Current+Problems



Since Amin's rule, in the past 20 years Uganda has been trying desperately to drive out violence and keep their growing "democracy" strong. Currently, Uganda is subject to armed fighting among hostile ethnic groups, such as rebels, gangs, and other various government forces. Most of the violence stems from the main group known as the Lord's Resistance Army. They have been accused of murder, taking children from their homes and forcing them into the army, and displacing many adults from their families forever. Like stated on the "Enemies" page, the Lord Resistance Army consists of very hateful Christians who wants to run Uganda based off of the 10 Commandments given by God instead of a regular democracy. This method of persuasion of course has been seen before by the world's other dictators in the past. These problems although horrifying are not being ignored by the Ugandan government. In 2005, an International warrant for arrest was issued for the leaders of the LRA. President Museveni has been speaking of peace treaties with the leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony since 2006. Organizations such as Invisible Children have tried to help by raising awareness and donating money to help displaced civilians get home safely.



In October of 2009, Uganda just passed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The Bill, although self-explanatory, states that any person accused or caught in same sex relations will be punished by law. Homosexuality is currently illegal in Uganda, but this new bill has introduced the possible death penalty for anyone who have previous convictions, are HIV positive, or engage in same-sex acts with minors. This new bill is causing much controversy in the country, seeing that there is an estimated 500,000 homosexuals in Uganda.



The war between the LRA and the Ugandan government is the longest running war in Africa, and there is an entire generation of youth who has never seen the peace that is possible in a calm country. This is extremely sad to me, that innocent children and young adults are given guns, and forced to kill their fellow citizens. They are taught from a young age that killing other human beings is acceptable behavior, and this generation of Ugandans is soiled and ruined. With HIV/AIDS being one of the number one killers in Africa, I can understand the good and very bad behind the Anti-Homosexuality Bill. The good is that there will be less cases of HIV present, leading of course to less deaths. The bad would obviously be that citizens are restricted and cannot be with the gender they desire to be with. I fully understand the riots and protests associated with this bill, seeing that innocent people can be killed simply due to loving someone of the same gender. Uganda has been trying to dig themselves out of the hole created by Amin many years ago, but they still have not nearly reached peaceful ground.

Sources: [|http://www.invisiblechildren.com/about/history/] []