Role of cultist religion in the Ugandan civil wars

In Africa, as elsewhere, religion has played a role in triggering and sustaining conflict. There are many instances where cultist religion has been employed to promote an ethnic or political agenda. In the majority of such civil wars, political emancipation and spiritual redemption have operated hand in hand, with religious symbols and ritual practices manipulated, often mingled with extraordinary myths and creative practices, to recruit spiritually induced foot soldiers ready to wage a cosmic war for political ends. Despite this, cultist religion is often peripheral in analysing conflict as well as peacemaking. Drawing its methodological perspectives from constructivism and instrumentalism, this article contextually examines how religion and cults have affected the Ugandan civil wars waged under the banners of the Holy Spirit Movement and the Lord’s Resistance Army. It presents a generic conceptual framework for the socio-religious and political triggers of the wars, assesses how religion played an instrumental role in sustaining them, and makes suggestions for averting similar future conflicts while ensuring reintegration, recovery, and the execution of justice