Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 35:2 (Sep 2023)
Article: Book Review: "Kony as Moses: Old Testament Texts and Motifs in the Early Years of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Uganda."
Author: Anonymous

Conspectus 35:2 (September 2023) p. 7

Book Review: Kony as Moses: Old Testament Texts and Motifs in the Early Years of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Uganda.

Nkabala, Helen Nambalirwa. 2021. Kony as Moses: Old Testament Texts and Motifs in the Early Years of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Uganda. New York: Peter Lang. x, 203 pp. ISBN: 978–1–4331–8429–1. Approx. 915 ZAR (49.95 USD). Hardback.

Helen Nambalirwa Nkabala is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religion and Peace Studies, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, at Makerere University, Uganda. She holds a Ph.D. (VID, Stavanger), an M.Phil. in Theology (Bergen), a Master of Arts in Peace and Reconciliation Studies (Coventry), a PGDE/ME in Educational Technologies (University of Cape Town), and a B.A. (Makerere).

P. Eichstaedt (2009, 5) characterizes Northern Uganda as a “world without control, where right is wrong and wrong is right, where carnage and chaos are the normal state of affairs,” (p. 2) and Nkabala acknowledges the complexity of causes that lead to the existence and activities of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). She proposes to explore their religious basis. In particular, she aims to investigate “how the LRA uses the biblical texts in their rhetoric” in order to get a “fuller understanding of this armed group and their ways of thinking and acting” (p. 22).

Through an interdisciplinary approach, she sets out to examine the texts Kony uses to see whether they support his application. Specifically, she aims to use exegetical and hermeneutical methods of analysis from biblical studies and rhetorical and narrative approaches to interpret the biblical texts. She also uses qualitative methods of social science research, particularly participatory action research.

Questions guiding her analysis include: How does the LRA use Old Testament texts and motifs to support their actions? How does their interpretation of the Old Testament compare to standard biblical hermeneutics/interpretation? What are the implications for LRA members who have reintegrated into society? What does this mean for Old Testament studies in Africa? The essence of her thesis is presented below.

She notes (p. 22), citing Mugambi (2001, 14), that several persons in Africa, including politicians and movements, have made use of Moses and the Exodus narratives to motivate their agendas. This mirrors such use of these narratives elsewhere in the world, including in Liberation Theologies.1

She notes that this “creates a theology that seems to have no control over the way it is used” (p. 78). She adds that Spohn (1995, 58–59) “rightly observes, when a particular perspective controls the reading ...