Nairobi — Uganda's self-declared prophetess Alice Lakwena died early this morning in exile in a Kenyan refugee camp before she realised her dream of toppling President Yoweri Museveni's government.

The curtains fell on Ms Lakwena, whose real name is Alice Auma, at 1am at Ifo Refugee camp in North Eastern Kenya, where she was living having been granted refugee status and moved there by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She was aged 51.

UNHCR officials and the Kenyan police confirmed the death.

Meanwhile, Ms Lakwena's body has been moved by road from the refugee camp near Dadaab town to Garissa Provincial General Hospital mortuary by UNHCR.

UNHCR officials said the body will remain at the mortuary as they wait for communication from the Ugandan government on whether the remains could be returned to her country of birth.

Ms Lakwena's death was reported at Dadaab police station by officials of the UN's refugee agency. The death was being treated as natural, police said.

According to police, the rebel leader, who waged a 12-year bush war with President Museveni's regime using the Holy Spirit magic, fell sick on January 11 and her condition continued to deteriorate each day.

Her condition deteriorated because she refused to be taken to hospital or to take conventional medicine opting for traditional medicine.

She was a self-proclaimed traditional healer. She often said her real power was in prophecy, and healing, both spiritual and herbal.

Ms Lakwena claimed that she could cure the dreaded Aids disease and had expressed her desire to return home and help cure Ugandans from the epidemic.

According to a report filed by UNHCR officials at the Dadaab police station, the prophetess complained she was suffering from common cold and of chest pains.

She turned down pleas by her friends and UNHCR officials to go to hospital or be treated by doctors and insisted she was a traditional healer and did not believe in modern science.

Police said she lost the battle for life in her bed at Block 24 in the refugee camp. Her mud hut was set in the neatest compound in the camp.

Lakwena fled to Kenya in 1987 after her rebel Holy Spirit Movement (HSM) was defeated by President Museveni's soldiers. She was first housed at a refugee camp near Thika town. She was later moved to Ifo in 1996 after the Thika camp was closed down.

UNHCR spokesman told Emmanuel Nyabera said: "I can confirm that she died at night at the refugee camp where she has lived for many years. We regret her death."

"The cause of her death is not yet clear and is subject to investigations," he told the Nation on his cellphone from North Eastern Kenya.

Mr Nyabera was non-commital whether the Ugandan government had been informed about Ms Lakwena's death.

"She was the guest of the Kenyan Government and it's their responsibility to liase with their Ugandan counterparts on her death," he said.

Ms Lakwena led the Holy Spirit Movement, formed in 1986, against President Museveni's National Resistance Army (NRA), which later formed the core of the Ugandan People's Defence Force (UPDF).

She armed her followers with sticks and stones and managed to convince them the army's bullets would bounce off their chests after she had anointed them with shea butter oil. Ms Lakwena's rebellion was defeated by the UPDF and she fled to Kenya.

Shortly after her defeat, her nephew, Mr Joseph Kony, declared himself her "spiritual heir" and formed the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).