Infamous Joseph Kony trends

By C.E.O

For almost three weeks now, Tinseltown¡¯s glitterati have made Ugandan rebel fighter Joseph Kony the most popular name in the social media. The leader of ragtag Lord¡¯s Resistance Army is now floating high among the most trending names among celebrity circles and their fans.

After almost three decades the invisible warlord who abducts children ¨C with boys becoming soldiers and girls sex slaves...oh, and cuts off the lips and ears of anyone who dares to resist - was brought into focus.

Last October, the US deployed approximately 100 combat equipped US special operations forces to Central Africa to assist regional forces toward the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield. Now celebrities have begun a campaign to arrest Kony through the power of social media.

Kony 2012 is targeting ¡®culture makers¡¯ celebrities, sportsmen, to make Kony famous, and already Angelina Jolie and George Clooney have expressed their support. Majority of people in the world, including the celebrities had never heard of Kony before ¡®Kony 2012¡¯.

And there¡¯s a short movie, Machine Gun Preacher starring Gerald Butler, which was actually released in 2011 and the book The Worst Date Ever. Followed now by ¡®Kony 2012¡¯, a 29 minute video available on YouTube and produced, complete with Hollywood effects by Invisible Children, a US-based charity that uses film, creativity and social action to end use of child soldiers in Kony¡¯s rebel war. The video was uploaded two weeks ago and it has generated more than 84 million hits, and counting.

Well, the video has become famous, alongside its narrator and Invisible Children Co founder, Jason Russell. Even as Kony 2012 went viral, it received equal measure of criticism and condemnation. The vitriol is that stereotypically, ¡®Kony 2012¡¯ simplifies the LRA atrocities, and fails to mention the human rights violations by the Ugandan Army for example.

Jason Russell is reported to have broken down and he was captured on camera going on the "rampage", naked. Initial reports said he was drunk or on drugs but his family has released a statement saying he was diagnosed with brief reactive psychosis caused by extreme exhaustion, stress and dehydration.

So, there you have it ladies and gentlemen, the story of your continent being beautifully recited to millions of listeners from the very educated perspective of a psycho! It reminds me of the educated analysis that CNN gave of our grenade attack that killed six and the comparative way they downplayed the murder of 77 people in Norway; the former was figuratively described as an outbreak of ¡®violence¡¯, the latter as an ¡®attack¡¯.

Needless to say, these same people displayed the murdered body of Col Gaddafi for days on end, after the limp warning that the pictures may be ¡®disturbing¡¯ but find it offensive to display a European or American. There I go again. Digressing.

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Carrot dangling the future

Early this year, a three-Bench Constitutional Court ruled that Kenya must go to the polls, either in March 2013 or December 2012 if President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga agree, in writing, to dissolve the Grand Coalition Government.

The saddest thing is that the drafters of the Constitution did not expressly set the date for transition General Election, so we are again back to carrot dangling about our future.

And politics has been in high gear again, with modern day tribal chiefs coalescing to garner support for, and from kinsmen. Forget thoughts, ideas, policies and issues; tribal arithmetic, propaganda and cheap stunts have swayed even the well-educated and religious leaders into a newfound ¡®tribal wisdom¡¯.

What fascinates me is the populace willingness to follow their tribal kings. Even blatant lies are believed to be gospel truths. As usual, and rather sadly, the politicians are taking us for the self-seeking rough ride.