KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) – Indicted for killing thousands and kidnapping children to become soldiers and sex slaves, Joseph Kony has been Africa’s most notorious warlord for three decades. Now that the United States and others are ending the international manhunt for him and his Lord’s Resistance Army, it appears Kony may never be brought to justice.
His elusiveness in the often lawless bush of central Africa is legendary. In one incident Ugandan military forces in hot pursuit raided Kony’s hideout deep in a Congo wildlife park in 2008 and seized little but a wig and guitar he left behind.
Despite the millions of dollars spent to catch him, Kony has outlasted his hunters. That’s a blow to victims who hoped he would stand trial at the International Criminal Court where he has been charged for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“The yearning for justice is there,” said Judith Akello, a lawmaker who represents a community in northern Uganda once hit by Kony’s rebel insurgency. “Justice is what the people demand.”
Kony became internationally notorious in 2012 when the U.S.-based advocacy group Invisible Children made a viral video highlighting the LRA’s alleged crimes. The group is accused of killing over 100,000 people, according to the U.N.