Though seemingly personalized, several members received the same emailed response via the New York Times Nairobi bureau.
Email Response 1
hi hellen -
thanks for your email about uganda. i probably shud have mentioned
somewhere in my story the recent troubles in uganda's north. but that
war, as i reported during my last trip to uganda in september, is
basically done.
jeffrey
Email Response 2
hi janice -
thanks for your email about uganda.
you are right that the LRA war in northern uganda was horrible and destablizing. and if i were doing a political story that analyzed uganda's recent history, i would be remiss to leave the LRA out. but that war, as i reported during my last trip to uganda in september, is basically done. the LRA does not hold any significant territory in uganda anymore. though many people still live in camps, many are returning to their farms and their villages. kampala remains one of the safest capitals in africa and even the area around gulu in the north is stable now, as i can attest from my time there.please feel free to contact me any time about my reporting. feedback from informed people like you only helps.
jeffrey gettleman
the new york times
* * *
FOLLOW-UP LETTERS:
To the New York Times:
I was quite shocked to read that according to to the author of this article, Uganda is one of the safest and most stable countries in Africa. However, the response I received from it's author when I questioned him about why the 21 year old civil war in northern Uganda was not mentioned was downright dismissive. He did say that he should have mentioned the 'recent troubles' but as he reported in September, the war is 'basically done.'
The war is nowhere near done. Yes, there is a ceasefire in place but that will expire in seven days and the peace talks are stalled. 1.7 million people are jammed into IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps and are dying at a rate of 1,000 a week from preventable diseases. Why is this a non-story to the New York Times?
Perhaps when, or if, a celebrity attaches themselves to this story and thus increases newspaper sales, the NY Times will recognize that this war is not 'basically done'.
Kim Cullings
* * *
Dear Mr Gettleman,
Though your story completely focuses on Kampala and Amin's Ghost, you
say it is one of the best countries to film in Africa...Perhaps you
missed the tear gas poured into Constitution Square on a somewhat
irregular basis to break up those who have another point of view.
Stable is a word that is taken lightly there. The election was judged
by the Supreme Court of Uganda to be unfair.
I understand that the North did not have a "regular" war by normal
standards, just the abduction of so many youth. (25,000 or more) and
the use of child soldiers by Uganda's Government as reported on by
The Weekly Observer and Refugees International. Also, I understand
that there has been no settling of the "war" just a broken Cessation
of Hostilities Agreement and on and off negotiation. Several
photographic journalists who I know were there also in 2005. They
witnessed the soldiers they had to hire themselves (drunken soldiers)
to take them north to Lira. The soldiers used their guns indiscriminately
on the road from Lira and bragged that they killed some people from
time to time, not even knowing if they were related to the LRA.
The Amnesty Commission article written about in your last article is
lacking for funds now. There are so many left behind; also the child
mothers have not been able to be reunited in their communities.
Myself and others know many who have been to Uganda recently and will
attest to the remaining war-induced violent conditions there as the
Government has failed to deliver basic services and
though the
kidnapping does not go on, the people still die of conditions opposed
upon them by the "protection camps" euphemistically called by the
Government there.
For your information, though the HIV/AIDS rate is down from the
horrible deaths of the 80s period, the rate has risen again due to
inadequate condoms, those not used or expired in government stores,
and
the unknown and guessed AIDs rate in the North, around 30%.
Kathy Smith
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