Uganda's Government Responds: Invisible Children, Kony 2012 Have Some Explaining to Do
Seems Invisible Children has more troubles on their hands than their co-founder and public spokesperson Jason Russell being detained in San Diego days ago for public nudity, public masturbation and vandalism in broad daylight.
The creators of the slick, well-made and incredibly viral Kony 2012 video, will likely now have to respond to a social media campaign by Uganda's government stating that Kony 2012 is overblown, covers issues that no longer exist in their African nation, and is downright misleading, to say the least.
OPM Uganda, the media arm of the Uganda Government, released a YouTube video of Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, a straight-forward, monotone, poorly lit and grainy video that even in its presentation is absolutely juxtaposed to the slick, production quality piece done by Invisible Children. In the OPM Uganda release, Prime Minister Mbabazi congratulates and thanks those that sought to share awareness of issues in Uganda; however, his message diverges from that shared in Kony 2012, taking a tone of setting the story straight about Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army.
"I must say, it has been inspiring, to be reminded once again, of the inate goodness which is at the heart of humanity," says Mbabazi early in the video. "It is particularly welcome to see so many young people uniting across barriers of nation, race, religion and culture, to take a stand for justice. I salute you, and I thank you."
Prime Minister Mbabazi readily admits to the horrendous nature of the LRA and Joseph Kony's offenses, as stated in the Kony 2012 video. "Joseph Kony is truly an evil criminal. He has been responsible for the death and mutilation of tens of thousands of people, including children. Once more he has been responsible for the deaths of innocents, for many, many more, through forcing children to take up arms and join his so-called army. He has taken so many young girls, used them as sex slaves, and raped and defiled so many of our people."
From here, however, Mbabazi diverges from the stance taken in the viral video, that Uganda has been reluctant to stand up to Joseph Kony. "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. It is a tragedy that we have been dealing with for many years, and whose scars of which Uganda will bear for many years to come."
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