Donate NowJoin us on Monday, December 4, 2017, for a Talks @ Pulitzer conversation in Washington, D.C., with journalist Helen Epstein about her recently published book, "Another Fine Mess: America, Uganda and the War on Terror."
Joining Epstein for the evening is Lawrence Kiwanuka Nsereko who grew up in Uganda. Nsereko is an editor, journalist, democracy activist, former child soldier, and the inspiration for "Another Fine Mess." Several years ago, he fled to the United States and now lives in Poughkeepsie, NY, where he teaches political science at Dutchess County Community College.
Epstein set out for Uganda more than 20 years ago to work as a public health consultant on an AIDS project. Eventually, she began noticing that the billions of dollars in foreign aid donors were pouring into Uganda were doing little to improve the well-being of the Ugandan people, whose rates of illiteracy, mortality, and poverty surpassed those of many neighboring countries.
Few Americans may know who Ugandan strongman President Yoweri Museveni is: probably America's closest African military ally.
His assistance in America's War on Terror has earned him near-total impunity as well as substantial military and financial assistance from the U.S. and other Western donors. This assistance has cost countless lives, created millions of refugees and short-circuited the power the people of this entire region might otherwise have over their own destinies.
Money meant to pay for health care, education, and other public services has instead been used by Museveni to shore up his power through patronage, brutality, and terror.
Epstein examines the West's Africa policy and covers the history of the crises that have ravaged Uganda and its neighbors since the end of the Cold War. The Pulitzer Center supported her related reporting project, "An African Spring in Uganda?"
Light reception at 5:30 pm, with the program beginning at 6:00 pm. Space is limited for this free public event so register today.