By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, March 8 -- The day after the UN was unable to provide Inner City Press any response to its question about the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony and #Kony2012, Inner City Press was able to to put question on camera to Betty Atuku Bigombe, Ugandan State Minister for Water Resources. Video here, from Minute 11:12.
Inner City Press asked Ms. Bigombe, who has been involved in trying to end the LRA's violence, what she thought of the UN's response, and of the campaign.
In response on camera she said, "my reaction is that, the UN came in late. For more than a decade, the issue of the LRA was swept behind the carpet, everybody looked at Uganda as a success story.. in fighting HIV Aids, so no one wanted to talk about Northern Uganda."
After the staged UN TV stakeout, Inner City Press asked Bigombe more about the campaign, including criticism of it. She replied, "it sets a precedent, we'll see which direction it takes... We should do everything possible to stop genocide and the perpetrators."
Inner City Press then asked her about the UN system's funding of violent disarmament of Karamojong pastoralists in the Karomoja region of Uganda. She said, "I'm amazed you know so much... There was violations of human rights, it wasn't properly done. [The UN and UNDP] did fund it, they didn't want to own it, the way it was designed had flaws. Until they woke up and Uganda army had been abusing... Two wrongs don't make a right."
But in fact the UN and UNDP tried to deny they were funding this violent disarmament, then tried to eject Inner City Press for reporting on it. This has continued. Watch this site.
Footnote: Long after Inner City Press asked, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Spokesperson's Office sent ICP the following:
Subject: LRA/Kony
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 11:03 AM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
On LRA/Kony: The Secretary-General reported at length and in detail on the LRA/Kony in November 2011.
Yeah, and that was more than three months ago. Watch this site.
