The Insurgency
A massive series of cattle raids in 1987 resulted in the removal of nearly all of the cattle, the primary wealth store in the region. The prohibition against movement of livestock out of the region, which practically guaranteed that it would be stolen by raiders, thus came to be seen as draconian while the rumored flouting of this rule by NRA officers for personal gain was seen as yet another example of maliciousness on the part of the Museveni administration. The resulting outrage in Teso led to the organization of the former members of security forces into the rebel UPA under the command of Peter Otai, minister of state for defence under the second Obote administration (1981-1985). In the degree to which its membership was composed largely of professional soldiers, the UPA thus resembles the Acholi Uganda People's Democratic Army, which was fighting the NRA government in the north.
Both the NRA and UPA were known for their heavy-handed tactics targeting civilians during the insurgency. Perhaps the most famous was the July 1989 case of 69 prisoners in NRA custody, who were locked in a railcar at Okungulo railway station in Mukura Sub-County, Kumi District and apparently intentionally suffocated to death. In 1990, the Teso Commission was formed to seek an end to the conflict, an effort which bore fruit in 1992, when the insurgency ended.
Read more about this topic: Uganda People's Army