Photo: New Vision Over the last few days millions of people have thronged to watch a video put together by the California based NGO and media company Invisible Children about one of the world's most notorious criminals, Joseph Kony.
Since the 30 minute video went up, supporters of the company have flooded twitter and facebook promoting the capture of Mr. Kony. According to Invisible Children, the aim is to make Kony so famous that his capture would be inevitable. In one respect this seems to be working - the campaign is capturing the imagination of a certain demographic, largely young college kids. Most of them look to campaigns such as this as an opportunity to do some good in the world and make it a better place. And now even P.Diddy has joined #StopKony2012.
Not since Idi Amin Dada and perhaps the 'Kill the Gays Bill', has Uganda gained such a high profile in the news. Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator, accused of cannibalism (amongst other things) is still just about in possession of the top spot, but Kony is gaining fast.
To call the campaign a misrepresentation is something of an understatement. While it draws attention to the fact that Kony, indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in 2005, is still on the loose, its portrayal of his alleged crimes in Northern Uganda are from a bygone era.
At the height of the war - especially between 1999 and 2004 - large hordes of children took refuge on the streets of Gulu town to escape the horrors of abduction and brutal conscription to the ranks of the LRA. Today most of these children are semi-adults. Many are still on the streets with a very different problem to deal with - unemployment. Gulu has the highest numbers of child prostitutes in Uganda. It also has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis.
Six years ago children in Gulu would have feared being forcibly conscripted into the LRA, but today the real invisible children are those suffering from "Nodding Disease" - an incurable neurological disease that has baffled world scientists and attacks mainly children from the most war affected districts of Kitgum, Pader and Gulu.
It's true that since the theatre of Kony's operations shifted from Northern Uganda (in December of 2005) to neighbouring countries he has continued his mayhem. According to the United Nations, increased attacks in Orientale province have led to thousands of displacements and abductions including children.
However, the LRA leader is already the subject of an international manhunt by a joint force of Ugandan, Congolese, Sudanese and Central African troops. This effort is assisted by US combat troops deployed there since October 2011. Ironically, the Ugandan army uses former child soldiers, ex-LRA abductees, to hunt him down (with some success.) So why the misleading campaign? Why now? What does it profit to market the infamy of a man already famous for his crimes and whose capture was already on the agenda?
Critics of Invisible Children are also likely to be critics of foreign aid and by extension the place of Western charities in the mis-education of western publics about the realities of Africa. The real danger of the game-show type 'pornography of violence' that Invisible Children has made so appealing is that it has a dangerous hold on policy types in Washington DC whose access to nuanced information and profiles of issues is similarly limited.
Recent examples of the impact of evangelizing NGOs can be seen from the distortions of the Save Darfur Coalition to a recent mining ban in the DRC. The simplicity of the good versus evil narrative where good is inevitably white/western and bad is black or African, is also reminiscent of some of the worst excesses of colonial era interventions. These campaigns don't just lack scholarship or nuance; they do not bother to seek it. As a colleague once said to me, a campaign such as this could not be mounted around peace in the Middle East because it would require actual scholarship and knowledge of the issues.
Many African critics are unsurprisingly crying 'neo-colonialism!' This is because these campaigns are disempowering of their own voices. After all, the conflict and suffering affects them directly regardless of if they hit the re-tweet button or not. The Kony2012 campaign will primarily succeed in making Invisible Children, not Joseph Kony, more famous. It will also make many, including P.Diddy, feel like they have contributed some good to his capture. For many in the conflict prevention community, including those who worry about the further militarization of Central Africa, this campaign is just another bad solution to a more difficult problem.
Angelo Izama is a Ugandan journalist, writer and founder of the human security Think Tank, Fanaka Kwawote based in Kampala.
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If the point here is that African problems are too complicated and nuanced for mere good-meaning Westerners to understand, and therefore they should stay away, I will admit that the argument is fully persuasive.
I guess I don't really agree with the thesis which seems to me to be: There are more important things to focus on than the capture of Kony. This is like condemning the ASPCA for their care for animals. Why spend money and energy on animals when there are people starving all over the world? There are enough bad things in the world for us to concern ourselves with. Should we really condemn others for not focusing on what we deem important. Oh, I know you have good reasons with deep political ramifications. But really, let people do good in their own way. Bringing this Kony to justice is on the side of good, not evil. Work harder to develop a following for your focus without complaining that an organization is stealing the world's attention. Maybe it is you and human nature that have failed to create more focus on the problems of disease and poverty in Africa.
Stop a campaign to bring a war criminal to justice because "for most..", its " a Bygone Era"?
And you wonder why corruption and tyranny are so rampant in this part of Africa because of the total lack of justice.. Just let murderers go free cause it's a bygone era?? That's just brilliant... Guess the next generation of possible war criminals will hear that and lay down their tools for rape and murder? Your a real smart one. London you got it all figured out over there.
Even if it were a bygone era for most I find it rather convenient that you didn't note the fact these same "most Ugandans" still want Kony brought to justice and they still live in fear of their lives in the case of his return.
So the other children whom still face murder, rape, slavery and mutilation (and not the "most Ugandans" you referenced) in the Congo, South Sudan and other areas aren't important and the campaign should be stopped because Kony's atrocities, which still are occur are a bygone era in a few regions of large area for "most".
"Most" people like yourself don't have a clue and shouldn't weigh in on issues period because you don't have a good understanding of complex issues nor have you done enough research to even obtain the small degree of understanding it takes to speak on issues such as these -let alone run entire blogs or tweet campaigns. Go pick up a book before you participate in social media so the next time you spread half-truths and misinformation you can do so without lying on the millions of Ugandans to whom this will NEVER BE a "bygone era" TO. Tell that to there murdered family members. London writer, the people whom you share your city with should ashamed. I won't bother to ask if you have any.
Kony is no different than Every US or European leader that uses violence to achieve a result. A savage is anyone that uses brute force instead of dialogue and peaceful problem solving to fix issues or have their viewpoint favored.
While I am fully aware that the expansion of AFRICOM is a form of neo-colonialism that central african nations can do without, I am also painfully aware of how uneducated - and to a great extent uninterested - USAMerican people are. They have no idea that their electronic products are part and parcel of why there has been mineral/mining expansion that fuels conflict, they have no idea what life is like anywhere else or what their money is doing. That said, KONY2012 is actually a phenomenal campaign to get people motivated and involved in global affairs. Pathetic that they did not stand up 20 years ago (or longer), and sad that it took 10 years of work to get this far. But! to decry the campaign as a cover up for AFRICOM or JUST a neocolonial expansion is to totally deny that global citizens (not government or corporate power) want to be more involved. And want to stop the status quo in which they have been sleeping and using. How else will change be made? The corporate powers want to continue raping every part of the economic south, governments are in collusion, and the citizenry are only now becoming aware. Don't dismiss that, please.
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