With the Spotlight on CHoGM, Will Crisis in Northern Uganda be Forgotten?
In November 2007 the Ugandan government will host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHoGM), a bi-annual event bringing together the leaders from the 53 countries that comprise the Commonwealth. Ugandan Minister of Foreign Affairs Sam Kutesa recently expressed the government’s recognition of the summit’s PR opportunities, saying, "We should use the chance to showcase our country as a success story to our world." Within the past week alone the Ugandan government has announced plans to spend over $11 million to rebuild roads and install security cameras in the Kampala region where the summit will be held.
However, it remains glaringly obvious that the 1.4 million northern Ugandans living in squalid IDP camps have yet to find their role in Uganda’s "success story." Why are there no new 'CHoGM roads' being built to Gulu? And why are hundreds of Karamajong beggars displaced by fighting and drought in northeastern Uganda being cleared off the streets of Kampala before CHoGM’s security cameras are installed? Perhaps the evidence of two decades of violence and displacement in the northern half of the country has not been deemed worthy of inclusion in Uganda’s "success story." It will be a shame – and a lost opportunity - if 53 heads of state come to Uganda this November and fail to recognize that once again the voices of those marginalized in northern Uganda are being written out of the story…
However, it remains glaringly obvious that the 1.4 million northern Ugandans living in squalid IDP camps have yet to find their role in Uganda’s "success story." Why are there no new 'CHoGM roads' being built to Gulu? And why are hundreds of Karamajong beggars displaced by fighting and drought in northeastern Uganda being cleared off the streets of Kampala before CHoGM’s security cameras are installed? Perhaps the evidence of two decades of violence and displacement in the northern half of the country has not been deemed worthy of inclusion in Uganda’s "success story." It will be a shame – and a lost opportunity - if 53 heads of state come to Uganda this November and fail to recognize that once again the voices of those marginalized in northern Uganda are being written out of the story…