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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KAMPALA 000347 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT PASS TO USAID AND OFDA 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PREF MOPS MARR UG SU CG CT
SUBJECT: UGANDA/DRC: KONY'S DOCTOR ESCAPES, DISCUSSES OLT 
 
KAMPALA 00000347  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  The following is the account of Kotto Kpenze, a 
Central African Republic (CAR) abductee, who served as Lord's 
Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony's "doctor" for the past 
year.  Kpenze escaped from the LRA on March 30 near Sakure, a 
village on the border between Sudan and the Democratic Republic of 
Congo (DRC).  In the interview, Kpenze describes Kony's 
eccentricities and the appalling atrocities against civilians 
committed by the LRA over the past year.  He also describes life in 
the bush as difficult after the launch of Operation Lightning 
Thunder (OLT) in mid-December 2008.  He recounts being "constantly 
on the move" because Ugandan Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) soldiers 
"were hot on our heels."  He describes the decision to withdraw 
Ugandan forces as "bad news for the population" because the 
Congolese army "is not doing much to fight the rebels" and the LRA 
is not afraid of them.   Kpenze also confirms the lack of contact 
between Kony and his deputy, Okot Odhiambo.  Finally, Kpwenze says 
that Kony has survived through his instincts and the use of 
diversionary tactics, such as sending small groups out in different 
directions to divert the attention of his pursuers.  End Summary. 
 
- - - - - - 
BACKGROUND 
- - - - - - 
 
¶2.  The following is the New Vision interview of Katto Kpenze that 
ran on April 6.  Begin text: 
 
Up to a year ago, Katto Kpenze was an ordinary medical assistant at 
Obu Hospital in the Central African Republic.  His life changed 
dramatically on the night of March 6, 2008, when LRA rebels broke 
into his house and abducted him.  He became the personal doctor of 
LRA leader Joseph Kony.  The 45-year old man narrates his one-year 
ordeal in the LRA camp to Els de Temmerman. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
HIS OWN AND OTHER ABDUCTIONS 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3.  Q:  What happened when you were abducted? 
 
A:  It was around 2:00 a.m.  I was sleeping in my house in the town 
of Obu.  Suddenly, somebody kicked open the door and armed men 
entered.  They were a big group, both children and adults.  I was 
still in my hospital uniform.  When they noticed I was a medical 
person, they told me they had a sick person with them and needed my 
help to treat him.  I later discovered it was a lie.  I was taken 
into the Congolese jungle and we walked for one month and two weeks. 
 
 
¶4.  Q:  What did you witness on the way? 
 
A:  There was no food.  The rebels would attack Congolese homesteads 
and loot food-mainly maize, cassava, groundnuts, chicken and goats. 
They also stole medicine from health centers.  In every village we 
passed, they would abduct children and kill adults.  They would tie 
their hands behind their backs and beat them on the head with wooden 
logs. 
 
¶5.  Q:  How many people did you witness being killed? 
 
A:  They were many.  It is hard to tell.  I would say hundreds. 
Killing was like a routine thing for them. 
 
¶6.  Q:  How many children were abducted during that journey? 
 
A:  About 400, mostly Congolese. 
 
¶7.  Q:  Where did the journey end? 
 
A:  After six weeks, we reached Kony's base in Garamba.  There were 
three camps at the time.  One was called Kiswahili, the second 
Eskimoma and the third Cova.  I was introduced to Kony and he told 
me I would be his personal doctor.  For 12 months, I was all the 
time with him. 
 
¶8.  Q:  Is he healthy? 
 
A:  He is generally in good health.  He had malaria a few times. 
But he regularly suffers attacks as a result of tension.  That 
bothers him the most.  Whenever he received shocking news, he would 
collapse on the floor and I had to treat him with modern and 
traditional medicine. 
 
KAMPALA 00000347  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
OPERATION LIGHTNING THUNDER 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶9.  Q:  Where were you when Operation Lightning Thunder started? 
 
A:  I was in Kiswahili when the camp was bombed.  In fact, Kony had 
warned us of an imminent attack.  The previous day, he called his 
commanders and told them there would be an offensive and they should 
be prepared.  The planes came at around 9:00 a.m. the next morning. 
They were four.  When we heard the sound of the planes, everybody 
took off.  Kony ran into the thick forest.  I ran along with him. 
We ran almost non-stop for three days. 
 
¶10.  Q:  How many were you? 
 
A:  At first we were around 300.  After about one month, we reached 
a position where another group joined us and numbers went up to 
¶800. 
 
¶11.  Q:  Were many in your group killed during the joint offensive? 
 
A:  Not many died as a result of the aerial bombardments.  Most were 
killed in the ground offensive.  In our group, about 18 were killed 
and 30 wounded.  Others escaped or were rescued. 
 
¶12.  Q:  What was the impact of the operation? 
 
A:  We were constantly on the move.  UPDF soldiers were hot on our 
heels.  They were close to us all the time.  Whenever we moved, we 
would run into them.  As a result, we could not settle down or rest. 
 We would eat at midnight and rest for two to three hours before 
starting to move again. 
 
¶13.  Q:  What in your opinion is Kony fighting for? 
 
A:  In one of the meetings with his commanders, he said he wanted to 
return to Uganda and overthrow the Government, but at the moment, 
the roads were blocked by soldiers.  That's why we were still in 
Congo.  He repeated time and again that he would never cease until 
he is the President of Uganda. 
 
¶14.  Q:  Did all the orders come from him? 
 
A:  Kony gives the orders, but it is Dominic Ongwen who executes 
them.  He is one of the cruelest commanders.  Kony would say: 
"whoever doesn't walk fast must be eliminated."  He even ordered the 
killing of babies born in captivity because they were sick and 
crying at night.  The baby would be hit once with a wooden log and 
thrown away. 
 
¶15.  Q:  Is it true that Okot Odhiambo wanted to surrender with his 
fighters? 
 
A:  Odhiambo was no longer with us.  In December 2008, after the 
joint military offensive had started, Kony called his commanders for 
a meeting.  There were a lot of aerial bombardments and attacks by 
ground troops.  But Odhiambo, who was leading a smaller group, 
presumed to be behind us, did not show up for the meeting.  Up to 
the day I escaped, Kony had not been able to establish contact with 
Odhiambo and he did not know his location. 
 
¶16.  Q:  How many other LRA groups are there? 
 
A:  Besides Odhiambo's group, there are two smaller groups believed 
to be further down, near Faradje.  One is led by Oket and the other 
by Arop.  They, too, failed to make it for the December 2008 
meeting. 
 
¶17.  Q:  Can you tell us chronologically what happened after the 
offensive started? 
 
A:  From our bases in Garamba, we first took the Nabanga route, 
moving northwards.  Then we branched to Duru where we settled in a 
small village after the rebels killed its inhabitants.  We occupied 
that village briefly.  From Duru, we marched westwards, in the 
direction of the CAR.  There we established a new base in the 
Congolese jungle, called Nigeria.  We would move away for a couple 
of nights, but always returned to Nigeria.  We stayed in thick 
forest and avoided homesteads since UPDF soldiers were passing 
through villages day and night. 
 
KAMPALA 00000347  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶18.  Q:  You have a scar on your forehead.  Did you get wounded? 
 
A:  During one attack, when we were running, a bullet hit me on the 
head.  It was on February 22 and we were hit near Bitima.  Thanks to 
God the bullet didn't penetrate. 
 
- - - - - - - 
LRA RE-SUPPLY 
- - - - - - - 
 
¶19.  Q:  Is Kony still receiving supplies? 
 
A:  We had a lot of food in Garamba before the attack.  We had 
cultivated maize, groundnuts and cassava.  And we had bags of food 
donated by Caritas.  We received our last supplies of food and 
medicines from Caritas in December 2008.  The items were handed over 
to us in Nabanga.  I personally received the medicines. 
 
¶20.  Q:  What about arms and ammunition?  There are reports that the 
Khartoum Government is still arming LRA. 
 
A:  I can't say that I saw any airdrops by the Khartoum government 
or anybody else.  I only know that Kony on December 25, 2008 ordered 
his troops to collect arms and ammunition from Faradje.  The rebels 
had attacked and looted an arms depot of the Congolese army.  They 
stole a lot of guns - all Kalashnikovs - and three boxes of 
ammunition. 
 
¶21. Q:  How did you escape? 
 
A:  We were staying at Sakure.  One of the commanders had been hit 
by a bullet in the leg.  He was crying at night.  Kony feared it 
would alarm the enemy.  He told me to hide him in the bush some 
distance away.  I had to treat him from there.  That is when I ran 
away. 
 
- - - - - - - 
OLT PHASE II 
- - - - - - - 
 
¶22.  Q:  What do you think of Kabila's decision to order the UPDF 
out of Congo? 
 
A:  The withdrawal of the UPDF is bad news for the population.  The 
Congolese army is not doing much to fight the rebels.  The LRA are 
not afraid of them.  They fear the UPDF and the Sudan Peoples 
Liberation Army (SPLA) because they keep pursuing them and never 
retreat. 
 
¶23.  Q:  How do you explain the fact that Kony has survived in the 
bush this long? 
 
A:  He knows the forest through and through.  He is highly mobile. 
And he senses danger from far.  He also uses diversionary tactics. 
He would send small groups of rebels in different directions to 
divert the attention of his pursuers.  These units would then be 
attacked, while Kony would be in the middle and safe.  He has a 
unique survival instinct, like that of a hunted animal.  End Text. 
 
- - - - 
COMMENT 
- - - - 
 
¶24.  Kony's "doctor's" account of OLT tracks closely with that of 
the UPDF and other Kampala-based sources.  We note that his 
description of life on the run from the UPDF sounds similar to 
Angolan operations against Jonas Savimbi, which ultimately 
succeeded.  UN Special Envoy for LRA-Affected Areas Joachim Chissano 
has relayed to us and President Museveni that this type of military 
pressure is required to force Kony to sign the peace agreement or to 
eliminate the LRA as a threat to the region. 
BROWNING