Baraza

We have all been inundated with images of the conflict raging in the Congo and how it has affected the Virunga National Park, rangers, gorillas and the forest not to mention other species.

Well today’s news  is both good and bad. The good news is that a new offensive against the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) has just been launched in Garamba National Park, also in Eastern Congo. For years the LRA which is led by Joseph Kony have been terrorising northern Uganda, southern Sudan and Congo, killing and maiming thousands of people. They are famed for the abduction of children leading to a nightly migration of children from villages into small towns where they sleep on the streets in huddles – for safety in numbers. Kony and his top commanders are accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of raping, mutilating and murdering civilians as well as forcibly recruiting child soldiers. Kony wants the charges dropped and has stalled peace negotiations with the Uganda’s government demanding that arrest warrants for him and his associates are dropped before any agreement can be struck.

The Ugandan news paper The New Vision, Reuters, BBC and Al Jazeera all report that yesterday morning, Uganda, South Sudan and DR Congo attacked the LRA in Garamaba forest in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The attack was backed by the American government and other Western powers. Initial reports say that the attack was successful, and Kony’s  main camp was set on fire.

The bad news? This fight is taking place inside a national Garamba Park.   is n’t any old park, it is a world heritage site, and home to the worlds last northern white rhino. It is also famed for its African elephant domestication programme started in the 1960s. Our thoughts are with our friends in Garamba who are working in extremely tough conditions.

Bull fighting called

I wrote earlier about a planned bull fight in Nairobi to celebrate the ‘Obama circuit’. Well, a public protest in Kenya seemed to have been quite effective and the fight was called off as it contravened Kenyas  Animal Welfare Act. I feel jubilant about this – perhaps the worlds and concerns of Kenyans matter to our authorities? Well I’m holding my breath on that one.  Today I was stopped on the highway by protestors against two much more nationally important issues, our politicians, though some of the most highly paid in the world, refuse to pay taxes, and they have just passed a bill in parliament to muzzle the press who have been condemning them for their greed.  The minister of information and communications who is accused of illegally taking tens of thousands of dollars in allowances, pushed the bill through. He is a trained journalist but obviously doesn’t like it when his illegal actiosn get exposed. Kenyans are outraged and protests are being met with force, over 40 journalists have been arrested and another 70 people were arretesd wearing for wearing T-shirst saying Yes to Members of Parliament paying taxes. As usual our president is silent on the matter though he will make the final decision. Muzzling the press will affect all of us, and our ability to get stories out whether about corruption, illegal trade in wildlife, or issues affecting our parks.  I came away from the protest feeling quite angry at how things seem to be going backwards when it comes to freedom of the press press. We’ve seen how it has held Zimbabwe back and kept us from getting up to date information about what is happening on the ground in all spheres.