Who is Ricky Richard Anywar? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, tribe, relationship with Joseph Kony, Lord’s Resistance Army, Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nyack, End Slavery Now, early life and education of the current Agago West County in Uganda.
Ricky Richard Anywar is a Ugandan politician and former child soldier in Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). He currently serves as a member of Uganda’s Parliament, representing Agago West County.
He is the founder of Friends of Orphans (FRO), a non-profit organization dedicated to reintegrating former child soldiers into society.
Early life and Education
Ricky Richard Anywar was born in 1974 in the Northern Region, Uganda, where he was abducted with his brother at the age of 14 after other family members, including his parents, were killed during an LRA invasion of their village.
Instead of fleeing, his parents defiantly stood their ground in 1988 as rebels kidnapped Ricky and his 16-year-old brother.
While Ricky and his brother watched, the rebels rounded up their parents and three younger siblings, locking them in a grass-thatched hut and setting it ablaze.
Anywar and his brother were both forced to fight as child soldiers for two and a half years before fleeing the rebels in 1991.
His brother, who had previously escaped, committed suicide. At the age of 16, Anywar was left a complete orphan and homeless.
Ricky was tracked down and apprehended by the LRA before making his perilous final escape. This time, his village elders gave him money and told him to flee before the soldiers returned because they knew he would be killed.
He moved 300 miles from his village to Jinja where he found a woman who helped him get a job. During the day he worked at a gin factory and at night he worked as a security guard.
The woman later sponsored him for school. He was rehabilitated and educated.
After graduating from Kyambogo University, he worked for the Ministry of Education before leaving to establish Friends of Orphans, a non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation and reintegration of former child soldiers.
Career and Professional Work Experience
Anywar worked with the Fellowship of Reconciliation in Nyack, New York, on conflict mapping in Chicago, and on organizing the annual day of action and healing for women and children who have been victims of violence during his CSP fellowship.
Upon his return to Uganda, he worked to teach former child soldiers conflict resolution skills as well as agricultural production training, increasing their resilience to food insecurity.
He also worked to increase economic opportunities and positive social engagement of youth in Northern Uganda.
In 2021, Anywar was elected to the Agago County seat in Uganda’s 11th parliament on the National Resistance Movement ticket.
Achievements and Awards
Keely Hutton’s book “Soldier Boy,” published in 2017, featured Ricky Anywar. The book is based on his life story. It begins with his kidnapping by the LRA and continues with his struggle to survive in the army before losing his brother.
The book concludes with his eventual escape and the establishment of Friends of Orphans.
The book also includes a fictional story about a boy named Samuel whom the Friends of Orphans help. It has won numerous awards, including Booklist’s Top 10 First Novels for Youth in 2017 and the 2018 Children’s Africana Book Award.
He is the Founder and Executive Director of Friends of Orphans in Northern Uganda, which assists former LRA child soldiers and abductees by first meeting their basic needs and then assisting them with personal development and empowerment activities.
FRO’s services for these re-entering children include human rights education, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution, as well as vocational training, educational programs, and HIV/AIDS prevention.
Ricky Anywar serves on many boards, including The Peaceing it Together Foundation, a non-profit charitable donation organization based in the United States that works to promote peace.
End Slavery Now is a non-profit organization based in the United States that works with former slaves. Healing Soccer Academy is a Ugandan organization that promotes talent and provides educational opportunities for young children.
For his humanitarian efforts, F.R.O. received the John Templeton Foundation’s “Freedom Award” and the “World of Children” award in 2008.
Editor’s Note: Please contact flashugnews@gmail.com if you find any of the content to be inaccurate or outdated.
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