Musa Baluku

Musa Seka Baluku is a Ugandan militant and the current leader of the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel insurgent group in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He took over as the commander of the ADF following the 2015 arrest of its former leader, Jamil Mukulu, in Tanzania.

Musa Baluku
Bornc. 1977 (age 43-44)
Kasese District, Uganda
NationalityUgandan
Other namesSeka Baluku, "PC"[1]
OrganizationAllied Democratic Forces
Spouse(s)2+ wives[2]

Baluku is under sanction by the United Nations and the United States for terrorist activities, and is wanted for war crimes by both Interpol[3] and the International Criminal Court.[4]

Biography

Very little is known about Baluku's early life; however is known that he was born in the Kasese District of Uganda. The United Nations believes Baluku was born around 1977.[5] Unlike most ADF commanders, who hail from the Musoga tribe, Baluku is part of the Mukonjo tribe.[1]

Baluku became a Salafi jihadist at an early age, and formerly served as an Imam at the Malakaz mosque in Kampala, Uganda. Baluku was one of the earliest members of the Allied Democratic Forces, and served as one of Jamil Mukulu's chief lieutenants.

After the ADF relocated to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mukulu appointed Baluku to numerous positions within the ADF, and he served as the group's chief Islamic judge and handed down punishments to those who violated the group's interpretation of Sharia law. Baluku also served as the ADF's "political commissar", and was in charge of teaching the ADF's ideology to new recruits.

When Jamil Mukulu was arrested in Tanzania in 2015, Musa Baluku took his place as commander of the ADF and appointed himself "Sheikh". Unlike his predecessor, Baluku has expanded his outreach into social media in order to recruit more followers,[1] and has publicly aligned the ADF with better-known jihadist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and Al-Shabaab.[6]

Baluku is a polygamist, and has taken several wives from both the Congo and Uganda, two of them daughters of Jamil Mukulu.[7] He resided in the ADF's main camp, nicknamed "Camp Medina", until the camp was overrun by the Congolese army in January 2020. As of February, 2020, he is believed to have relocated to "Camp Kajuju" in "Madina II", another ADF camp complex.[8]

ADF defectors and ex-combatants have described Baluku as notoriously violent and short-tempered. Baluku has ordered the abduction of children to serve as child soldiers and has presided over mass killings of civilians by firing squad. Baluku has also been known to consolidate his power within the ADF through brutal intimidation tactics, and has executed suspected dissidents by beheading or crucifixion.[1]

Baluku is believed to have been wounded during a Ugandan military attack on an ADF camp on December 22, 2017.[9]

In December, 2019, the United States government imposed sanctions on Baluku and five other ADF leaders.[10]

References
  1. "Inside the ADF Rebellion". Inside the ADF Rebellion. 2 November 2018.
  2. "Inside the ADF Rebellion" (PDF). Congo Research Group. November 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  3. "Violence and Viruses: How a Poorly Armed Insurgency in the Congo Poses a Global Threat". Jamestown.
  4. "Consolidated List Sanctions List". www.un.org.
  5. https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/sc14101.doc.htm
  6. "The tentative ties between the Allied Democratic Forces and ISIS". The Defense Post. 4 December 2018.
  7. Kawar, Dina (January 12, 2015). "Letter dated 12 January 2015 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo addressed to the President of the Security Council" (PDF). Relief Web. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  8. https://chimpreports.com/un-sanctions-adf-commander-baluku/
  9. Xuequan, Mu (December 30, 2017). "Uganda rebel leader reportedly injured in DR Congo attack". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  10. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-security/u-s-imposes-sanctions-on-islamist-rebels-in-eastern-congo-idUSKBN1YE2IO
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