Blind peace icon reunited with guitar stolen during own award night
Following a nationwide media appeal, the visually impaired musician has been reunited with the tools of his trade, bringing to an end a distressing episode that had threatened to silence one of Northern Uganda’s most recognisable voices.
Tonny Opiyo’s guitar was the sound of hope in Northern Uganda’s darkest hours a healing therapy that mended hearts in the heat of the LRA insurgency. (File photo by Claude Omona)
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Tonny Opiyo’s guitar, widely regarded as the source of his healing music, will once again be heard after the stolen instrument and his lifetime peace accolade were mysteriously returned by a boda boda rider.
Following a nationwide media appeal, the visually impaired musician has been reunited with the tools of his trade, bringing to an end a distressing episode that had threatened to silence one of Northern Uganda’s most recognisable voices.
The recovery followed extensive coverage by Radio Rupiny and the New Vision.
According to Opiyo, who is popularly known as "Kangweteke", the guitar was returned on Saturday, January 3, 2026, through a boda boda rider who delivered it to his current residence in Awach sub-county, Gulu district.
In an unexpected and emotional development, Opiyo confirmed that his lifetime achievement peace accolade, which he had received on the night the guitar was stolen, was also returned, together with the instrument.
The incident occurred on New Year's Day during the WALK Creative Arts Foundation awards held at Kaunda Grounds.
Moments after being honoured for his advocacy work during the Lord’s Resistance Army insurgency, Opiyo’s guitar was taken from his side by a man wearing a black jacket.
Because of his visual impairment, Opiyo could not see the person who took the guitar, while those nearby assumed the man was assisting him.
The loss deeply affected the community, as the guitar was not only of sentimental value but also Opiyo’s primary source of income and a means of supporting his family.
“I give my deepest thanks to Radio Rupiny and the New Vision,” Opiyo stated, overwhelmed with relief. “Their work in spreading the word about my lost guitar and accolade is what brought them back to me.”
With the instrument he has played since 2001 back in his hands, the musician behind the song War is Bad for the Children of the World no longer faces the prospect of a silent future.
The recovery has also spared him the challenge of raising sh500,000 to replace the guitar, a sum that had seemed unattainable only days earlier.
For a man whose music comforted thousands in internally displaced persons camps for more than two decades, the strings that once healed wounded hearts are ready to sound again.