Royce Initiative Creates Reward for LRA Leader, Joseph Kony

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, applauded the State Department’s announcement for a reward of up to $5 million for the apprehension of the murderous leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony and other top leaders.

“I’m hopeful that today’s reward offer, made possible through legislation I authored in the House last year, should go a long way toward apprehending Kony – generating intelligence and boosting defections.  Kony has terrorized and killed innocents for decades.  Let’s use this reward offer to put Kony out of the picture.

“The political turmoil in Central Africa at the moment is disconcerting.  But Kony will continue his terror irrespective of who is in power. We expect the continued cooperation from our allies in the region so that we may put an end to the LRA’s atrocities.”

NOTE: Earlier this year, the President signed into law legislation originally authored by Rep. Royce, which expands the State Department’s rewards program to target transnational organized criminals and the world’s worst human rights abusers.  In 2010, Royce – a former chair of the Africa Subcommittee – was an original sponsor of the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.  The successful legislation made it the policy of the United States to “apprehend or remove Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield.”

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