5 Reasons To Be Suspicious About the US Search For Kony In Uganda

(FILES) A file picture taken on November

Joseph Kony Has Not Been In Uganda Since 2006

Joseph Kony is the leader of a militant rebel group operating in central Africa called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).  He was brought under fire by the global community when his brutal practice of capturing thousands of children to be trained as soldiers in the LRA and exploiting children as sex slaves was revealed. The United States government used this information to justify its role in an Ugandan insurgency in 2011.

However, Kony has not been in Uganda since 2006. After failed peace talks and a successful Ugandan military show of force, Kony and the LRA were pushed out of Uganda. Since then, he and his rebellion have been operating throughout neighboring countries including the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Despite the rebel leader’s absence from Uganda for five years, U.S. President Barack Obama sent 100 troops to Uganda in 2011 to search for him.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top