AfricaBlog

Our Shifting Moods

We in the West tend to watch Africa in cycles. African nations are only interesting to us in the midst of a crisis, and, even then, our attention span is limited. This year, we've watched the Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Zimbabwe going through horrible upheavals, while ignoring the bulk of the continent.

Will our mood and attention shift next to Uganda? Given this report from AP writer Henry Wasswa, it wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Rebels shot or clubbed to death 25 people on a bus in northeastern Uganda on Monday and then set the vehicle ablaze, a government army spokesman said. Nine others were injured in the ambush.

The brutal attack followed a wave of violence in recent days in which rebels hacked to death 19 civilians and abducted an unknown number of others, said Maj. Shaban Bantariza.

The Lord's Resistance Army rebels ambushed the 65-seat bus on its way from Lira to Soroti, 174 miles northeast of the capital, Kampala, Bantariza said. He did not provide any other details.

This isn't really a criticism. The fact is, there are limited resources for applying pressure and intervention to Africa's many crisis zones. Just spend some time reading newspapers from Africa and reports on the Internet, and you'll understand the immense tragedy that faces the majority of Africans--and, perhaps, you'll despair that there will ever be a solution.

Before we turn our attention fully to Uganda--as deserving and needy as they may be--we need to make sure that Liberia is on the right path, we need to clarify our dealings with Zimbabwe, and we need to address the needs of AIDs victims across the continent.

Read the story.

Posted by zombyboy at September 2, 2003 10:07 PM