KONY 2013

As I reflect on the past year, I find myself wondering: How can I live a more fulfilling, Gangnam-style life in 2013, and, more importantly, what exactly happened to Joseph Kony?

Now, if I really face the facts, it’s fair to say I’d completely forgotten about Kony. It was only when those year-in-review videos came out on Youtube that I remembered he had been a thing.

I did remember never really deciding whether he was real or just a giant hoax.

I also remembered what seemed to be the bigger issue about Kony was the legitimacy of the Kony 2012 campaign, not whether or not people wanted to stop human trafficking and the recruitment of child soldiers.

In fact, such a firestorm of controversy surrounded him that I eventually just filed Kony away in the same part of my brain that stores information about UFOs.

The same place I keep things that are probably real but have a 10-percent chance of being the Illuminati.

And, eventually, I remembered him fading out of the public eye, which I think is unfortunate.

Whether he was a real issue or not, human suffering should never be abided. What happened was the exact opposite of what needed to happen.

Rather than casting light on the indignity suffered by the civilians of war-torn areas, we branded and laughed at the supposed mass murderer and then forgot.

I finally started thinking about Kony again after the rumor mill chugged out a pretty interesting story in which Kony was lured by a combination of his followers and the Ugandan army into an ambush after they promised him a cheeseburger.

And, because I’m of the optimistic sort, I prayed it was true. It would have meant a supposedly dangerous warlord had been taken down and provided a hilarious anecdote I could have whipped out at parties.

Unfortunately, further Google searches revealed that wasn’t the case.

So, what exactly happened to Kony?

As it turns out, nothing. As far as anyone knows, he’s still bopping along somewhere in the jungle.

Though Kony wasn’t captured, one of his top commanders, Caesar Acellam, was. In fact, he is believed to have defected and turned himself in.

In any case, I think it’s a sign the tides might be turning for the elusive Kony.

It has been reported that his army is now only a small fighting force, and even before the infamous video was released, his presence in Uganda had shrunk significantly.

What’s more, if Acellam defected, that would mean Kony is probably losing his grip on his troops, and he may very shortly be in custody.

No matter how threatening you are, if you don’t have anyone to defend you, and your top commander just left you, karma might finally be kick in.

I certainly hope it is. However funny Kony seems, at the end of the day he is responsible for considerable human suffering.

I think, if he is captured soon, there’s one less threat to the defenseless and one more way the world will become at least a little better place.

­— ewenning@indiana.edu