Anti-Pornography Bill – the hidden agenda: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

The talk on social networks in Uganda is now focusing on the Mini-Skirt. Many of my friends both male and female have posed the question: “What is a mini skirt?” Or what makes a skirt “mini”?

I would be arrested for posting this photo and you would be arrested for viewing it!

The talk about the mini-skirts bill followed Simon Lokodo, Uganda’s ethics and integrity minister, who said that ‘Any attire which exposes intimate parts of the human body, especially areas that are of erotic function, are outlawed. Anything above the knee is outlawed. If a woman wears a miniskirt, we will arrest her.’

The minister’s statements are further emphasized in the proposed Anti-Pornography Bill. A hard copy of the bill continues to be circulated on the internet but not many people will read it. There are mixed reactions over the bill among Ugandans. According to the media, the bill seeks to ban mini-skirts which is unacceptable to majority of the young ladies and yet a recent radio-poll survey shows support from Northern Uganda supports the mini-skirt ban.

Yesterday night I had the opportunity to review and interpret the bill together with Rosebell (a journalist) and Peter (a lawyer). Our interest in reviewing the bill was to inform ourselves on the content of the bill in order to share with fellow Ugandans especially those using social media.

After reading the bill it was simple for the three of us to come to a common conclusion. That this bill is nothing but another tactic for the government to continue trolling on people’s human rights and most importantly access to information.

Even though the bill seeks to address key issues such as child pornography, the bill does not respect culture, the media and most importantly people’s freedom to conduct business and access information.

According to the bill, “a person shall now produce, or traffic in, publish, broadcast, procure, import, export or abet any form of pornography.” Any one who does this commits an offense and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding UGX 10,000,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or both.

RedPepper is a national tabloid that is known for printing and reporting on what some people would call sexually explicit content. Now, millions of people buy this paper from hundreds of vendors around the country. This means that the author, editor, vendor and reader of RedPepper could (and will) be among the victims of this bill.

Maybe RedPepper deserves that. The minister also said that, “television should not broadcast a sexy person”. If you like Iryn Namubiru’s music videos, Juliana, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj and the like, if this bill is passed into a law you will never see such videos on your TV sets ever again!

And for you social media junkies who like to party and share your photos on Facebook, be aware that this bill seeks not only to regulate what you post or read on the internet. The bill seeks to install software that will monitor your internet activity. Internet service providers have been tasked to monitor every single user and report those who produce, share or view pornography.

Question remains, what is pornographic (content) to you? If a Muganda went to Karamoja I am sure they would be offended when they see the Karamajong walking with their behinds exposed. But this is part of the Karamajong culture, and part of how they dress, behave and dance defines who they are!
This afternoon Rosebell, Peter and I are hosting a tweetup to discuss the Anti-Pornography Bill. Details of the event – https://www.facebook.com/events/147949672045789/

Download the Bill here: – Anti Pornography bill 2011

Also follow #AntiPornBillUg, #SaveTheMiniSkirts and #SaveMiniSkirt on Twitter

The role of media in igniting or ending crisis: #KenyaDecides

Yesterday I went to the cinema with my friend Rosebell hoping to catch a good action or comedy movie. As soon as we got there we realized we had to choose between watching Django Unrated and Ni Sisi, a Kenyan movie.

It had never crossed my mind that I would go to the cinema to watch a Kenyan movie! We decided to watch Ni Sisi because we were aware that Kenya was barely 20 hours away from the hotly contested presidential polls.

Ni Sisi is a Swahili word that means, “It is us”. The movie features three women – a pastor, a market vendor and a hairdresser. It revolves around the life of these women, their children and an aspiring member of parliament – Mzito.

Jabali, the main character is a son of Nene, the pastor. Mzito is used Jebali’s mother to spread rumours and hate, and together they almost destroyed the village community.

One night Jebali had a dream, in the dream the election romours caused unrest in the village. Men with machetes killed people and burned houses. Jebali’s own cousin Roxana and aunt Zippy were among the dozens of victims.

Like in many superhero movies, Jebali was frightened as he shared the dream with his mother and relatives. His family did not take his dream seriously but with Roxana’s support the duo excavated the dream to end the rumours and calm the situation.

Jebali confronted Mzito on one of his campaign rallies in Nene’s church and accused him of spreading false rumours. This inspired other people to speak up against this politician.

Ni Sisi is just one of the hundreds of civic education campaigns and its aim is to promote peace and a unified Kenyan identity in preparation for the 2013 elections.

In 2007 when the results of the presidential elections were announced, there was a rumour that the vote was rigged. A few days later violence engulfed Kenya; over 1,100 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced. The biggest fear as the Kenyans went to vote today was that there would be a repeat of the 2007 events.

As the poll day drew closer tension started mounting again. The talk about the events that happened in 2007 started surfacing again. The New Vision’s cover page yesterday had a headline “Kenyans flee to Uganda ahead of the vote!”.

Today as the Kenyans went to vote there was a lot of uncertainty. The morning started off with sad news; men with machetes attacked and killed four police officers in the coastal town of Mombasa.

Kenyan citizens are using social media to tweet and retweet instant updates as the polls take course to keep the rest of the world updated. This morning I added my own voice to the millions of tweets to wish my Kenyan friends peace.

This is the major reason why some people urge that citizen journalism is killing traditional journalism. But the way new media works is it gives anyone freedom to take control of it and share their opinion fast and wide.

Media reports about the election process in Kenya can easily influence people’s reaction or even mislead them. I know that the media has the right to operate freely but it must operate in an ethical way. Understanding and respecting the aspect of culture is very important and it helps NOT to speak too fast.

Foreign media houses such as CNN have a record of making their stories “sexy” for their international audience. One of their stories in 2012 angered Kenyans when CNN interpreted grenade attacks in Nairobi as “Violence in Kenya”. Thanks to social media the Kenyans quickly hit back at CNN forcing CNN to take the story down and immediately apologize.

Ni Si Si got me thinking deeply about the people of Kenya, my friends who live and work there. It also got me thinking about what peace in Kenya means to countries like Uganda and Rwanda that depend on Kenya’s Mombasa port for most of their consignments.  In 2007 Uganda suffered the biggest fuel shortage ever. Fuel prices skyrocketed in a matter of hours and in a couple of days the transportation system was almost crippled.

My tweet of the day came from Calestous Juma ‏@calestous  “BREAKING NEWS: Foreign reporters clash in #Kenya amid growing scarcity of bad news. #kenyadecides”

I believe that from the civic education campaigns Kenyans have learnt how to handle and validate information. One thing true, Kenyans have learnt how to use social media to tell their own stories. No wonder Nairobi is one of the fastest growing tech hubs in the world.

For now we do not know what will come out of the elections but we know that the election process has been by far too good. And I can tell you this because I know that in Uganda it doesn’t get better than this either.

I hope that the process ends peacefully and that the people of Kenya continue to stand together and pray for peace for their great nation.

Question remains, has the media learnt a lesson from the previous events?

Surviving on the streets of Mbale Town: Aggrey and Dennis

In Kampala (where I live) and many other cities around the world many people don’t like the idea of giving a street child money/ food because apparently once you feed street children, thats an invitation for more children to occupy the streets. Now I wouldnt want to see any child on the streets, but then again I dont want to see a street child starving or dying of hunger.

To some of these children those streets are the “safest” place to live. Not by choice but because of the circumstances that you and I might never know/ understand.

Five days ago I arrived in Mbale from Soroti (both of which are districts in Eastern Uganda). For the first time I have got to spend a couple of nights in this town.

First I was not amused at how dirty Mbale town is especially since in the early/ mid 2000 Mbale was one of the cleanest towns in Uganda. Just before I could recover from the scene of dirty streets and huge potholes in the heart of the town I learned that these streets are a home to dozens of street children.

My colleagues and I had stopped to buy cooked maize and jack-fruit from street vendors in Mbale town when I notices 4 children who kept roaming the small stall to feast on jack-fruit fingers that have fallen down. The jack-fruit vendor is extremely careful, almost nothing falls down. To him every finger of jack-fruit has monetary value. He basically gives you not more than 10 fingers of jack-fruits for Ugx 500.

“Hello, do you want me to buy you some jack-fruit”? I asked one of the children. Yes he answered. In about 4 minutes or so I had bought jack-fruit for 4 children. Each of these children walked to me to say thank you before and after getting their jack-fruit from the vendor. For me, it was really surprising to find this much discipline on the streets.
I also offered two other boys an offer to choose between cooked maize and jack-fruit, they went for maize.

This evening my friend Mark and I left our hotel and went out to find some roasted chicken and rolex for our dinner. As we moved from one vendor to another comparing the size of the pieces of chicken (which were all relatively small for Ugx 3,000 by the way) I spotted two boys on a verandah just about 3 meters from where I was standing. I asked them to come to me and they did.

The boys’ names are Aggrey (12) and Dennis Stephen (who is guessing that he is 10). Aggrey appeared to be eating something, so I asked “what are you eating”? Fish bones he said, there is a man there who gave me the left-over bones.

Aggrey is a jolly boy, when you ask him a question he answers it straight away. You can tell from the way he looks and talks that he is an ambitious kid. Dennis on the other hand sounds a bit young and shy with a peaceful and kind look on his face – he never looked at me straight in the eyes when he was talking to me.

I asked Dennis and Aggrey whether they were hungry and they said yes, so I offered to buy them one chapati each. They agreed so we went to the vendor. Meanwhile the vendor had just sold out his first batch of chapati but he was rolling some more. As we waited for the chapati to get ready  I took time to have a conversation with the boys – asking questions in turns as they answered.

How did you end up here I asked Aggrey? “My father married another woman forcing my mother to leave. My step mother mistreated me and I ran away from our home which is not very far out of Mbale Town.”
Dennis on the other hand is a Munyoro from Hoima/ Masindi (he doesnt recall) after the death of his father, he moved to Mbale with his mother who abandoned him to go work in Kampala.

Aggrey added that he was in Primary 5 when he left his home.

About 10 – 15 minutes later we are still waiting for the chapati so I decided to take a 5 minutes walk with the boys to a super market to buy the boys some drinks to go with the bites.

On our way to the supermarket Aggrey ask “sir, why are you buying us one chapati each”? Do you want me to buy you two instead? I asked inquisitively pretending not to understand his question. “No, not two. But that’s so kind of you, are you a parent?” Aggrey added. No I am not a parent, but I was once a young boy like you and I know what it means to go hungry. You know? I said. Yes, Aggrey smiled in agreement and went on to thank me.

So I asked what the boys wanted to have for a drink. Aggrey said that I can choose whatever I want – presumably avoiding to flex my budget. Dont worry, I can get you any drink you want so go on a choose, I said. “Well, there are many things I really admire – Mirinda, Mountain Dew” said Aggrey. And what about you Dennis? “I will have some juice” Dennis said. So we got the Mirinda Fruity and some juice.

As we went on and on with our conversation Aggrey picks on the fresh burns on Denni’s left cheek. “Do you see his ear and cheek? Someone poured hot water on him while he was sleeping on the verandah at night.” Aggrey said. “I even have more burns here on my arm, you see” Dennis goes on to unfold his long sleeved t-shirt to show me.

Do you know who did this? I asked. “No, we dont know, we were sleeping when we woke up I was in pain, we didnt recognise the person who did it” says Dennis.

“I took him to St. Francis Hospital and they refused to treat him. So I took him to Red Cross and since then they have been offering some medicine which has helped him to get better. Even this afternoon we went to the Red Cross and they gave him more medicine” says Aggrey.

As Mark and I parted with Aggrey and Dennis, they said that they were going to a “cover” – a place where they can have their chapati and drinks with no interruption while Mark and I drove back to our hotel. After saying “good night” to the kids the two of us go into a small discussion about life and what it means surviving on the streets (of Mbale Town).

I was deeply touched by the stories of Aggrey and Dennis, and I was really disappointed in whoever hurt Dennis. I can go on and on to lament and tell the story of the two boys. But I am glad that I did the little I could for the two boys and I am praying for Dennis’ quick recovery.

Have you ever wondered how many children between the ages of 8 and 17 live on the streets under God knows what circumstances? Or have you ever even cared to know how they got on the streets? Or even who they are?

So, the next time you see a street child I dare you to ask them some of the above questions and please dont mistreat them, try to show them that you care. Bottom line is, BE A RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN!

BEFORE you cover the night: Watch “A life without Kony”

A few days ago together with a group of bloggers and storytellers we drove over 300 kilometers to Lira District in Northern Uganda to document stories of war victims.

As concerned citizens of Uganda we are aware that even though the war in Northern Uganda ended over six years ago, some of the effects of Kony’s brutality will never go away. Evelyn Akullo and her mother Mildred Omara survived narrowly when the rebels set their house (grass thatched hut) ablaze about 6 years ago. Even after numerous medical surgeries the duo sustains big scars from the severe burns.

As we excavate more stories of the victims of the war we learn that Kony remains the least on the agenda’s of the victims.

Evelyn Akullo, war victim + student

Evelyn is now back in school and her biggest worry is whether she will ever achieve her dream. Her dream is to become an engineer. She believes that her determination can get her there but she worries about the school fees. Her mother’s right hand and part of the neck remains paralyzed which makes it hard to bank on her for school fees.

Bosco Okema is a former child soldier – he regrets the things he was forced to do while in captivity. He escaped from captivity and he is one of the many returnees who got a chance to go back to school and later get a job. He is now the Administrator at Action for Community Development – Uganda. This non-profit organisation supports sustainable agriculture through giving seeds (ground nuts, soya beans extra) to war victims in different parts of Northern Uganda.

Morris Okello is a peasant farmer, his wife was 50 years old when the rebel abducted her. She was later voluntarily released from captivity and she returned home. Morris’ family is one of the 50 beneficiaries from Action for Community Development’s program.

Morris’ farm is his sole source of livelihood and this has helped him to support his family and send some of his children back to school. “What he did was actually very very bad, I have heard where they would even roast people in pots in some other adjacent villages there. capturing small children….. those were very very bad thing” Morris laments. He says that he doesn’t see capturing Kony as a priority because Kony is not in Northern Uganda at the moment. He recommends more sustainable ways of supporting the people of Northern Uganda.

to be continued….

The big shift in the flow of knowledge – From Developing Countries to the “Developed Countries”

Pupils in Kitgum, Northern Uganda

Uganda before me

So Great Britain colonized Uganda for 66 years (from 1896 to 1962). In 1962 Uganda got her independence and since then Uganda has been led by Ugandan presidents. Somewhere in between 1962 and 1986 there were quite a number of civil wars and military coups in Uganda.

In 1987 I was born, was a few months after the end of the war which saw the incumbent president of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni over throw Idi Amin.  My mother told me a lot of stories about the 1986 coup and how my family had to move places running away from war.

The real story

But that is not the real story. The real story is that even though developing countries have over the years looked up to the so called “developed countries” as the sources of knowledge, pace and trend makers, in reality there has been a huge backward-shift in knowledge and information sharing patterns. Today we are witnessing more knowledge gaps in the developed countries. We are seeing outstanding personalities originally from the developing countries rising on to the international scene.

Rewind

Unfortunately on many of my international trips people still ask me about Idi Amin – one of my recent encounters was in South Africa in 2010 when a stranger from Zimbabwe read off my conference tag that I was from Uganda. He posed a bit before he asked me – so, you are from Uganda? The land of Idi Amin.

Usually I want to tell people that I never even knew him (Idi Amin) – even though I learnt a lot about him in School. I was born a year after the fall of his regime and even though he was the president of Uganda at some point, his legacy doesn’t represent the Uganda/ Ugandans of today. But then again how much can you teach a person whose knowledge about your country is only until 1986?

Earlier I watched this “A Dam Relief begins in May 2012 – Uganda’s Truth will follow” video and at some point a bunch of Americans are asked what they know about Uganda or even whether they have considered coming to Uganda on holiday – the lady in the video says “Uganda has never actually appeared to me as a place for holiday”!

The Uganda I live in

This is when I want to scream that Uganda is actually the Pearl of Africa, home to the Source of the Nile, the famous snow capped Mountain Rwenzori, Lake Bunyonyi the second deepest lake in Africa, home of various and unique cultures. That Uganda flourishes with wild life..holds the most potential in uncovered wild life.. That Uganda is a peaceful country and full of life.

More Knowledge gaps

It is quite interesting and rather DEPRESSING every time I learn that people in the so called developed countries know so little about Uganda and other developing countries at large. I watched the above video just a few minutes ago and all I see is a huge imbalance in knowledge.

On my international travels people ask me “where did you learn to speak English? Its quite interesting to hear that you can speak so well!” So I explain how English is my official language extra. Apart from speaking English so well, I also know a lot about North America, parts of Europe, Asia and of course lots about Africa – the cultures, economic activities or geography of these regions. This is because my (Uganda’s) education system makes it mandatory for me to learn about the world at different levels through my education.

When I reflect on all this ignorance I appreciate that my education system opens boarders and teaches me about the parts of the world which as a child or student I never even imagined I would visit in my life. As I speak, I have been blessed to see different countries across Africa, parts of North America, Asia and spent a couple of hours in Middle East.

However, I am very much concerned and disappointed when I learn that the rest of the world learns almost nothing about my country, culture extra.

The new era of human interaction

Thank God for the social media and interactive social networks! People can now share information and learn about cultures in very interactive ways. But then again, this opportunity is a take or leave for many of the young teenagers who should learn about as much about the world they live in.

Question remains: Is this shift in the knowledge sharing patterns going to be effective if the countries in the west do not make it mandatory for the children to learn about the east the same way my education system does?

 

Uganda Government’s Official Statement on KONY2012

12 days: that’s how long it took the whole of Government of Uganda to release an official statement on the controversial Kony2012 video. Again what this reminds me is that Social Media is for citizens – if you have been following the story, you have probably noticed that Uganda on the web criticized the video the moment it as launched.

Today the government of Uganda released an official statement on the #Kony2012 campaign. The statement was delivered by the Minister of Information – Ms. Mary Karooro Okurut.

The Information Minister described the Kony 2012 video as follows – “But the impression created in this documentary that Uganda is a war zone and that the conflict is still raging has got serious connotations on this country because it will scare away Uganda’s friends, tourists and potential investors. It does not bring out the fact that Northern Uganda is now under reconstruction and that  government and other organisations are doing a lot to see that it comes up and catches up with the rest of Uganda. All is this left out”

At the same time a women’s movement group today described the video as demeaning to the efforts of the Ugandan Civil society and thousands of both local organisations which have played a key role in championing peace restoration efforts in North and North Eastern Uganda. “If there wasn’t civil society in this country, people in North and North Eastern Uganda would be no more. But we held the whole mantle as the civil society, we went door to door; that is our approach of advocacy. But theirs which is your know, those pla-cards campaigns; that’s what it means in the west.” says Ruth Acheng, Director – Isis, WICCE.

My take on KONY2012 Campaign and Lessons learnt

Disclaimer: Even though I write from an informed perspective, my comments do not represent the voices of millions of survivors or victims of the war in Northern Uganda and Central Africa at large. I have seen some people on twitter being rude about my opinions on KONY2012. If you are interested – READ below else hold your peace forever! Again, dont ask me why I havent stopped Kony or whether I intend to stop him and how. I am a civilian and I have my own ways of promoting social change, peace and reconciliation in Uganda – through promoting and sharing skills on use of technology to enhance access information and advocating for human right. That I have done!

I can’t certainly remember the first time I saw Kony’s photo in Uganda’s newspaper. What I certainly remember is that his picture has been stuck in my mind since then. I cant forget his famous picture with dreadlocks, wearing the army uniform – he sure looked “bad”. Since then every other day I learnt that Kony was and is a bad guy. There were more horrible stories of his crimes against humanity as I grew up in the newspapers, on radio and television. Stories such as: how Kony abducted children and turned them into child soldiers, how he rapped women, burnt them alive or even ripped off their lips! Of course there were some controversial stories where Kony denied some of the reported crimes claiming that they were committed by the Uganda People’s Defense Force to tarnish his image. This was very hard to believe because if Kony had an image, he had tarnished it himself.

Now that you are reading this you have probably already seen the KONY2012 video or heard about it somewhere. The KONY2012 campaign video which started going viral just 2days ago has been viewed over 32 million YouTube (also available on Vimeo).  The topics #StopKony and #KONY2012 are trending on twitter.

The Campaign is aimed at making Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his capture – according to Invisible Children’s co-founder Jason Russell.

If you have seen the video and you think that KONY2012 is a brilliant campaign, you should read on.

Fact about Joseph Kony:

1. He is a war lord and together with his Lord’s Resistance Army, he has committed terrible crimes against humanity
2. Kony was indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2005
3. For over 26years Kony abducted children and turned them into child soldiers in Northern Uganda
4. Kony fled Uganda with the LRA in 2008 following Operation Lightening Thunder in which the US provided financial support and equipment to Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF). Kony is expected to be somewhere in Central Africa jungle – probably Congo or South Sudan.
5. READ MORE ABOUT KONY HERE

My basis of criticism:

I despise Joseph Kony and the LRA but I have no confidence in Invisible Children. Rebuilding Northern Uganda should be through promoting peace and reconciliation NOT through endorsing war – (I wonder whether you have seen the picture of Jason Russell (of Invisible Children) posing with weapons and SPLA -
http://bit.ly/9R8bDd
). Human Rights Activists don’t show off with guns like this – I know this because I am an activist myself! A picture like this actually declares war. There is a difference between an armed civilian or “human rights activist” and a soldier.

Kony fled Uganda because of the pressure from Uganda People’s Defense Forces, this is evidence that Uganda has made some remarkable progress in fighting the LRA. Why is Invisible Children not pressuring the Uganda Government to collaborate with regional forces in Central Africa – South Sudan and Congo to capture Kony? This is a gap that this campaign leaves uncovered. Such a gap continues to create an impression that Africa cannot bring the desired change without western support.

The approach this campaign takes is aimed at deriving support from the United States and other western countries to intervene. It’s about time that the whole world realised that Africa appreciates the support (foreign aid and donations) but we – Africans want to be more involved in solving our own problems. Over the years Africans have tried to prove to the world that we can contribute sustainable solutions not just to Africa’s problems but also to some of the world’s biggest challenges. The problem is that, often Africa’s opinions are disregarded. I must acknowledge that it’s partly an African problem – that some lazy Africans like to be provided for – or spoon-fed.

@RosebellK reckons here “my major problem with this video is that it simplifies the story of millions of people in Northern Uganda and makes out a narrative that is often heard about Africa – about how hopeless people are in terms of conflict the only people off this continent can help and yet that is not entirely true: there are local initiatives to end this war…”

In the video Invisible Children claims that they pressured the US government to intervene. “After 8 years of work, the government finally heard us, and in october of 2011 100 American advisers were sent in to Central Africa to assist the Ugandan Army in arresting Kony and Stopping the LRA. It was the first time in History that the United Stated took that kind of action because the People demanded it. Not for self defense but because it was right.” Says Jason Russell.  This is not necessarily true because as a Ugandan I know that the United States has provided a lot of financial support to the Uganda government to fight Kony since 2008’s Operation Lightening Thunder. This is one example of the many flaws in the video. And I must say that KONY2012 is a misrepresentation of the voices of Ugandans and Central Africans who have been victims of this war.

“I find this strange… The Ugandan military together with some local militias fought for 20 years to uproot Kony from Northern Uganda, Most of these service men died in this war. Without any state of the art technology nor weapons, they were able to defeat Kony…. But to date, no one gives them credit for that! No one… When the US sends 100 “military advisors”, then all of a sudden, 15million people share one “video” showing that they really care! Where were they all this time???? With or without these so called military advisors, Kony will be brought to justice by the men and women in the Ugandan Armed forces!!!! For they are our true heroes! We don’t need to make this crook famous for he ain’t anything…” comment from a Facebook Friend

The message this campaign brings to me is based on mostly events which happened in Northern Uganda in 2003 – since Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) fled Uganda, the strategy of this “war” must change. People of Northern Uganda are in the process of rebuilding their communities based on peace and reconciliation. It is evident that people are already settling back in their abandoned homes.

“We will fight war”  “We will stop at nothing” – as stated by the action group in the video. The issue is messages or slogans like this are very provocative.  Daring Kony in a mocking way like this could cause more pain to the people in Central Africa. Such statements could either make Kony weaker or stronger – the later is more likely to happen. I wonder whether Jason thought through the consequences of using such words before he used them! I want Kony captured but not through use of provocative statements which could cause more harm than good!

Just like Invisible Children many non-profit organizations continue to market their work in the name of “helping Africans” the only difference is that, some campaigns collapse even before they start.

Lessons learnt from #KONY2012: For Western Countries

• People in America, UK and other countries spend more time paying attention to events in their own little bubbles that they know so little about the world. When such people encounter a campaign like #KONY2012 they will think that it’s actually going to change the world in a snap.
• If you are seeking to solve a problem outside your own country involve the people who are being affected/ local people. The magnitude of some problems is much bigger than you would anticipate and some of your approaches will not necessarily work.
• It’s a western syndrome to think about Africans as a bunch of helpless goons. That we are not. And again if you think this way, this is another reason for you to get out of your deadlocked-bubble
• It’s important to think about the consequences of your campaign before you make it go viral

Lesson Learnt from #KONY2012: For Ugandans and Africans at large

• Like the saying goes “if you don’t speak for yourself, someone will speak for you”. This is exactly what Jason Russell is doing – speaking for a bunch of “voiceless Ugandans”. But even as a storyteller I will tell you that there is a multiplicity of stories. And no one can ever tell my story for me!
• Foreign aid and support has greatly contributed to our economies but has also made corruption rampant in our governments because of lack of transparency and accountability. Our economies have now grown to be sustainable and it’s about time we quenched the “begging syndrome”.
• Be careful when you deal with the international media and other international organizations they can take away your dignity in the name of “social good”. From my travels I have had several encounters where people ask me about Idi Amin. Branding Uganda based on Idi Amin’s actions and Kony’s atrocities is unacceptable – this doesn’t make our international image, it makes it worse! Actually there is more to Uganda than that. There is a part of Uganda’s history which is PAST and that doesn’t determine who we are now.

The bottom line is the people in Northern Uganda have seen enough weapons, wars and been oppressed enough. They just want to live a new (normal) life – without war. Plus, the child soldiers are not total strangers; they are relatives of the survivors or victims – brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews of the same oppressed people. The children were used and now, they are caught up in a war which was never theirs. I would really appreciate this campaign if Invisible Children really worked with people in (Northern) Uganda and the regional governments to bring this desired change as opposed to mobilising people who technically have no influence in this region.

I have been to different parts of Northern Uganda where Kony’s army committed most of these crimes and I have talked to people. Even though the memories of this terror is still fresh in their minds, they are ready to start a new life and indeed this is already happening.

Now we all know that NGOs need donations to remain in “business” but then again what happened to ethics? From my point of view, Invisible Children is using the story of KONY to solicit more money from their supporters. And this is NOT okay because it is misrepresentation of the people of Uganda who endured many years of pain and now settling back in their homes.

Other Important Opinions about KONY2012:

• Visible Children write: “We got trouble“
• Rosebell Kagumire’s video: “Kony2012; My response to Invisible Children’s campaign.“
• TMS Ruge writes: “A Peace of my mind: Respect my agency 2012!”
• Siena Anstis writes: “On Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 Campaign.“
• Asteris Masouras writes: Uganda: Reactions to the “Kony 2012″ campaign
• A Pod Cast from BBC Africa Have Your Say
• Mark Kersten writes: Taking ‘Kony 2012′ Down A Notch
• From The Guardian: Kony2012: Whats the real Story