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US imposes sanctions on Kony’s sons

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Peter Etiang
Peter Etiang
Telling offline stories online and online stories offline.

 

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has yet been dealt another blow after the US announced it had imposed economic sanctions on rebel leader Joseph Kony’s two sons, accusing them of trafficking ivory.

Salim Kony and Ali Kony, both top LRA commanders, are said to have played ‘critical roles’ in trafficking of ivory from Garamba National Park in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) through the Central African Republic (CAR) to Sudan’s disputed region of Kafia Kingi for sale or trade with local merchants, the US treasury said in a statement.

The Treasury statement indicates that Salim coordinates the transport of ivory, while Ali is responsible for negotiating ivory prices and either selling the ivory for US dollars or Sudanese pounds, or for trading the ivory for weapons, ammunition, and food with merchants in Kafia Kingi.

The statement further states that any assets that the two men have in the US will be frozen and that US citizens are ‘generally’ prohibited from doing business with them.

‘Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Salim Kony and Ali Kony, sons of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13667 for acting for or on behalf of the LRA and/or Joseph Kony.  On March 8, 2016, OFAC designated the LRA and Joseph Kony pursuant to E.O. 13667 for engaging in the targeting of civilians in the Central African Republic (CAR) through the commission of acts of violence, abduction, and forced displacement.  Today’s action freezes any of Salim or Ali Kony’s assets within US jurisdiction and generally prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with them,’ the statement, signed on August 23 by OFAC Acting Director John E Smith states in part.

The statement adds: ‘OFAC remains committed to taking aggressive actions that will further diminish the capabilities of the LRA and its affiliates; today’s action, which targets the finances of the LRA and its leaders while also combatting their participation in the global illicit ivory trade, is the latest in a collaborative international effort to address the widespread violence in the Central African Republic’.

The Executive Order imposing the sanctions against the Kony sons was signed by President Barack Obama on May 12.

In 2014, Salim Saleh Kony, then aged about 22 was named deputy by his father, Brig Sam Kavuma, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) top commander pursuing the rebels, said then. The young Kony was named Salim Saleh reportedly after President Yoweri Museveni’s young brother; a man who played a key role in ensuring the then guerilla out, the National Resistance Army (NRA) captured state power in Uganda in 1986. It is resistance against the NRA offensive in the North that gave rise to the LRA, an outfit that was preceded in rebellion by the Holy Spirit Movement (HSM) of Alice Lakwena, now deceased.

The LRA was formed in Uganda, but was driven out by government forces and its fighters now roam the vast jungles in the region.

 

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