Cakaj Ledio - When the walking defeats you one mans journey as Joseph Konys bodyguard

PRAISE FOR WHEN THE WALKING DEFEATS YOU

Gripping and gleaming with insight. Ledio Cakaj leads the reader into the very heart of one of Africas least-understood but most enduring rebel movements.

Matthew Green, author of The Wizard of the Nile

A heartbreaking story, unmasking the everyday complexities of a most gruesome and sorrowful war. Absolutely remarkable!

Sverker Finnstrm, author of Living with Bad Surroundings: War, History, and Everyday Moments in Northern Uganda

A remarkable first-hand account of life in the LRA, providing a compelling and convincing perspective on what it was like to be a combatant.

Tim Allen, co-editor of The Lords Resistance Army: Myth and Reality

A gripping portrayal of a rebel fighters harrowing journey in central Africa. Without pulling punches, Cakaj provides a human face to the notorious but often caricatured Lords Resistance Army. An insightful tour-de-force by an author whose deep knowledge about this group shines through on almost every page.

Ronald R. Atkinson, author of The Roots of Ethnicity and editor of The Raging Storm: A Reporters Inside Account of the Northern Uganda War

Cakaj skilfully takes the reader inside the harrowing world of the LRA. Interspersed with stunning photography, and reflections of persons who survived LRA attacks, a multi-layered story comes to life, further unfolding the complexities of such a devastating war.

Erin Baines, author of Buried in the Heart: Women, Complex Victimhood and the War in Northern Uganda

Brilliantly weaves the dramatic and often horrifying experience of one man into a gripping story of two decades of the LRA war. A product of vast knowledge of the conflict, When The Walking Defeats You is sure to become a classic in the literature on conflict in Africa.

Adam Branch, author of Displacing Human Rights: War and Intervention in Northern Uganda

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ledio Cakaj is a researcher and writer focused on armed groups, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants, both adults and children. He has worked for close to two decades in the Balkans and Central Africa. Cakaj spent eight years studying the Lords Resistance Army, initially during a masters degree at Princeton University, and later working as a consultant for the World Bank, the Enough Project, Small Arms Survey and Resolve, among others.

Cakaj is a native Albanian, born in 1978. He left home at 16 years old, as Albania was plagued by violence and struggling to shed its communist past. He walked along with other unaccompanied minors to Greece where he worked odd jobs to survive. After four years without a legal status in Greece, Cakaj managed to migrate to England where he was able to return to school. Several years later, he completed high school and graduated with a degree in ancient and modern history from St. Johns College, Oxford University, in 2005.

He now he lives in Washington DC with his wife and three young children.

When The
Walking
Defeats You

One Mans Journey as
Joseph Konys Bodyguard

Ledio Cakaj

Foreword by Romo Dallaire

Zed Books
LONDON

When the Walking Defeats You : One Mans Journey as Joseph Konys Bodyguard was first published in 2016 by Zed Books Ltd, The Foundry, 17 Oval Way, London SE11 5RR, UK.

www.zedbooks.net

Copyright Ledio Cakaj 2016

The right of Ledio Cakaj to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988

Typeset in Book Antiqua by seagulls.net

Index: Ledio Cakaj

Cover design: David A. Gee

Cover photo Hossein Fatemi/Panos

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of Zed Books Ltd.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-78360-812-6 pb

ISBN 978-1-78360-813-3 hb

ISBN 978-1-78360-816-4 mobi

ISBN 978-1-78360-815-7 epub

ISBN 978-1-78360-814-0 pdf

For Alexander, Olivia and Sebastian
Ju dua shum!

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Sincere thanks go to George for his time and willingness to talk to me and answer uncomfortable questions. Testimonies from hundreds of people formerly with the LRA, in Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, have been crucial to the writing of this book.

Ron Atkinson, Bernard Harborne, Philip Lancaster, Nicholas Opiyo and Paul Ronan read the manuscript and provided invaluable advice and true friendship. David Burnett read, edited and helped me think through the entire structure of the manuscript. Ken Barlow at Zed Books was enthusiastic and patient throughout the whole time and Joan Dale Lace was immensely helpful in the copy-editing process. Jakob Horstmann was crucial in ensuring a smooth road to publication. Many thanks go to Julie Linchant for the wonderful maps and to Erin Baines and Mareike Schomerus for allowing me to use their photos.

I am also thankful to the following people for having helped in various ways: Angella Atim, Wendy Atkins, Tony Awany, Adonia Ayebare, Gary Bass, Christopher Batu, Graham Burnett, Betty Bigombe, Matthew Brubacher, Jane Bussmann, Sister Giovanna Calabria, Tatiana Carayannis, General Romeo Dallaire, Lisa Dougan, Frederick Ehrenreich, Sverker Finnstrm, Tony Gambino, Jon Gandomi, Hesta Groenewald, Gerald Hagan, Laura Heaton, Steve Hege, Jehanne Henry, Colonel Tingira Irumba, Colonel Mike Kabango, Paul Keating, Erik Kennes, Paul Kerengbanga, Michael Kleinman, Father Mark Kumbonyaki, Guillaume Lacaille, Beatrice Lagedo, Pamella Lamunu, Sam Lawino, Jonah Leff, Jason Lewis-Berry, Sasha Lezhnev, Louisa Lombard, Joseph Lwasa, Charlotte Mararv, Erik Mararv, Philip Maughan, Alexis Mbolinani, Tristan McConnell, Genti Miho, Archbishop John Baptist Odama, Moses Odokonyero, Gabriel Oosthuizen, Mike Otim, Bishop Samuel Peni, Wilson Peni, Michael Poffenberger, Sean Poole, John Prendergast, Peter Quaranto, Ben Rawlence, Andrew Rice, Richard Ruati, John Ryle, Michelle Shephard, Jose Carlos Rodriguez Soto, Father Ernest Sugule, David Sullivan, Kristof Titeca, Koen Vlassenroot and Tanya Zayed. Prparim, Selime, Marsjana, Erion, Mirgena and Ethan Raphael Cakaj have been supportive and loving even from afar. I am forever grateful to David Burnett and Claire Gaudiani for being generous with their time and affection, helping take good care of my children, and for raising an amazing daughter of their own.

This book, as many other good things in my life, would have not been possible without Maria Burnett, the smartest and most loving person I know. She, Alexander Zalo Cakaj, Olivia Alison Cakaj and Sebastian David Cakaj are my absolute everything.

ABBREVIATIONS

ADC aide de camp (personal assistant)

AK/AK47 Avtomat Kalashnikova (semi-automatic or fully automatic assault rifle)

BBC British Broadcasting Corporation

CAR Central African Republic

DRC Democratic Republic of Congo

EDF Equatoria Defense Force

FN FAL Fabrique Nationale (de Herstal) Fusil Automatique Lger (semi-automatic/selective fire assault rifle manufactured in Belgium)

G3 a selective fire automatic weapon produced initially by German manufacturer Heckler & Koch

GOSS Government of South Sudan

HAPPO/HPU High Protection Unit

HSM Holy Spirit Movement

HSMF Holy Spirit Mobile Forces

ICC International Criminal Court

IO intelligence officer