to the situation – until much later.
When Odek residents later learnt that Kony had fled to the bush and was commanding a rebel group, fear started creeping in.
Joseph Kony.
News of abductions, killings and ambushes were not made any easier by the fact that the LRA leader came from Odek. Residents there, like the rest of people in northern Uganda, also became victims and had to run from a son-turned rebel, to the 'safety' of Internally Displaced People's camps.
"We had to take care of ourselves, because if Kony found you, he would abduct or kill you," recalls Olok.
Records show that Kony went to the bush after the fall of Alice Lakwena's spirit movement against the government. It would then be around 1987 that the rebel leader would go launch his rebellion. He was 26 years old since he was born in 1961.
When Odek residents, just like the rest of the people in northern Uganda were forced into camps as a result of atrocities being committed by the LRA, Got Awere was occupied by government soldiers before they vacated it a short while later.
While in the bush, Olok says, there were rumours that Kony would sneak back to the hill to pray and seek 'divine' powers in a bid to win the war against the government.
And even when the guns in the region fell silent in 2006, and the LRA leader reported to be in Central African Republic, Got Awere can't be viewed as just a hill without an attachment to the man wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.
According to Lucy Acaa, scores of tourists troop the hill every now and then to find out more about its link to the LRA rebel commander.
Acaa, whose home is just a few meters away from Got Awere, says there were more local and foreign visitors last year trooping to the hill for research or to just have a feel of the rock.
On a visit to the hill, located 60km south-east of Gulu Town, two 10-year–old boys led me to rock.
Gardens of cassava, bananas, and groundnuts sit on either side of the thin pathway to the hill. Tall grasses surround the hill while huge trees hug the larger lower part of it – offering much-needed aid when one is climbing.
The wall of the rock is steep and smooth but my 10-year-old guides find no difficulty reaching its top in barely five minutes.
With belief that 'miracles' happen on the mountain, coupled with the knowledge that the wanted rebel leader once trekked this rock - one can't help but have an eerie feeling.
After a sweaty five-minute climb, we were on top of the hill, but as we started walking about – a reptile, which looked like the young of a crocodile, emerged from a small cave in the hill and ran across the flat, floor-like surface – disappearing within minutes.
As we got over the scary sight, we spotted a white hen perched under a short tree on the hill. Considering the steep and height of the hill, we wondered how the hen could have reached the top.
We took a further walk around the hilltop and sighted pools of stagnant water gathered in various parts of rock – raising suspicion about tales that this 'holy water' was what Kony used to use as a prayer weapon and to derive power for war.
However, Olok would later tell us that the water increases in size during rainy season and reduces during dry season.
One a particular spot of the hill makes the sound of a hollow surface when my guides jump on it. It is this spot that Kony's holy water is believed to emanate from but Olok says the source of the water on the hilltop is rain.
The flat hilltop is littered with various writings of names – including the lettering 'UPDF Okello', 'Omara' 'Olum' and 'Karla', among others. When the tour of the hilltop is done, the boys catch the white hen and start the trip down with it. Olok and the rest of the family were surprised at our find just as we were.
But Olok says: "The hen must have been taken there by people chasing away even spirits."
He explains that white hens are often used in ritual sacrifice or 'chasing away evil spirits' like it is commonly known among the Acholi.
But why would someone chase 'evil spirits' using a hen and leave it on the hill? Does it mean some people still believe in its magical powers like the LRA leader did?
What lies ahead
According to Olok, those are pagans who still believe that ritual sacrifice can solve problems. The hill, considered a 'holy place' by some, is according to Olok, just an ordinary hill.
"Even before the war, school-going children would play on it. We would wash clothes on the rock and bathe using water that collects on top of the hill," he explains.
Whether it has magical powers or not, Got Awere surely has a historical significance to Acholi sub-region and Uganda at large. Creating easy access to the hill, would make it easier for visitors to learn about its significance or simply have it as a pointer to the atrocities that war can have on a people.
Whether that appreciation will be made by the Gulu District leaders, will only be confirmed with time.
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The hill's 'sacred' powers
Got Awere has been the centre of various myths and tales due to its purported miraculous powers. It is believed that it is from the hills that LRA leader Joseph Kony used to receive his directives from a god on how to go about with rebellion. Actually, the decision by the LRA commander to go to the bush is believed to have been as a result of a directive from a god – named Were, that is believed to reside on the hill.
'Alter' on the hill
Jeff Axuma, who hails from Awere Village, in Odek Sub-county, says during the peak of the LRA insurgency, there were rumours that whenever Kony crosses into Uganda from Sudan, he would never miss a visit to his 'alter' set up on the hill. He says two weeks ago, a group of elders claimed that if Kony ever visits Got Awere again, the war in the north would break out all over again.
However, elders like Emmanuel Olok insist that the hill does not have any supernatural or 'miraculous' powers as claimed.
Axuma adds that because of the perceived presence of a god on the hill, women in the past used to trek the hill to pray to the god for fertility. Another belief has it that water and herbs found on Got Awere has healing powers. It is said that Kony used to treat his wounded fighters using these herbs and water.
In September 2011, the Bishop of northern Uganda Diocese Johnson Gakumba climbed Got Awere in a bid to clear the mystery and myths that surround the 100 meter high hill.
According to information from the Diocese of northern Uganda website, the bishop also baptized children on the hill, using the purported 'holy water' found on the rock. The conflicting accounts notwithstanding, Got Awere seems destined to continue attracting more curiosity from people within and outside Uganda.
hanena@ug.nationmedia.com
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