afrol News, 18 January - Uganda's self-declared prophetess cum rebel leader, Alice Lakwena, today succumbed to disease in a Kenyan refugee camp, refugee oficials confirmed. Ms Lakwena, 51, died in the early hours of the morning at Ifo Refugee camp in north-eastern Kenya after a long illness.

Ms Lakwena could be remembered for being the founder of two things: war in northern Uganda and the Holy Spirit Movement.

She was able to woo a lot of followers who believed that they would be protected by the woman's magic during battle with government forces. But this later turned to be false, as government forces defeated them.

Many of her followers decided to rally behind Ms Lakwena's cousin, Joseph Kony, to form the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which has been accused of killing, raping and kidnapping thousands of innocent people in northern Uganda. The war also has forced over 1.5 million people to flee to their homes.

She died without accomplishing her mission to dislodge President Yoweri Museveni from power. Ms Lakwena had waged a 12-year-old war with the Ugandan government. She fled to Kenya in 1987, where she had been living in refugee camps until her death.

Being granted refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ms Lakwena's death was reported to Kenyan police, who said she died of natural causes.

She fell sick on 11 January, with her condition deteriorating daily as she refused to be rushed to the hospital, let alone take conventional medicine. She preferred traditional medicine instead. Police said before her death, she complained of having chest pains and common cold.

Her lifeless body was taken from the refugee camp to Garissa Provincial General Hospital mortuary by UNHCR officials. Refugee officials were waiting to hear from the Ugandan government whether they would allow Mr Lakwena's body to be returned for burial. Until then, her body remains in the mortuary.

© afrol News

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