Mr. Abou Moussa and Mr. Francisco Madeira interrogate former LRA commander

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), Mr. Abou Moussa, and the Special Envoy of the African Union (AU) for the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Mr. Francisco Madeira, met on 27 July in Kampala (Uganda), Caesar Acellam Otto, former commander of the LRA arrested on 12 May in the Central African Republic and handed over to Ugandan authorities for investigation purpose.

For over two hours, they questioned Caesar Acellam Otto about the motivations of the unacceptable and brutal attacks carried out by the LRA, the process of operation of their elements, the living conditions in the areas where they operate, the financial sources of the armed group, the location of Joseph Kony, etc. He also gave the reasons why he believes Joseph Kony refused to sign the Final Peace Agreement negotiated between the Ugandan government and the LRA, and reached through the Juba peace process in 2008.

Caesar Acellam Otto, who says he is 49 years old, and who spent 24 years in the bush with the LRA, has also raised concerns about his future. He said that he would like to contribute to the fight against the LRA. "There is nobody who knows Kony better than I. The other is his brother who is also part of the LRA leadership." He contended that the defection programmes are an important aspect in the efforts to isolate Joseph Kony and the top leadership of the LRA who are on warrants of arrest issued in 2005 by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of UNOCA, and the AU Special Envoy for the LRA met Caesar Acellam Otto on the sidelines of a meeting of experts on the implementation of the UN strategy to address the threat posed by the LRA, which took place in Entebbe (Uganda) from 25 to 27July. Apart from UN and AU experts, representatives of development partners and NGOs also participated actively in the meeting in Entebbe.