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Former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group commander Thomas Kwoyelo on Monday told the judges of the International Crimes Division of the High Court (ICD) that he was not ready to undertake ‘mato-oput’, a traditional reconciliation ritual in Uganda’s Acholi culture.

The ritual, under the Acholi justice system, involves a set of undertakings including admission of guilt by an offender, asking for forgiveness, and reconciling.

On October 14, Kwoyelo appeared before the ICD sitting at Gulu High Court circuit in Gulu City before a panel of judges including Michael Elubu, Duncan Gaswaga, Stephen Mubiru and Andrew Bashaija.

When Justice Bashaija asked his opinion on whether he could undertake the ritual, Kwoyelo declined saying that his “acts as a rebel commander were not intentional since he acted on orders of his superiors.

“The process of mato-oput is not important to me because I did not do all these things intentionally,” Kwoyelo said.

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