The Truth About Kony 2012 - Hysteria And Dangerous Ignorance

By seamus -
Adam Branch, senior research fellow at the Makerere Institute of Social Research, Uganda, and assistant professor of political science at San Diego State University, USA, has written an interesting piece (link) on the entire Kony 2012 movement. He is the author of Displacing Human Rights: War and Intervention in Northern Uganda. 

Joseph Kony

The truth about Kony 2012, and the hard facts regarding the LRA and Invisible' Children's viral video, is that it completely ignores the more fundamental and relevant issues facing Uganda and its people. The campaign focuses so heavily on US political activism and the LRA, but it fails to address the fact that Ugandans face different and more immediate problems.

Downtown Kampala

The thing is, willingly or unwillingly, IC's Kony video promotes militarisation, ignorance and a skewed understanding of Africans in Uganda. The best we can do as a world wide audience is, first and foremost, STAY INFORMED. If you're interested in knowing more about Joseph Kony and the LRA, and more importantly the hard facts about Uganda, I strongly recommend reading the article. I'll insert a few highlights and excerpts from the article, which you can find here.

Map of Uganda

"As a result of Invisible Children's irresponsible advocacy, civilians in Uganda and central Africa may have to pay a steep price in their own lives so that a lot of young Americans can feel good about themselves [...]"

"First, because Invisible Children's campaign is a symptom, not a cause. It is an excuse that the US government has gladly adopted in order to help justify the expansion of their military presence in central Africa [...]"

"[...] people's lives will be left untouched by this campaign, even if it were to achieve its stated objectives, [...]  because the very serious problems people face today have little to do with Kony."

"Land speculators and so-called investors, many foreign, in collaboration with the Ugandan government and military, are grabbing the land of the Acholi people [...]"


Also, professor Branch has included a link to his courses on Ugandan issues and geopolitical concerns of the area here, so please read those too.

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