Kampala Uganda- A few days ago I was having a conversation with Gari a friend of mine. As we talked she brought up the Kony 2012 video and asked me what my thoughts were. Off the bat, I said, I did not think an internet video was going to do anything.
http://www.kony2012.com/
To the best of my knowledge, Kony lives in a jungle somewhere in Congo at the rate at which the UPDF has been capturing his Kaunda suits he must be down to the dresses that also form part of his wardrobe. There are many problems with the Kony 2012 video, and, far more qualified people than me have made their position on that very clear. However, the one thing I take issue with is how the video can take something as complex as the conflict in Northern Uganda and reduce it to bubble gum.http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/07/guest_post_joseph_kony_is_not_in_uganda_and_other_complicated_things
To the best of my knowledge, Kony lives in a jungle somewhere in Congo at the rate at which the UPDF has been capturing his Kaunda suits he must be down to the dresses that also form part of his wardrobe. There are many problems with the Kony 2012 video, and, far more qualified people than me have made their position on that very clear. However, the one thing I take issue with is how the video can take something as complex as the conflict in Northern Uganda and reduce it to bubble gum.http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/07/guest_post_joseph_kony_is_not_in_uganda_and_other_complicated_things
Furthermore to the people behind Invisible Children, who the hell do you think you are? From your video, it is clear you know next to nothing about the situation in Uganda in general and Northern Uganda in particular. The issue with Joseph Kony has roots far deeper than anything you have attempted to capture and this video is going to do next to nothing to solve.http://www.good.is/post/don-t-reduce-uganda-to-a-meme/
The Manichean prism of good versus evil completely ignores the fact that Kony is not an aberration. He is a product of a political system in which Socio political violence; even extreme violence is the norm. A hard core example of the Maoist maxim ‘political power grows out of the barrel of a gun’.
Why the focus on Kony? He is just one man. There are millions of people whose lives he has touched in the worst possible way, millions of people to whom he need not be introduced because he is already famous, who could use some help getting back on their feet.
Take one look at the people we are supposed to pressure to take action. There is not a single African leader not Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel, Desmond Tutu, Thabo Mbeki or Wole Soyinka. Not Wyre, Youssou Ndour, Angelique Kidjo or our very own Juliana Kanyomozi.
Somehow, Lady Gaga who thinks meat is clothing , Rush Limbaugh who believes/ believed LRA are a Christian outfit and the deployment of the US Special Forces advisers was an attempt by Obama to persecute Christians are supposed to make a compelling case against Kony.
That said, now with all the sound and fury around this video maybe we can have a real conversation about Uganda in particular and Africa
