Please continue to pray for God’s protection from the L.R.A. ! This rebel group is still abducting children, killing, and terrorizing people of Northeast Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. Pray that Reaching Africa’s Unreached will be used of the Lord to bring the healing power of Jesus to the people of North Uganda, South Sudan, and Northeast Democratic Republic of Congo! Thank you!

From BBC News- Audio slideshow: Living in fear :

“Their leader is often dismissed as a madman and his fighters as little more than murderous thugs, yet the messianic Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army is Africa’s longest-surviving and most-feared rebel group.

Over the past two years the LRA, which once claimed to base its ideology on the Ten Commandments, has killed 2,500 people and abducted nearly 3,000 more – many of them children.

For Radio 4’s , reporter Mike Thomson travelled to Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate one of the world’s most under-reported crises.

WARNING: This slideshow contains an image of a victim of mutilation.

Interviews by Mike Thomson. Field production by Lewis James. Slide show production by Paul Kerley. Publication date 16 February 2011.”

From BBC News:

Uganda election: Yoweri Museveni faces Kizza Besigye

Queues died down after polling stations finally opened

Ugandans are going to the polls, with President Yoweri Museveni hoping to extend his 25 years in office.

After some initial delays, voting is said to be proceeding smoothly in both the capital and the north, now at peace after years of rebel activity.

Mr Museveni’s former doctor, Kizza Besigye, is standing against him for the third time and has warned of protests if he is “cheated” of victory.

But Mr Museveni said Egyptian-style protests could not happen in Uganda.

Oil has recently been discovered in Uganda and one of the main issues has been how to spend the income which is set to start flowing in the coming years.

The BBC’s Joshua Mmali at a polling station in Kampala says that after polls opened 45 minutes late, the queues quickly died down.

He says many people do not have confidence in the process but they have gone to cast their ballot so they can say they have done their duty.

“I came early to vote and then I have to keep witnessing the process. We fear rigging,” voter Badru Busulwa told the AFP news agency.

After a lavishly funded campaign, Mr Museveni is seen as the favourite.

There have been complaints from some people who say they registered to vote but have been unable to find their names on the roll.

According to Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper, independent presidential candidate Samuel Walter Lubega discovered that his name missing when he went to vote at a polling station in Kampala.

Despite the omission, electoral officials allowed him to cast his vote.

Brutal rebels

Ahead of the election, Ugandan officials sought to reassure voters that there was adequate security for the polls after the mass circulation of text messages warning people to stock up on food and fuel in case of trouble.

Dr Besigye and Mr Museveni were allies in the guerrilla war which brought the latter to power in 1986, but they later fell out.

Six other presidential candidates are in the running and Ugandans will be voting for MPs as well.

Electoral commission head Badru Kiggundu warned all candidates, parties and media not to announce any results that had not been declared by the electoral commission.

“Security is firmly on the ground, so [there will be] no monkeying games,” said Mr Kiggundu.

The polls are set to close at 1700 local time (1400 GMT), with results to be declared within 48 hours.

A candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to be elected president, or a run-off will be held.

This is the first time that northern Uganda is voting without the direct threat of attack from the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, who have now moved to neighbouring countries.

Last week, the authorities said about 20 militia groups had been formed in the run-up to the vote, which prompted worries of unrest.

Declining support

But police chief Kale Kahiyura reiterated Mr Kiggundu’s comments and said there was no need for panic.

Yoweri Museveni (L) and Kizza Besigye (R) were allies in the guerrilla war of the 1980s

Dr Besigye complained that the elections were being rigged but said it would be a waste of time to go to court if there was fraud.

“One of the ways is to, indeed, get the people themselves to protest,” he told the BBC.

But Mr Museveni said he was confident of a big win and warned that anyone using “extra-constitutional means to take power” would be locked up.

“There will be no Egyptian-like revolution here because we are freedom fighters, we are not office people,” he said.

“It’s out of the question, I can guarantee you this – it will not happen.”

After losing the 2001 poll, Dr Besigye fled Uganda, saying he feared for his life.

He returned before the 2006 election, but was not able to campaign properly as he was charged with rape and supporting an armed group.

Dr Besigye said all the allegations were part of a campaign of political persecution.

He was cleared of rape in March 2006 – and last year the Constitutional Court quashed the treason charges.

Mr Museveni has defeated his challengers every five years since 1996, though his support has steadily declined.

In 1996, he received around 75% of the vote, but this fell to 59% in 2006.

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Short bio on the current President of Uganda: Yoweri Museveni

From BBC News:

South Sudan Jonglei attack by Athor rebels ‘killed 200’

George Athor did not attend the January signing ceremony

Some 200 people were killed in a “massacre” in south Sudan last week, officials say.

Most of the dead were civilians, including children and others chased into a river by rebels, a minister said.

Previous estimates said that about 100 people had died when fighters loyal to rebel leader George Athor attacked.

The deaths come as the region prepares for independence from the north after last month’s referendum.

Some 99% of people voted to secede from the north.

A senior official of south Sudan’s ruling party accused the north of backing the rebel attacks.

The north has denied previous similar accusations.

The referendum on independence for the oil-rich south was part of a deal to end decades of north-south conflict.

Mr Athor took up arms last year, alleging fraud in state elections, but agreed to a ceasefire last month just before the historic vote.

Security challenges

The south’s Humanitarian Affairs Minister James Kok, who has just returned from the area, told the AP news agency that 201 people, had been killed in what he termed a “massacre”.

“They were chased into the river. I was the one who put them into a mass grave,” he said.

He said nearly 160 of the dead were civilians, such as children, the elderly and refugees.

Another senior official said 197 people had died.

Jonglei is the south’s most populous state.

The BBC’s Peter Martell in the southern capital, Juba, says the fighting is another sign of the challenges the south faces in bringing its people together and improving security.

The week-long referendum vote itself passed off peacefully, but tension remains high in parts of the oil-rich area which straddles the north and south.

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has promised to accept the outcome of the referendum.

Southern Sudan is to become the world’s newest independent state on 9 July.