SonjaBe.com International Relations – Be Here | Be You | Be True

By Guest Writer Garikai Chengu.  Of late western media, social networks and US Congressional hearings are ablaze with talk about major U.S. military deployment into central Africa to eliminate one Joseph Kony. Mr. Kony is the leader of Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group that operates in an area the size of France across several African nations. The LRA is ostensibly fighting for religious freedom for Uganda’s underdeveloped north. Mr. Kony’s murderous gang have been responsible for incalculable massacres, rapes, tortures and civilian suffering since 1989. So why is there a sudden push by the Pentagon, western media and certain NGOs to send U.S. troops into central Africa? Read More »

In 2012, why do we discriminate people’s rights for the way they were born? Does the government have a right to dictate what type of love is legal or illegal? Just the way a heterosexual man can love a woman; can’t a homosexual man have the choice to love a man? Why does a government have the power to tell its citizens when, why and whom to love? In today’s day and age, spreading hatred through war and bloodshed seems to be a normalcy while innocent love between two men or two women is deemed unlawful in some places. This contradiction begs further questions about the priority of universal human rights. Read More »

Being gay in Uganda is an issue, an issue that can get you killed. Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda with a possible 14 year punishment in prison.  The Ugandan government has tirelessly tried to further criminalize homosexuality by adding anti-gay laws that call for the death penalty but many activists have vigorously fought for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) rights. Their work has not gone unnoticed.  The UK Prime Minister is now pleading equal rights to be respected by all Commonwealth countries, including Uganda if they want to continue receiving aid from the UK. Read More »