The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
16 Mar 2012
A video documentary produced by the American NGO, Invisible Children, titled "Kony 2012", that essentially calls for the capture of Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), has gone viral on the Internet with over 100 million views in a very short period of time. The documentary, which shows atrocities committed by the LRA, particularly, its use and abuse of child soldiers, has led to many young Americans and others in the international community calling on the US government to militarily intervene in Uganda. But Kambale Musavuli, a human rights activist originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo contends that while Kony is indeed a very evil man, the video report is a gross exaggeration of the situation on the ground in Uganda. He suspects that the documentary is being used as an excuse to expand AFRICOM's footprint in Africa.
According to Musaveli, AFRICOM is on the continent for two reasons. Firstly to secure oil resources and secondly to counter China's presence in Africa.
As a result of "Kony 2012", the international community is calling for the support of an oppressive regime that has caused havoc in Rwanda, Somalia and in the Congo, where more than six million people have died.
What's at stake here is Uganda's enormous oil reserves, not Kony, who hasn't even been in the country since 2006.
For their part, ordinary Ugandans have already started rebuilding their lives and asking for a diplomatic solution to the problems they face. And the main problem that Ugandans face is the fact they have been governed by a dictator, Yoweri Museveni, since 1986. The government of Uganda is an oppressive regime and the US is its ally, argues Musaveli.
Editor's Note: For more reaction to the "Kony 2012" documentary, you might be interested in this article from the Guardian newspaper. Meanwhile Al Jazeera reports that ordinary Ugandans reacted with anger to the Kony video. for some "on the ground" facts and historical context, you might also be interested in "A Letter From Uganda on #Kony2012", published by Truthdig.
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I have a small gripe - I would really like to know where stories come from. It's especially helpful before downloading a video to be able to tell whether I might already have watched it somewhere else or if it's a SACSIS original. For this story I don't see the accreditation.
Source
This video is from The Real News Network (http://therealnews.com).
