Repelling rebel incursions with radio in the CAR

In the South East locality of the Central Africa Republic near the Ugandan border, people are using radio to fight the incursions of the LRA, the Lord’s Resistance Army.

On live radio, they alert civilians and rebels of attacks.

“The transmission is a weapon. If you do not have a means of communication, you are isolated. What will you do?” Petro Koni Zeze, Head of Central African Forces (FACA) at Obo said.

Many elements have deserted the group and in turn, they have invited their former comrades to leave the rebellion through this communication tool.

“Given what we did, and saw what they told me to do, it really made me very ashamed. And I could not stay there. That’s why I decided to flee and come here, I also advised the others that are out there like me,” Aniragbe, LRA defector said.

A challenge so far, the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda has gained grounds for well over two decades.

The UN says it has killed more than 100,000 people and abducted more than 60,000 children in Uganda and neighboring countries.