Uganda’s fight with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has been in the
headlines for more than 20 years, but the spiritual aspect of the
conflict has been ignored, said David Sseppuuya in Burundi at The Media Project's
conference on reporting in post-conflict societies.
  
“Other than citing the LRA as
being bent on ruling with the 10 Commandments, other, more substantive,
spiritual angles have not been explored as much as they could,” said
Sseppuuya, a former newspaper editor and now a media and publishing
consultant in Kampala, Uganda.
 
The LRA began as the Holy Spirit Movement in 1986. It earned its reputation for brutality after former alter boy Joseph Kony
took control of the rebel group in 1988. In the two decades since,
thousands of Ugandans have been kidnapped, killed or mutilated by LRA
fighters. The struggle has cost the impoverished government of Uganda
more than $2 billion (US).
 
The Ugandan government is currently in peace talks with the LRA.
 
Sseppuuya says that reporting in post-conflict societies presents
reporters with unique challenges, such as lacking access to both sides
of the conflict, or lacking resources and protection in covering
battles or atrocities. In Uganda’s lengthy conflict, maimings and
abductions are so commonplace that keeping them in the news also became
a challenge.
 
But conflicts create opportunities, especially for the Christian
reporter. The most important opportunity, according to Sseppuuya, is to
unpack the spiritual dimensions of the conflict. In two cases during
his time as an editor, this meant choosing to show graphic photos of
LRA atrocities that resulted from spiritual rituals and rites of
passage.
 
“I believed that it was important to tell the story as it is, and
that exposure will help move Christians to pray even more,” said
Sseppuuya. Not only that, he noted, “some did not even believe that
this was going on in their very country.”
 
Media also have the opportunity to advocate for a wise resolution to
the conflict, said Sseppuuya. Since a poor resolution could mean
impunity for the rebel leaders or even a return to violence, the need
for a Christian communicator is clear, he argued.
 
Sseppuuya’s editorial decisions to focus on the spiritual aspects of
Uganda’s conflict created some tensions in the newsroom. But Sseppuuya
insists that covering the spiritual dimensions of any conflict is
simply good reporting that also happens to fulfill a Christian mission.

 
“I do not regret ever publishing the article on the spiritual
dimension because I think that our Christianity should not necessarily
be divorced from our work,” Sseppuuya said, “especially if we believe
that we have been commissioned by our Lord to be where we are.
 
Story by Richard Potts, The Media Project