False: ICC Is Not Investigating President Museveni As Joseph Kony or Deploying Experts to Uganda–South Sudan Border

False: ICC Is Not Investigating President Museveni As Joseph Kony or Deploying Experts to Uganda–South Sudan Border

Claim

A TikTok post  making rounds online claims that he International Criminal Court (ICC) has sent experts to an area described as “Logoforuku” along the Uganda–South Sudan border to investigate assertions that Ugandan President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is actually the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony. 

The claim, shared by an account identified as Ssepuya256 Ug, further alleges that this mission is part of expanded investigations targeting the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), and that protests have taken place at ICC offices accusing Museveni of being Kony.

We examined the claim to determine its accuracy.

Background

The ICC  is an international court based in Hague, Netherlands with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for international crimes against humanity, war among others.

The ICC has an established and long-running investigation into crimes committed during the LRA insurgency in northern Uganda. The court issued arrest warrants in 2005 against senior LRA commanders, including Joseph Kony, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity as reported here and here.

Joseph Kony is the leader of the LRA and has remained a fugitive for nearly two decades. Proceedings at the ICC have focused on holding him accountable for atrocities such as murder, sexual slavery, and the use of child soldiers as reported here, here,  and here. Proceedings, including hearings conducted  in his absence due to his continued evasion of arrest.

Evidence

We used the Debunk Info Verifier to conduct a keyword search based on the claim and identify relevant sources for further verification. We then reviewed the sources returned and found no evidence that the International Criminal Court is investigating President Museveni in connection with Joseph Kony, or that the ICC has deployed experts to the Uganda–South Sudan border. 

The findings also indicated that it is not the first time claims have circulated alleging that President Museveni is under investigation by the ICC, despite the absence of credible evidence to support such allegations as reported here, here, and here.

We reviewed available national and international reporting on the subject and found no credible reports supporting the claim. Our review instead identified reports concerning a separate case in which President Yoweri Museveni and Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba were accused of human rights violations, including allegations of torture and sponsoring violence. These allegations are unrelated to the International Criminal Court proceedings against Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony. 

We reviewed the TikTok account to examine its content. While the account’s bio describes it as a News Presenter, we found that it frequently shares misinformation and misleading narratives.

Methodology

To verify the claim,

Info Verfier

 We used the Debunk Info Verifier tool to assess whether there is any record of ICC investigating President Museveni as Joseph Kong or deploying experts at the Uganda- South Sudan border and our findings showed that he wasn’t.

Source Verification

We reviewed credible reports from international and local media, alongside official information from the International Criminal Court, to establish whether there was evidence that the alleged events had occurred or been reported.

Account Review

We reviewed the source account that shared the claim to evaluate its credibility, including the nature of content it publishes and learned it shares a lot of misleading information.

Verdict: False

ICC is not investigating President Museveni as Joseph Kony or deploying experts to the Uganda–South Sudan Border. While the ICC continues to gather evidence related to LRA crimes, this process is part of ongoing legal proceedings against Kony and does not indicate any new investigation targeting the Ugandan government or military in the manner described by the claim.