Uganda: Bloggers Gathering, Best of Blogs, Ugandan Mercenaries in Iraq And Recolonization of Africa

My latest Global Voices post, also available here.

As manic as a beat poetry gathering in New York or a circumcision ceremony in eastern Uganda, last Thursday’s Ugandan Blogger Happy Hour was a mirthful gathering of creativity and wit. Poetry was recited, radical political doctrines defended, and blogging obsessions confessed. The first gathering of its kind in Uganda, the event laid the groundwork for the relationships necessary to establish a strong, meaningful and vibrant Ugandan blogging community.The event will take place monthly in Kampala, and there are plans to feature ‘Uganda Best of Blogs’ awards:

At last week’s Uganda Bloggers Happy Hour, I may at one point have been so overcome with spirited enthusiasm that I declared an upcoming blogging competition without real regard to who would organize, sponsor or regulate such a competition.

Jackfruity, who has the guest list and pictures from the gathering, writes:

The topics of conversation at Thursday night’s Inaugural Uganda Bloggers Happy Hour ranged from cell phones to Alice Lakwena to the transvestitical possibilities of Philip Seymour Hoffman. The Jabberwocky was recited, blogging addictions were confessed, heaven was declared to be just like North Korea, and the Ugandan blogosphere gained a fanboy. Also, we unanimously agreed that Inktus is hot.

Northern Uganda and the Horn of Africa

In Uganda, stories about foreign relations with countries from East Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Middle East and America dominate the headlines and the blogs.

As Juba peace talks between the Government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) continue to stall, the LRA’s colorful and enigmatic spokesman in Nairobi called for the talks to be moved from Sudan to Kenya, citing bias on the part of the Government of Southern Sudan.

While the partners in the talks squabble over location, the people of northern Uganda held their first joyous New Year’s celebration in two decades, celebrating the fact that at least one million displaced persons were able to return home in 2006. However, the first weeks of the new year brought increased fear that the blundering of the peace talks would lead to a return of abductions and violence in the North.

On to the Horn of Africa, where a conversation between President Museveni and President Bush led to the Ugandan announcement that they would take a lead in a peace keeping mission in Somalia, following the routing of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) by the Ethiopians over Christmas. In an African Minute weighs in on whether Uganda is ready to send its troops to foreign lands:

So is it a good idea that Uganda, at the urging of American Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice, recently pledged over 1,000 troops for stabilizing the region?
Well, it depends. Anarchy in Somali ports, a major port of entry for small arms, is one major reason that the Horn and East Africa are so destabilized. Guns from Somali ports feed the most dilapidated war zones in the world: southern Sudan, northern Uganda and eastern DRC. Also, no one in the region benefits from a Somali led by Islamists with extremists leanings, who enjoy basking in the support of Saudi Arabia and Iran instead of promoting a moderate image that assures the international community that they will not turn Somalia into a Al-Qaeda training ground.

Ugandan Mercenaries in Iraq and Re-colonization of Africa

In a lesser-known story, Sub-Saharan African Roundtable discusses why Ugandans are the prefered mercenaries for private security firms in Iraq:

According to various sources, Ugandan servicemen serving private military companies in Iraq have a good reputation. Their command of English offers an advantage over Asian and other competitors for non-combat guarding jobs. However in this billion-dollar industry, Ugandans’ share of the booty is being shared by the lack of malpractices at home- and the need for better regulatory oversight.

Also on Sub-Saharan African Roundtable, a well-written but intensely provocative and perhaps evasively satirical unsigned piece calls for the re-colonization of Africa:

I would like to recommend that instead of wasting our time and wringing our hands in helplessness while the rest of the world slowly but surely gets numb to our pain and leaves us behind even faster, we should let these good white folk come back to actually and effectively run our African countries and affairs. Yes – we know that white people control our budgets behind those curtains of donor aid and NGO’s – but they give momentary power to uninstitutionalized Africans – who can, in less than a heart beat, do more damage to a good and viable project than 1,000 barracudas can do to a ton of succulent lean beef!

Uganda Bloggers Happy Hour

As manic as a beat poetry gathering in New York or a circumcision ceremony in eastern Uganda, last Thursday's Ugandan Blogger Happy Hour was a mirthful gathering of creativity and wit. Poetry was recited, radical political doctrines defended, and blogging obsessions confessed. The first gathering of its kind in Uganda, the event laid the groundwork for the relationships necessary to establish a strong, meaningful and vibrant Ugandan blogging community.

Jackfruity has the guest list and pictures.

Should Uganda Send Troops to Somalia?

It's widely recognized that the Ethiopian Army that invaded Somalia can't stick around for long. While they dominate militarily, they are not very welcome by the Somalis themselves, who regard them as an imperial Christian force backed by American robbing its Muslim neighbor of its sovereignty. So is it a good idea that Uganda, at the urging of American Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice, recently pledged over 1,000 troops for stabilizing the region?

Well, it depends. Anarchy in Somali ports, a major port of entry for small arms, is one major reason that the Horn and East Africa are so destabilized. Guns from Somali ports feed the most dilapidated war zones in the world: southern Sudan, northern Uganda and eastern DRC. Also, no one in the region benefits from a Somali led by Islamists with extremists leanings, who enjoy basking in the support of Saudi Arabia and Iran instead of promoting a moderate image that assures the international community that they will not turn Somalia into a Al-Qaeda training ground.

Opposition to the plan within Uganda cite the fact that President Museveni should ensure that his own house is in order (northern Uganda) before venturing off to foreign lands with the Army. But it is perhaps difficult for Museveni to turn down an easy opportunity to score points with America, especially after he received a personal call from President Bush. But will a Ugandan (also majority Christian) force backed by the US be seen as any more benevolent than a Ethiopian force? It's hard to tell if any peacekeeping force, regardless of whether it is backed by the UN, can be seen as being neutral.

All politics aside, surely Somalis are happy about the ousting of the Islamists because khat, the mild narcotic that dominates afternoons in the Horn of Africa, is no longer banned. As one erstwhile khat supporter stated in a recent East African report: "Mogadishu without khat is like Paris Without Nightclubs."

Kimeeza II Program a Success

Kimeeza II participant Abramz Tekya breaking in Kampala

Like a Jay-Z song bumpin' at Fat Boyz in Kampala, a gathering of individuals can have an energy of its own. I've lead many groups of American and Ugandan youth leaders around Uganda in the last year, but I've never seen energy, excitement and innovation like I have in the last two weeks at the Global Youth Partnership for Africa (GYPA) Kimeeza II (click here for blog entries and photos from the program). This program, on the role of youth in post-conflict northern Uganda, brought together Americans and Ugandans who are looking to learn about and contribute to helping a war-torn region get back on its feet.

Since the group left early on Wednesday morning, I've been thinking about what made this program so phenomenal. The first reason is timing. We had done programs on northern Uganda in the past, but only now, as most people have acknowledged, have we reached a point of 'no return' in terms of expected security in the North. Just as this has opened an opportunity for business expansion in Gulu (there are three new supermarkets in the last month alone), it has also created an opportunity for programs that address what happens in a post-conflict region where 80% of the population in northern Uganda are youth, few of whom have any prospects for productivity or self reliance.

Second, I believe the Kimeeza was a well structured program for its intended audience. Our vision has been to create a program where Americans and Ugandans could connect, network and decide, based on their own personal interests, to what extent they want to get involved in northern Uganda. Sitting and listening to an energized group of students talk about next steps at the closing session gave me the sense that our program had a strong balance of educational and practitioner experiences and opportunities.

Third, the program was a success simply because of the dynamic individuals involved. As a group, we seemed to enjoy each other's company, and when things changed or didn't going according to plan, there was a sense that we were in it together. The Americans seemed to appreciate that many of the Ugandans around them had made a conscious choice to devote their lives to improving their region and country. The dynamics and the learning that went on between the Americans and the Ugandan participants were central to the success of the program. Of course, the caring and dedication of the program staff made all the difference (Thanks all!)

It was a big January for GYPA travel programs. In addition to the success in Uganda, we held our first trip outside Uganda, to Sierra Leone (also on post-conflict development). In the next few months we will publish information on our summer programs to West and East Africa. If you are interested in keeping informed about these opportunities, send an email to carrie ( at ) gypafrica.org and continue to check the GYPA website.

Wall Street Journal Writes on Blogging

"Every concievable belief is on the [blogging] scene, but the collective prose, by and large, is homogeneous: A tone of careless informality prevails; posts oscillate between the uselessly brief and the uselessly logorrheic; complexity and complication are eschewed; the humor is cringe-making, with irony present only in its conspicuous absence; arguments are solipsistic..."
-Joseph Rago

Bloggers concerned with the quality and utility of their craft would do well to read Joseph Rago's piece The Blog Mob in the Wall Street Journal. In the feud that exists between the blogosphere and mainstream media (MSM), Rago's piece, in erudite prose, explains the two conventional points made by MSM against bloggers. The first is that blogs rely too much on expediency; in an effort to get their opinion out there now, they are too often half baked thoughts, unfinished thoughts or arguments which more appropriate for a commonplace book or personal journal. The second point is that the participatory Internet promotes syncophants pandering to already isolated ideological mobs, instead of promoting diversity and complexity of opinion.

The first point, that expediency limits quality, is valid. Rago writes that "the reason for a blogs being is: Here's my opinion, right now." Indeed. Of the two dozen blogs I scroll through daily via newsfeed, a large majority of posts would be better if the writer took more time working on style and substance. In fact, the reads I look forward to the most are by bloggers who have broader experience as writers in other contexts. These bloggers understand that in the end blogging is but another form of the craft of writing, where poor style and half baked thoughts are never a good thing. There is certainly value in the trend of publishing less frequently but with more substance and style.

However, Rago overlooks the point that expediency sometimes is valuable. Some of the best blog posts are by those who are, as Ethan Zuckerman has said, "at the wrong place at the right time, or the right place at the wrong time." First impressions on globally important events can be a valuable diversion from the formulaic approach that MSM too often takes towards, for example, humanitarian crisis or environmental disasters.

Rago's second point is bunk. He accuses the blogosphere of dwelling in the realm of intellectual pedantry, lacking is open discourse and thoughtful honesty. Rago's long career in media surely should have shown him that every form of media has thoughtless dreck and mere muckraking. Yes, bloggers have Michael Moores and Sean Hannitys, pandering to the mobs who don't want the burden of intellectual honesty, but so does radio, television, and yes, even newspapers. It seems to me the freedom of human thought in a free society will always produce rubbish; we need not discredit a medium because of this.

Just as newspapering has the Economist and radio has National Public Radio, blogging has its gems, where one can go and consistently expect intellectual honesty and sharp writing. Perhaps Rago himself is too pedantic to recognize this. Clicking on Andrew Sullivan and Peter Levine will take you to blogs where the political leanings of the author is quite clear, yet discourse over real issues dominates the posts. These sites are the really good stuff; they have sharp writing and an honest desire to come to a fair conclusion on important issues.

At the end of the day, perhaps its not the medium we should be concerned with at all. We should all search for good ideas and clarity, in whichever form they may come.

Global Kimeeza II

Cross posted to the Kimeeza II website.

Early Wednesday morning, a group of eager American undergraduates arrive in Kampala for a two week travel conference called the Kimeeza II: The Role of Youth in Post-Conflict Northern Uganda. This is the fourth Global Youth Partnership for Africa (GYPA) trip I've helped lead in the last 12 months and I'm happy to be a part of it. The two week program, in Kampala and Gulu, will bring together American and Ugandan youth interested in a rebuilt and reconciled northern Uganda. These programs are innovative because they are travel/education hybrids; there is the experiential component of seeing a brand new place but also the education/practitioner component of engaging in first hand issues of community building and reconciliation.

I think this particular trip will be fascinating because it is the first GYPA program since the cessation of hostilities in northern Uganda, which means the people of northern Uganda, though inherently skeptical after 20 years of off and on war, have more to hope for and work for then ever before. One of the things I like about these programs is the energy that is created both among Americans who generally have not been involved with Uganda issues in the past, and with the Ugandan youth, many of whom have made advocating for war-effected peoples their life's work. The Ugandans are energized because their work is validated by enthusiastic and optimistic outsiders, and the Americans bring fresh insight and new perspective into difficult community challenges.

As a reminder of how unique a time this is in northern Uganda, here is a New Vision article (not available online) on New Year's celebrations from the North:

"For the first time in 20 years, the Acholi sub-region in northern Uganda ushered in the new year peacefully. In Gulu, there were fireworks at two seperate places and people dance to the morning hours. In Unyama displaces people's camp. 7km from Gulu, a former LRA commander, Onen Kamdulu, staged a thrilling disco performance to excited revellers."

Continue to check the Kimeeza II website for photos, blogs and the occasional podcast.