Kony was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, in 2005 but has evaded capture.



Kony first came to prominence in January 1986, as the leader of one of the many premillennialist groups that sprang up in Acholiland in the wake of the Holy Spirit Movement of Alice Auma (also known as Lakwena and to whom Kony is thought to be related).

Kony, along with a small group of followers, first moved beyond his home village of Odek on 1 April 1987.