Kony 2012 – Ugandans Speak
Since Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 video went viral many Ugandans have been infuriated by what they refer to as a gross misrepresentation of their country. Let’s give credit where it’s due. The Kony 2012 video has been hailed worldwide as a success for advocacy. The effect this video has had in terms spreading a message is almost unprecedented. It has also refocussed the world’s attention to the atrocities committed by Joseph Kony, and re-energized a global will to capture him once and for all. What hasn’t been heard by as many people however is the voice of the Ugandan people.
A couple of contradictions have emerged. The video purports to represent thousands of people who are still going through unimaginable hell under Joseph Kony’s torturous anarchy in Northern Uganda and that Kony is backed by 30 000 child soldiers. The video also places Uganda in Central Africa. The reality however, cannot be further from the truth. According to a statement released by the Ugandan government, the last time Joseph Kony was in Uganda was in 2006. A combination of Ugandan, Congolese and US forces continue to hunt for him in the densely thick forests of Congo to date. The number of Kony’s supporters are also nowhere near the 30000 child soldiers that Invisible Children claim in their ‘Kony 2012′ video. In fact, his supporters number no more than 300 today.
It’s also ironical that while Ugandans and other Africans in general viewed the video as parochial, judging from the more than 70 million hits the video has received, most of the rest of the world thought it was great! Other than the contradictions, there has also been a collective amnesia about the policy solution proposed by Invisible Children. The proposal to get American forces to come and solve an African problem has not gone down very well here.
Overall, it seems like there are some things that the majority of citizens from the north and south agree on, and some on which they don’t. Agreed: Joseph Kony, wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity needs to be apprehended and brought to justice quickly. Agreed: Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 video was an extremely successful communications and marketing tool, harnessing and portraying the power of social media. Not sure: Who does this video truly represent? Not sure: What were the true intentions or motives of releasing the video. Disagree: That the video is a true representation of the people of Northern Uganda today,and their challenges in 2012.
The two questions posed above are in debate in Africa today. Local NGO’s in Northern Uganda have pointed out that communities in Northern Uganda have been on an upward trajectory since 2006, rebuilding their lives, and moving on from the scars left behind by the LRA massacres. Their kids are beginning to go school, they’re busy making great strides towards a path of healing and restoration. According to them, the true story is this, today, against all odds, baby step by baby step, Northern Uganda, is rising.
On Wednesday night 40 000 Ugandans from a Northern town called Lira gathered for a public viewing of the Kony 2012 video for the first time. There is very little internet connectivity in the area so local NGO’s brought the documentary to town. The people of Lira are among those in Northern Uganda who witnessed first-hand Joseph Kony and his henchmen maim or kill their children, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers before 2006. Media reports say that the communities of Lira gathered to watch the famous movie they had heard about, expecting to see the story of their past tribulations including the countless atrocities from Kony and his rebels. This is not what they saw and they were outraged. Stones were thrown as the people vented their anger. What seemed to exasperate them even further is Invisible Children’s sale of Kony 2012 merchandise in the name of raising funds for charity and exposing Joseph Kony further. They wondered why anyone would want to promote a murderer right in front of the eyes of the real victims of Kony’s merciless carnage. The people of Lira viewed this as totally insensitive.
What one really wonders though, is whether Northern Uganda’s people’s true story is being told. What if their real challenges, such as nodding disease were expressed. Would the world listen? Would there be a rising up for a people reshaping their future, would the world respond with equal force? Equal measure? What can be done to have the same viral effect when telling stories of an Africa that is rising, so that Africa is not always sterotyped as a continent full of chaos and hopeless decay? Granted, Africa has it challenges, and these cannot be ignored. BUT, there’s more to Africa than meets the eye.
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March 16, 2012 at 15:22
they control the media, they control the finances of the world and they will do what they want. its not just Africa its everywhere now.
March 16, 2012 at 15:28
I wish the makers of Kony 2012 had done more to present the great strides made by the people of Northern Uganda. It’s time we in the Global North stop thinking of our neighbors in the Global South as hapless, helpless victims. They don’t need us to come to their rescue so much as they could use a hand extended in equal partnership.
To me, the fact that those who lived through Kony’s terror feel misrepresented by the video says it all.
https://benirwin.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/the-kony-2012-bandwagon-to-jump-or-not-to-jump/
March 16, 2012 at 15:34
I understood the film to say that over the past 27 years Kony has captured and engaged the services of 30,000 children, not that he has them all at his disposal now. And to answer your valid questions about whether the world will listen concerning the other issues facing the people of Northern Uganda, the answer is, “Maybe, if there were as profoundly motivated and talented an advocate working on behalf of those issues as was behind this remarkable campaign.” This singular campaign sprang from the efforts of ah astonishingly energized and committed individual who was moved to help another. An amazing thing happened here. Perhaps someone else will be as moved to work toward creating the portrait of a rising Africa. And this portrait may, in fact, find many interested parties who became conscious of Africa and Uganda through the Kony2012 video.
March 16, 2012 at 18:19
There are many of us who live and work in and with the Ugandan’s to provide them with the help they deserve. It isn’t about making money or going viral. I have appealed to thousands to raise money to build a bakery in the bush to provide training and jobs and bread which is considered a luxury, but have only raised $360.00 to date while this organization has raised millions to spend only a portion of it on the people while they justify that 66% goes to marketing and overhead. All I need is $30,000 USD 1/3 rd of the salary this man who made the video makes annually. I am in communication with a former LRA child soldier who has been repatriated, reborn and working to provide schooling, healthcare, support, food to over 150 children…invisible children who are direct descendents of the children Kony abducted. What about helping them?
March 16, 2012 at 22:37
Amen! Thank you for pointing out the misrepresentation of film facts!
March 19, 2012 at 17:20
I have been a supporter of IC since the beginning. They have done a great job illuminating the horrors perpetrated by Joseph Kony and the LRA. I do not understand this backlash to the organization. Let me say that I have analyzed it, and none of it makes sense. These issues are a stretch and really don’t relate to the mission of IC, which is:
Agreed: Joseph Kony, wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity needs to be apprehended and brought to justice quickly.
Ok folks, is this not enough to agree upon. This is exactly what the supporters of IC want. This is our goal. Period. What else do you want from us?
In fact, IC has been working on this issue since 2006, and they absolutely have worked with the people of Uganda and TOLD THEIR stories.
There is plenty of misinformation and lies being spread within this backlash! (are you aware of that?) It’s really amazing how a lie spreads. So now, of course, we have to come along and try to counter all of the lies…whew….what a waste of everyone’s time.
Look we all know that most NGOs are corrupt. They often refuse to work together and therefore drag out the situation that they are ostensibly trying to resolve. If you notice, at least some of this backlash is coming from (that’s right) NGOs. Now let’s do our best critical thinking here.
When an org like IC comes along and gets things done – raises awareness, gets people involved and gets results – people get sour grapes and start picking things apart. That’s fine but ridiculous when it has reached this level.
Simply, if you don’t like the org, don’t support it. What is so difficult about that? I love the org and will continue to support it until Kony is captured and tried for crimes against humanity… and most importantly until those young people can be brought home and given the help that they need to reintegrate into their communities.
Well you better go check me out and try to find my ulterior motive. Sheesh.
March 16, 2012 at 16:08
I think we all know that there is more to Africa, and Uganda, than the strife that was demonstrated. I think the video was just trying to show one issue that we would like to help out with. Children are our future and it is imperative that we protect them in every way. There should be positive guidance and a glimpse of hope shown to them to let them know that they can get through tough, even horrific challenges, such as what Kony has put them through, either directly or indirectly. I don’t think this video had any harmful or hurtful intentions. I do believe it was only to raise awareness. This is just one video of one situation that could inspire people to DO SOMETHING POSITIVE to HELP OTHERS, especially those that are directly or indirectly affected by this particular situation.
March 16, 2012 at 16:11
The target audience for the Invisible Children was the Western World. The intention of the film was to educate those of who Kony is.- the Western world. The purpose of the film was to fulfill a promise to a little boy (the reason for showing a clip over 10 years ago) that Kony would be stopped. It is unfortunate that the culture of the West is being misunderstood by Ugandans who viewed the film. Perhaps some cultural education should have been preceeded before those people of power and position decided to show the film to the Ugandains who thought the film would show their plight more in reality. (Invisible Children has done that as well through their first film. Perhaps they should ave shown this first to give them the background knowledge of Invisible Children- this film goes more in to depth of the autrocities committed by Kony.) The film enlightened a sleeping Western world that complains mostly about #firstworldproblems. Many NGO’s report that there is a huge need of help in Uganda, S. and N. Sudan, R of Congo, since there are still corrupt leadership holding millions of dollars which could be used to employ and educate their people. Many NGO and NPA are stepping up to do what Ugandan government has not due to corruption. Then they step out once the infrastructure has been established. I am sad that ONE is criticizing Invisible Children through the articles such as this and the FB posts. Careful, what comes around goes around.
March 16, 2012 at 16:17
I feel that the context an purpose of the piece has become so diluted through extensive discourse, and that with all the additional opinions thrown in, what the video in fact is and calls people to be a part of has somehow gotten buried. A group of people who have committed almost 10 years of their lives to help those and the communities they encountered just as long ago, having strong relationships with those they’re working with, are emphasis ones enough to get the international community’s interest. Wanting their government to help, to keep the advisors in the area to continue in their efforts to capture him, is commendable. Yes they didn’t tell the whole story of Uganda, that was not their intention. Their intention was to wake up a generation of people who were otherwise deaf to the problems of the world. The film was most certainly not intended I don’t believe to open wounds of Ugandans who suffered at the hands of Kony. Those who were shown the video in Lira, and who understandably got upset and angered…were not the intended audience. The film makers never suspected their film would be as big as it was, had thu known, they may have done things differently. An audience who can hardly understand English let alone one which probably is not equipped with the same set of film visual literacy skills and understanding of this type of film, the intended goal of it, nor western thought, attitudes or the fuller picture of Invisible Children…and it’s original film, to put things in the correct perspective…would understandably see images of the man who terrorized them and not be able to understand why. Of course it would seem ludicrous. And that’s Just being realistic and logical. With all this outrage against IC for this film…I have to ask where has the outrage been for western media and organisations depicting other issues around the world to similarly get people’s attention? The emancipated babies in Somalia, the mutilated Muslim women etc etc etc all in the name of gettings people’s attention without giving the full scope of the story…? If we’re outraged about Kony2012, we need to be outraged by a whole lot more out there.
March 16, 2012 at 16:56
… the Ugandans ‘misunderstood’ the culture of the West?
I can’t even begin to describe all of the things that are wrong with that statement.
Western filmmakers clearly misrepresented Ugandan culture and is now trying to justify that by making it, again, all about us. Westerners would do much better to actually listen listen to what Africans are saying instead of changing their stories and silencing their voices to better suit the ‘target audience’. If the message has become so diluted that it inspires outrage in the people it supposedly is meant to help, then someone somewhere got something (or many things wrong). And it’s not the Ugandans.
March 16, 2012 at 17:25
Spot on. I think this article did a fair job of evaluating the situation… the awareness and dialogue created by this whole thing has been great. The fact that IC released a video is absolutely fine. It’s the narrative told in the video was pretty problematic. 30-minutes is a long time… to say the film makers had to craft a spotty narrative to hold the attention of the West is absurd! They could have done plenty of things differently with that time—like less Jason and his son and more Ugandans who were actually affected by Kony; being very clear that the 30,000 child soldier number was an aggregate over 20+ years; a simple nod to the current reality of Northern Uganda who is rebuilding from the havoc that was caused; not using the word “expanded” in referring to the LRA’s movement when in fact they are the smallest they’ve been in a long time and were forced out of Uganda, etc— and still fostered awareness and rallied people to support his capture. I recommend looking up the video The Thing That Happened by Hope North for a fresh of breath air on what a respectful narrative looks like.
The #1 rule of any kind of advocacy or charity work should be “do no harm.” Do no harm, first and foremost, includes respecting the victims in any given situation. I don’t care who the target audience is for the video, it’s a problem when those who lived through Kony’s terror are angry about the narrative that was told. That’s a big red flag.
At this point, the video is out, the discussions have happened, and the awareness has been raised. I simply hope people have learned something from it (I know I have). And I hope that anyone involved in future advocacy work will only become better at fighting for their causes because of this.
March 16, 2012 at 18:29
I applaud the writer for balance. The video has polarized many advocates. People seem to have a strong desire to take sides about it. The snide remarks on both sides have been particularly stupid. Perhaps the days of advocacy campaigns in Africa are done. People are so fed up with negative stories about Africa that they want a radical turn – no more negative stories at all. That is particularly worrisome. Things don’t change when people talk about how good things are. Happy talk means, basically one thing: Status quo. If you want the status quo to continue – anywhere, not just Africa – then simply read the good news. Improvements in the world rarely come harmoniously. People complain, that’s how things change.
March 17, 2012 at 13:08
Thanks Wangui.
A related analysis of KONY2012 is available here:
http://www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/forum/topics/kony2012-looking-beyond-the-battlefield
I think we need to continue to speak out against conflict insensitivity of those who seem to be benefiting from people’s dedicament.
March 24, 2012 at 12:41
The Invisible Children’s Kony 2012: is a great film,the world has to know the adverse effects of war.We need to expose atrocities committed during wars if man is going to work every day of his life promoting peace/security.All atrocities committed in all the wars we have had in the world need to be exposed.Such films act as reminders to the world population of what can happen to them if they don’t avoid armed conflicts.Kony is still active in the jungles of Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC),Central African Republic(CAR) and in Southern Sudan,for him to be completely defeated the world has to know of all evils that he has subjected man to.Such films will cause him to be completely isolated by the progressive forces in the world and lead to his defeat.
The Lord’s Resistance Rebellion in Northern Uganda led by Joseph Kony from 1986-2002 costed the Government of Uganda USD $ 1.33 billion mainly in terms of military expenditure (29%), loss of livestock and crops(24%) and injury and loss of life(21%).This war theater stage managed by Kony also resulted into uprooting 1.7 million people from their communities and forced them to live in internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.In these camps about 4000 children died every month.About 40,000 children abducted and forced to become child soldiers and rebel wives.The same number of children have become night time commuters,every evening they would depart from their communities to go and have safe nights in hospital compounds,churches and verandas in towns.Other costs related to the LRA rebellion include destruction of the infrastructure,depletion of natural resources,disruption of economic activities and loss in investment.As we discuss this Kony 2012 film let us reflect on the cost of the LRA war on development in Uganda.
“……I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.We must always take sides.Neutrality helps the oppressor,never the victim.Silence encourages the tormentor,never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.When human lives are endangered,when human dignity is in jeopardy,national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.Where men or women are persecuted because of their race,religion,or political views,that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe……..” (Elie Wiesel,Noble Peace Prize Laureate,1986).
J.F.Kennedy once said that,”Unless mankind puts war to an end,war shall put man to an end”.
Visit Uganda Peace Foundation website to find out what this foundation that I established in Uganda is doing about conflict prevention in Uganda and the entire world:http://www.peacefoundation.org.ug