5 - The Holy Spirit Movement as a Regional Cult

Summary

The war of the Holy Spirit Movement was not really a guerrilla war like the war of liberation fought in Zimbabwe. The Holy Spirit Mobile Forces did not fight in decentralized, more or less independent groups; rather, Alice and the spirits led a campaign of conquest with an army of some 7,000 to 10,000 soldiers. With the number of soldiers constantly growing all the way to Tororo, the HSMF advanced from Gulu and Kitgum in Acholi to Lira, Soroti, Kumi, Mbale, Tororo, and Jinja, where they suffered their final defeat. From the periphery, they tried to take the centre, Kampala. Since the much shorter direct route to Kampala over the Karuma Bridge was blocked, they took the long way through the territory of other ethnic groups, whose support they hoped to win. In this way, they retraced the route taken several centuries earlier by the ancestors they had in common with these other groups, the Lwo, who had spread from southern Sudan first south and then to the east as far as what today is Kenya.

In the course of the march on Kampala, the composition and character of the movement changed substantially. The majority of the Holy Spirit soldiers were originally Acholi; but when the movement reached the Lira District, others - primarily Langi - joined them. In September 1987, the Teso were the largest contingent. When the HSMF crossed the border to Busoga, the number of soldiers had dropped to 2,500, because many had fallen in battle and others had returned home in disappointment (Mike Ocan). Not only the ethnic but also the social composition of the movement changed in the course of the march on Kampala. Initially, former UNLA and UPDA soldiers made up the bulk of the members of the movement (2,500 to 3,000 of them, according to Mike Ocan), but they were soon joined by peasants, schoolchildren, students, teachers, and business people. A former professor and cabinet member from Apac became a member of the HSMF in July 1987. Mike Ocan estimates that about 4,000 peasants, especially from Lango, Apac, and Teso, formed the majority for a time. He estimated the number of schoolchildren and students at 300 and the number of women who joined the movement at about 100.