Uganda Perspective

Invisible Children: Shame on You for Kony 2012

Okay, this is my last post on the subject of Kony 2012.  It’s probably time because the movement seems to have lost steam.  I think this but then I learn of teens still staging fundraisers for the movement.  I see kids with T-shirts.  I hear they are still ordering the Action Packages.  Please stop. 

Here’s why.

At the website for Invisible Children, you can find the organization’s filings with the  I.R.S. from past years.   The most important is Form 990, a document that is required of all non-profit organizations to state before God and the Revenuers that funds received are truly being used for humanitarian purposes.  The site’s forms only go back to 2006 which is significant as this deals with revenue received AFTER Kony was chased out of Uganda, making the film Invisible Children irrelevant.

 

 

So, AFTER the entire basis for the story of Invisible Children was gone, the organization took in, year date, $31.9 million.  Of that money, some 43% was spent on “program services.”  You can go look for yourself to see where the rest went.  Sources in Uganda tell me that even the program services money that reached Uganda has not been spent wisely.  Altogether, it appears only some 14% of donations are actually turning into humanitarian projects.

The stated purpose of Invisible Children is to provide resources for “education, protection, rehabilitation and livelihood development” in the places Kony has operated.  These are good and noble goals.  And those who have received benefit are truly grateful.

But here’s the deal:  If you paid for a dozen eggs and you only got two, wouldn’t you wonder what happened to the other 10?  That’s the question here.  All the good-hearted teens who sent their allowance to I.C., all the schools that ran events that raised millions for I.C., for all the Paypal transactions and for all the organizations that bought into this story … including the very savvy Oprah Winfrey Foundation, you’re all suckers taken to the cleaners by some very clever hucksters.

I am passionate about this subject because I know the needs in Uganda.  They are great.  I also know a dollar goes a long way to solving much of the human misery.  If spent well, the money raised by I.C. could have virtually eliminated poverty in northern Uganda.  But dollars are hard to find for such purposes.  And for I.C. CEO Ben Keesey to openly solicit funds from good-hearted people long after the need he is over– and then launch a sequel appeal in Kony 2012 - and THEN only spend less than half the funds collected on humanitarian need is truly the work of a Madoff-level, world-class con artist. 

Can we please tell our teens the truth and get them off the Kony 2012 band wagon?  There. I feel better now.

KONY 2012 – Ugandans Say "Thanks for Nothing"

It is one thing to hear about Kony 2012 from people in the West – virtually all of whom are void of even the basic facts of the situation involving Uganda, Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army.  It is quite another to hear from people in Uganda who have lived with this idiot in their midst and are thriving in the aftermath of his idiocy.  

In a column in the Ugandan New Vision newspaper today, the film was decried as a scam.  You can read the full column HERE, but here is an excerpt:

“In fact, let me be blunt by saying that even if Invisible Children had dedicated less than one-tenth of the funds raised from around the world with their first film, it would have significantly improved the lot of thousands of children in northern Uganda.  They did not do that. Despite what Invisible Children has claimed in the media about the good work it is doing in northern Uganda, the San Diego-based organisation is merely in it for itself, and not for children in northern Uganda.” - Opio.oloya@sympatico.ca

Here are words from Stephen Oola, a Kampala-based lawyer with Refugee Law Project and originally from Gulu, reporting from Voice of America:

"The people of northern Uganda are not looking for the kind of international military action Invisible Children is trying to rally, a fact that the video’s makers blithely ignore. Couldn’t they consult? Couldn’t they include some local voices? People on the ground do not buy the messages, and they don’t want that help," he said. "Even if Invisible Children thought they were helping, that is not the help people want.”

Kony 2012 is, for those who haven’t followed the phenomenon, is a film by the same people  who produced Invisible Children.  It has now gained more than 100 million views worldwide and perhaps as many tweets and has raised some $9 million.  As stated in my previous blog, it is a brilliant promotion of a film based on a non-issue imploring people to do something that will most likely not make any difference – except raising money for the producers.

Only time can anything stop this phenomenon.  We can only pray the growing positive reputation of Uganda has not been soiled because of this stupid stunt.    

Kony 2012 – Scam or Strategy – You Decide

Since Monday, March 5, the film KONY 2012 has gone viral on the Internet with, as of this writing, more than 64 MILLION views.  Also promoted under the name "Visible Children,” the film depicts the atrocities committed by Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) over the last 30 years, mostly in Uganda, and urges viewers around the world to push their governments to find this man and bring him to justice.

The exploits of the LRA were documented in a film called Invisible Children, produced by the same people and shown to thousands of high school kids around the world.  The film generated millions of dollars in donations. 

But the LRA was put out of business in Uganda in 2006.  And the film is still being shown.

In my opinion, this film – KONY 2012 – is the sequel, the next attempt to exploit young and naïve people to join a cause that needs no joining.  The premise is that by making Kony famous and taking to the streets, somehow the UN will step up efforts to capture Kony and bring him before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.  The film producers claim that their efforts are responsible for the U.S. sending 100 special forces troops to Uganda to help in the capture of Kony. 

First, let me say the film is brilliantly done.  And the producers’ ability to promote their product/cause is just possibly the most astounding and inspiring piece of work this old promoter has ever seen in his lifetime.

But here’s the problem with this thing:  The premise of “the movement” is that if you get enough people yelling in the streets, the problem will be solved by somebody.  If that worked, why wouldn't  we have millions in the streets yelling for world peace?

But wait, there’s more.  The producer keeps saying Uganda, Uganda, Uganda when referring to Kony.  Kony hasn’t been in Uganda since 2006.  If you access the producer’s Kony-Finder, you see the rebel has operated throughout central Africa in at least four countries.  HE ISN’T IN UGANDA!   When pushed by an NBC interviewer today, he admitted Kony is believed to have less than 200 followers.  “Soldiers…” he corrected.  “And that’s 200 abducted children…” he added.  Last reports were Kony is living like an animal in the jungle with 200 ragged followers.  THEY ARE BARELY SURVIVING… NOT ABDUCTING CHILDREN.  And finally, it has been reported only 32% of the NINE MILLION DOLLARS collected so far on this project goes to help Kony’s victims.  The producer says, “Oh, we have a different model of charity… it’s message, movie, mobilization.”  What the heck is that?  IT’S NOT A CHARITY.

This whole thing sounds like the perpetrator is on an adrenaline high funding a movement just to make noise and, well, line his pockets.   As long as Kony isn’t caught, the movement continues to stir the hearts of young people and naïve celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey and Justin Bieber and generate donations.   And if Kony is caught?  I wouldn’t be surprised if the film goes on for years. 

Maybe you are stirred by the message.  I think it’s a brilliant, brilliant scam.  

One Man's Safari into Brightest Africa - Read All About It

After more than seven years hard labor (well, three years hard labor and four years wondering how to put it together) I’ve just received copies of my new book on Uganda called They Call Me Mzee: One Man’s Safari into Brightest Africa.

Called “a remarkable story of discovery,” the book charts the cultural and spiritual ife of present-day Uganda.  Part memoir, part travelogue and part investigative report, the reader will learn about how the AIDS epidemic started in Uganda and spread throughout Africa.  And, how Uganda is still the only nation in Africa to have arrested the disease.  The report talks about the huge faith life of Ugandans, where it came from and what it means.  There is much discussion from a personal perspective about the plight of orphans and how ministries, the government and the church are dealing with the ever-growing problem.

Most importantly, it is my personal story of discovering a place where faith underlies all.  The people I meet, the visitors I take to Uganda and the lessons we have for each other are insightful, surprising.

Anyone who has been to Uganda, who is planning to go to Uganda or who supports the work in Uganda should read this book.  You will laugh, you will cry and you will learn something of Africa you have never seen anywhere.

Click here to order the book in paperback.  The Kindle version is due out in about 10 days.  $1.00 of ever sale goes to support the work of Juna Amagara Ministries in Uganda.

After you’ve read it, let me know what you think.  I answer all emails.  Enjoy.

Rush Limbaugh Blew It: LRA Not Christian, Needs Extermination

On October 14, Rush Limbaugh, reacting a news bit by Jack Tapper of ABC News, felt the need to comment on Barack Obama’s decision to send 100 troops to Uganda in an advisory capacity to help rid the country of the Lord’s Revolutionary Army.   The directive came in the form of a letter to House Speaker John Boehner.

Calling the nation oo-ganda, not you-ganda, Limbaugh first took umbrage that the U.S. would send troops to “fight Christians.”  “What, are we gonna then send troops to Egypt to fight Christians there as well?” he offered.  Then he wondered out loud exactly how in the world this action could be in the national security interests of the United States.

Let me just say this about that.  There is nothing Christian about the Lord’s Revolutionary Army.  Built on a wacky cult created by a woman called Nightmare Alice, elements of Christianity and Voodoo and other imagined stuff come together to create a violent, sacrifice-based belief.  Leveraging his aunt’s wackiness, Joseph Kony built the LRA.  Kony was part of the army that overthrew the last dictator in 1986 and he fully planned to run the nation afterward.  But another general, Yoweri Museveni, became the leader and Kony spent the next 20 years being a pain in the butt.  He terrorized the north, abducting boys into his army and girls to be “wives” for his generals.  He lopped off limbs.  He made children kill their parents.  No wonder Kony and his generals were labeled as war criminals by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. 

After much negotiation, the LRA was disbanded in Uganda in 2006 with many of the key players going on trial.  Yet Kony continued operations from bases in Congo and the Central African Republic.  He received much logistical support from Sudan until South Sudan became its own nation.  In 2008, a force of Ugandans and Congo soldiers attacked Kony camps in Congo.  They got Kony’s guitar and some of his men but Kony eluded capture.

Uganda has always been a friend of the U.S.  And Ugandans were thrilled when Obama was elected President.  This is the first indication that pleas for various types of support have been acknowledged by Obama.  If he can send 100 troops on an “advisory” mission… let’s assume they are special forces and will be directed to find and kill Kony, we will have done Uganda a big favor.  It is in our national interest to keep good relations.  Diplomatic work for the entire region is based in Uganda.  The nation is a force of stability in the region.  It’s where refugees come when their countries get dangerous.

So, Rush, get your stuff straight before you spout. And, please, no more oo-ganda.

An African’s Experience of African-Americans

I was delighted to meet an energetic software entrepreneur named Dixon at a meeting in Kampala.  Wow, a software entrepreneur in Uganda.  How did that happen?  

“Well, I went to school in Savannah, Georgia,” he said.  “I got infected by the land of opportunity and when I returned to Uganda, I realized that this place is the mother lode of opportunity.”  Dixon is in the process of completely modernizing the nation’s healthcare records systems.

But I was curious… what was it like to be an African amongst African-Americans?  “You know,”  he said. “I don’t think those guys liked me.  If I wanted to work, there were jobs on every street corner.  I was never short of money.  But those guys kept moaning about how there were no jobs.  It was like they were wallowing in self-pity.  What do you mean, I told them, there is work all over the place… it may be eight bucks an hour but that’s better than eight bucks a week where I come from.  They didn’t like that.”

            It seems there is a general attitude that Africans don’t like African-Americans.  Search on Youtube and you find American blacks still moaning about how the Africans “sold us into slavery.”  But there are other voices as well that say, “Get over it.”  One, guy in particular who calls himself TMOT  Drive Time does fervent rants while driving down the road.  “These people are not African-Americans,” he says.  “They’re Americans.  And, if they were going to be realistic about it you can’t come from a whole continent.  Blacks are really sub-Saharan people.  And the slaves came from specific regions.  So should we call black Americans Sub-Saharan-West-African-Bantu – Americans?”  He adds, like Bill Cosby before him, “You’re in America. Take advantage of the opportunity here.  Drop the chip from your shoulder.”

As far as the “they sold us into slavery” argument, it is true that ancient tribal nation-states within Africa conquered their enemies and sold them to slavers.  Arabic traders bought slaves from the kingdoms and sold them to Rome and the kingdoms of Asia long before Christ was born.  It is important to note that the African kings weren’t selling their brothers and sisters; they were selling off personal property.  Nothing personal, you see.  In fact, it is still happening today in places like Somalia where Muslim warlords keep Christians as slaves.  And if American blacks still take the slavery thing personally, it is important to note that, over the course of history, there were more African slaves sold east of the Atlantic than the west.

Dixon doesn’t understand the slavery attitude that seems to hold American blacks back from building a great life.  “These guys need to come from a place where people who were never slaves, who are blacker than they are, eat dirt to survive.  Maybe then they would feel differently.”

It’s Time to Update “Invisible Children"

The powerful documentary Invisible Children, still being shown in high schools across America is now so far out of date as to be history. The war depicted in the 2003 movie ended in 2006. It’s like Spielberg showing Saving Private Ryan to raise funds for the poor displaced people of bombed-out France.The I.C. organization raised more than $7 million in 2006 from this film and apparently is spending the money on worthwhile projects in Northern Uganda, yet the image people have of today’s Uganda suffers when young people at yet another school are emotionally moved to set up an Invisible Children Club to help people who no longer face the issues depicted in the film.

The movie’s subject, Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Revolutionary Army had the dubious distinction of having waged the longest running magic war in African history. Over 22 years, Kony's LRA kidnapped an estimated 20,000 children for use as fighters or sex slaves. As part of their initiation, these children were often required to kill their own parents so they would have no homes to return to. Once kidnapped, children were used as pack mules, carrying LRA supplies until they were too weak to walk, at which time they were killed or simply left to die. Kidnapped boys served as targets and decoys, sent to the front lines -- unarmed -- whenever the Ugandan Army engaged the LRA. Kidnapped girls that Kony or his senior commanders found attractive became their "wives" (Kony is reputed to have 60). Troublesome captives had noses, lips, and/or ears cut off, and were then made to eat their own flesh. More than one million people were displaced as the result of Kony’s terror. For years, the city of Gulu was a prison of fear as the LRA would scour the streets by night for new recruits.  But no longer.

Today, Kony is a fugitive from the International Criminal Court, hiding in Congo. His generals are on trial by traditional courts, undergoing rituals of re-entry into the village. The people in the displacement camps are returning to their land. My friend Dennis Ndyabawe recently visited Gulu which he says, “is so full of mzungus, it’s hard to find the natives.” The mzungus – white people – are aid workers from the UN, WorldVision and dozens of other NGOs including I.C. helping people to recover and re-settle.

The Kony War is another Idi-Amin-esque piece of indelible history that hinders Uganda’s progress as a nation. So, with all this peace, why is the I.C. organization still showing the original film? A reworked film would be as much a lesson in the courage of the people who lived through the war as the current one is a lesson in tragedy for those where were in it… only the new version would be the truth. And Uganda would benefit from that tale.