Uganda Responds To Kony 2012 Video

* Prime minister on YouTube, Twitter to talk about Kony

* Wants world to know hunt is on, Kony not in Uganda

* U.S. video on war crimes suspect an Internet hit

By Jocelyn Edwards

KAMPALA, March 17 (Reuters) - Uganda's government has taken to the Internet to correct a "false impression" about the country it says was created by a U.S. celebrity-backed online campaign to hunt down fugitive warlord Joseph Kony.

Uganda, which is spearheading efforts to find the suspected war criminial whose global profile soared after a YouTube video went viral, wants to show the world Kony is not in the country and it is doing all it can to find him.

Wanted by the International Criminal Court, Kony is accused of abducting children to use as fighters and sex slaves and is said to have a fondness for hacking off limbs.

After founding his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the 1980s, Kony terrorised large parts of Uganda but his reign of terror has subsided since 2005 and he is now believed to command only a few hundred followers, scattered in remote jungle hideouts in neighbouring countries.

"The Kony 2012 campaign fails to make one crucial point clear. Joseph Kony is not in Uganda," Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi said in a 9-minute video posted on YouTube.

"Uganda is not in conflict. Uganda is a modern, developing country which enjoys peace, stability and security," he said, insisting that the Kony 2012 video did not represent the current situation in the east African nation.

The video made by California-based film-maker Jason Russell has been viewed by tens of millions of people, promoted on Twitter with tags that include #Kony2012 and endorsed by the likes of Justin Bieber, George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey.

Russell, co-founder of the group Invisible Children, was hospitalised on Thursday for "exhaustion, dehydration and malnutrition," stemming from the emotional toll of recent weeks, the group said.

San Diego police said they had detained a man "acting bizarrely, running into traffic" and took him to hospital.


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Russell's video became an Internet sensation, racking up nearly 80 million hits on YouTube and rasing global awareness about atrocities committed by the LRA, including kidnapping children and forcing them to fight.

Mbabazi said Uganda was on Kony's trail. "You may all be assured that the Government of Uganda is acutely aware of the grievous damage which has been caused to our people by Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army. We do not need a slick video on YouTube for us to take notice."

Mbabazi has also taken to Twitter to invite the celebrities targeted by Invisible Children in its video to spread awareness about Kony to come to Uganda and see the country for themselves.

"As PM of Uganda, I invite you to visit the Pearl of Africa & see the peace that exists in our wonderful country," he wrote in tweets to celebrities, including Ryan Seacrest, Taylor Swift and Warren Buffett using the tag #KonyisntinUganda.

Announcing the creation of a four-nation military force to step up the hunt for Kony on Friday, Uganda's defence minister said the LRA had been reduced to a force of between 200 and 250 fighters split up into groups of about 10 and 20 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic. (Editing by James Macharia and Robin Pomeroy)

Comments

[WalshUniversity]

08:23 AM on 03/21/2012

For several years, Walsh University students and faculty have been involved in projects in northern Uganda, the area victimized by the LRA. Our graduate students and faculty have been involved in training local employees in the Diocese of Gulu to provide grief counseling and conflict resolution to this war-torn region.

Additionally, a team of faculty from Walsh University is involved in the development of a new university in Gulu which the local bishop has founded. Walsh is consulting on curriculum development, administration, and facilities for the new university.

Also, since 2007, in southern Uganda, Walsh undergraduate students and faculty have directed a project which provides monetary loans to women in the Ziika Village so that they can establish their own sustainable business.

Walsh also offers a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership to local Ugandan students. We currently have 125 Ugandans enrolled in the program. This offers Ugandans an opportunity to bring the best practices in educational administration to their home schools and districts without incurring the expense of traveling and studying in the U.S.

To further explain the work Walsh is doing to empower the people of Uganda, we've put together this 5 minute video: http://youtu.be/4zyDpdMsxY8

[StunaStan]

09:56 PM on 03/20/2012

Indeed if the Invisible children video was made with up to date and accurate information, then there would not be such an overwhelming response and subsequently no huge donations. The fact is, this campaign mostly benefits the employees/directors who run these organisations and to a small extend, the intended beneficiaries.

It is unfortunate, that those of us living in Africa have to see how money that is donated with good intention from kind individual donors is mostly used to provide lavish lifestyles for employees of aid agencies. A good proportion of funds donated is used in logistics and administration (salaries/allowances/travel/cars) such that it causes serious conflict of interest. i.e. no advertising(falseOrOtherwise)NoPay.

E.g. One aid agency, (on the presence of African Union forces in Somalia), claim that the military intervention is useless because it doesnt benefit Somalis, yet the people in liberated Somali towns are evidently pleased. Their reason for this claim, I think is = If there is no more conflict, then there will be no more work for them hence no more benefits. However, I could be wrong and urge those in the industry to correct me with financial statements...

However, I would say that those giving genuine help are setting a good example. In that regard, I salute the "Machine Gun preacher" and all those genuinely there to help. As for those seeking fame and fortune, living large while "helping the less fortunate" shame on them!

[Autora]

06:19 PM on 03/18/2012

What if the PM is right, and Kony isn't there any more? He can't exactly barge into neighboring countries to conduct a man hunt. And if some other country is harboring him, for some reason, they are not likely to cooperate in catching him.

That Kony is vicious seems indisputable, but catching him will probably not be that simple. Small bands can move very quickly, and he's had years of experience in 'disappearing.'

[Wyatt Kaldenberg]

06:14 PM on 03/18/2012

I am glad this man came and set the record straight.

[smart8001]

05:41 PM on 03/18/2012

Let's not forget that Uganda spawned Idi Amin, among others

[Mike-Honcho]

04:28 PM on 03/18/2012

Glad to see the sheep getting told the truth.

[California Beach Bum]

03:30 PM on 03/18/2012

I wonder if Kony is related to 25 Star General General Idi Amin Da Da (aka "The Cannibal"). Does Kony enjoy eating his fellow man or is he a vegetarian?

[smart8001]

05:43 PM on 03/18/2012

maybe he could learn to sing, come to the U.S. and team up with....yup, Kony and Cher!!

[seanrm92]

02:29 PM on 03/18/2012

I think one of the biggest misconceptions that that video created is that you can somehow stop a Ugandan warlord by "liking" a Facebook status. A million people can be "aware" of something, but if none of them are willing to do anything about it beyond wearing a t-shirt, then "awareness" doesn't actually matter. The only thing these Kony2012 bandwagoners are doing is hoping that someone ELSE will stop Kony for them.

And besides, I thought everyone was tired of America being the "world police".

[websailor]

01:15 PM on 03/18/2012

Great come back to the world Primie Miinister but your country is not a great place to live in to start with. Where is Kony now? Find him and prove were he is to the world. From information given to several of us from other African countries he not there either. Sorry, if you feel misrepresented as a country and he is not there but when he was why did you not stop him??
The KONY are not less than 200 as stated there are thousands of them in africa so get your countries together and find him!!

[Animal53]

01:07 PM on 03/18/2012

I never saw the video, but for some reason I didnt believe that Kony was still in Uganda. I might have read briefly through a article and picked up enough to come to that conclusion. I know that country has had their problems especially when Idi Amin ran it, but I also felt that it had a lot fine things to offer.

[squiddypie8]

01:04 PM on 03/18/2012

Oh Im so glad the adept Ugandian government has everything under control seeing that thier track record is proving otherwise in. Wow what an intelligent man to know for fact kony is not in uganda. F uganda and F kony

[GOODDOC1]

03:12 PM on 03/18/2012

Only after they test it on you.

[giacoma3]

03:20 PM on 03/18/2012

Yes. And is very simple : schools, hospitals, factories. And you will see the change.

[excrusade]

12:47 PM on 03/18/2012

"The Kony 2012 campaign fails to make one crucial point clear. Joseph Kony is not in Uganda." I just want to point out that the video DID make that point clear, lol. You kind of have to actually watch it to see that part. Ugh... I go to school with Ugandans and their view is much different from what is said in this article, for whatever it's worth.

[bigstuf91]

04:21 PM on 03/18/2012

What is their view?

[fromdnorth]

12:42 PM on 03/18/2012

We are moved by the Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi note of clarification indicating that KONY is no longer in Uganda and his murderous rampage and maiming people by cutting off their limbs is a painful historyleaving millions affected. No country needs to be misrepresented.

Having said that the question which is also in need of clarification is "why does Uganad want to kill gay people?

[blueswithafeeling]

12:39 PM on 03/18/2012

How come Obama hasn't taken him out, after all he is GOD.

[Jamad Mthembu]

04:14 AM on 03/20/2012

@bluewithafeeling: The only reason God Obama hasn't taken him out is because he doesn't have oil. But believe, as soon as there's even one barrel of oil to grab, God Obama will go in guns blazing...