What the public don't know about '#kony'

AS the name ‘Kony’ goes viral, crossing all territorial boundaries, many will be unaware of the political and financial controversy that has surrounded the campaigners, Invisible Children.

Their main aim is to raise awareness about Joseph Kony’s exploits. But, crucially, they are calling for military intervention to stop him.

Much of the debate surrounding Invisible Children has come from one source – a blogger called Grant Oyston. He’s a political science student from Canada.

In his posts, he casts a critical eye over the campaign, although admits that it has raised awareness on the issue.

The campaign has had some political success. On the back of political pressure in 2011, the US government under the guidance of Barack Obama sent troops to Africa to train the Ugandan Army to deal with the Joseph Kony threat.

For Invisible Children, the Ugandan Army provides a platform for military action, although information unknown to many is that the army have been accused on multiple occasions of rape and looting.

Is this the sort of peace-keeping force worthy of the public’s support and money?

Of course, as Kony has rounded up tens of thousands of children to join his cause, any show of force against him could end with the death of many children. This would be a PR disaster for any nation.

Also, according to Oyston, just 32%of campaign funds are going to direct services, with the rest used for salaries, travel and film production.

The public are also unaware that Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni came to power about the same time Kony started to terrorise. The video doesn’t once point to this even though his failure to provide any sort of resistance has exacerbated the problem.

For many, this comes as uncomfortable reading – especially if you’re forking out money to purchase the campaign wristband and posters.

One cannot deny the campaign has had major success in highlighting this contentious issue, but one cannot also not ignore that Invisible Children have a lot of questions to answer if they are to secure the public’s trust.

By Jason Gallagher