By KAMPALA,UGANDA; The government has repatriated two women formerly held in captivity by Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony, along with several children, from the Central African Republic (CAR) in a coordinated operation conducted by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).
According to a May 22, 2026 statement signed by the UPDF Acting Director of Defence Public Information, Colonel Chris Magezi, the group was flown from Bangui and received on Thursday at the UPDF Airbase in Entebbe.
The returnees include Ugandan national Grace Ikol, 33, and her two children, Maria Ayuma, 8, and Bosco Oryema, 2, as well as South Sudanese national Teregina Aniyessi, 33, who was also found with one of Joseph Kony’s orphaned children aged two.
The women and children were escorted from the Central African Republic to Uganda by the Chief of Defence Intelligence and Security, Major General Richard Otto.
“Two young women and wives to Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony were yesterday received at the UPDF Airbase in Entebbe after being flown in from Bangui, the Central African Republic (CAR),” the statement said.
Grace Ikol was abducted in 2003 at the age of 10 from Amuria District, while Teregina Aniyessi was abducted in 2006 at the age of 13 from Yambio in Western Equatoria State, South Sudan.
The UPDF said arrangements are underway to facilitate Teregina’s return to her home country, while others are expected to be reintegrated or reunited with their families depending on nationality and circumstances.
“In all, eight wives of Kony and 13 children [have] escaped from captivity in January this year after their camp was attacked by an armed group south of Darfur near the border of CAR, Sudan, and South Sudan,” the statement added.
The army further noted that the remaining returnees from that group include citizens of CAR and the Democratic Republic of Congo, who have already been reunited with their families in their respective countries.
The UPDF also disclosed that more than 150 LRA returnees, including women and children associated with Kony, have been repatriated from CAR to Uganda in 2023 and 2024 following escapes from captivity.
