YES invitees listen keenly to opening remarks by director Stephen Wreh-Wilson. Photo: The AfricaPaper/James Fasuekoi
By James Kokulo Fasuekoi | The AfricaPaper
Brooklyn Park, Minn – Minnesota based youth group, Youth Engaging Success, YES, in short, hosted an informal meeting in the city of Champlain where its students had the opportunity to interact with career professionals living in the state of Minnesota such as politicians, city officials, business people, writers and journalists.
Opportunities
Speaking to a group of career professionals that had gathered on Friday June 12 to share their experiences with career-oriented students currently in the YES program, Stephen Wreh-Wilson, YES executive director, observed that many youths within our community were taking long to achieve their career goals. They often lack opportunities like those now provided by YES that let them practice in their areas while in the process of finishing high school.
Careers
He said for instance, you have a student graduating from high school or someone in college who is studying to become nurse and yet, instead have this individual work as intern with a healthcare facility like a hospital or clinic, the person goes to work at Walmart. This certainly, he maintained, can be a great setback to the individual’s career goals.
Mentors
Another section of the audience that included YES’ students (seated) listen to director Wilson. Photo: The AfricaPaper/James Fasuekoi
Under the YES programs, students are quickly provided with a coach who will work them through their career plans as well as link them with the requisite institutions where they can begin practicing in their respective fields, thereby mastering the field before they graduate.
Mrs. Rebecca Otto, State Auditor, expressed her support for YES’ ideas and adding that she won’t mind taking in a student who is interested in her field to shadow her at work.
Community
The goal of YES Inc. among many other things is to assist its members who are between the ages of 14-20, start to practice in their chosen careers as early as possible before they can finish high school and college. The group’s programs entail extracurricular activities that include helping young people build skills and developing leadership ability to impact their communities.
Coaches who coordinate activities of the group believe that such strategy can help potential students excel in whatever career they may select by the time they enter college.
Pro-USA to YES
The group, according to Wilson, was founded in 2008 as a sporting organization named “Pro USA” by a group of war-affected Liberian youths seeking to change their lives, after they arrived in the United States. InNovember of2013, its founder Mr. Duannah Siryon, a financial consultant and an auditor with Minnesota Department of Revenues, ushered in Stephen and Evan totransformed the organization from Pro USA to YES, Inc.
Among those working behind the scene for YES are Mr. Mozart M. Dennis, Liberia’s international photojournalist who documents the group’s outreach activities and Mr. Evan Reminick, an independent business developer and corporate consultant who helps provides YES with strategy to do community fundraising to support the group’s programs. TAP
The AfricaPaper:James Kokulo Fasuekoi is Associate Editor for The AfricaPaper. He can be reached at: fasu@fbg.358.myftpupload.com
ERRATA:This story has been updated. In an earlier version, we stated the city as Champlain. It is Brooklyn Park. Ages of members should read 14-20, and not 15-20. We also indicated that the organization was transformed from Pro-USA to YES by Mr. Siryon. This should read as: Mr. Duannah Siryon, a financial consultant and an auditor with Minnesota Department of Revenues, ushered in Stephen and Evan totransformed the organization from Pro USA to YES, Inc. as stated in the updated story. TAP regrets the error.
Sis. Rose (left) listens to a participant. Presenters (L-R) Kemi, Naomi, and Prophetess Mary Jubril. Sis. Kemi Davis (right), demonstrates tailoring techniques during the seminar. Pastor Jubril, right, shares information with WGF associates. Photo: The AfricaPaper/James Fasuekoi
By James Kokulo Fasuekoi | The AfricaPaper
St. Paul, Minn – The local St. Paul based Universal Christian Ministries (UCM) recently hosted a three-day marriage and vocational seminar aimed to better prepare African immigrant women living in Minnesota on how they can maintain a happy home.
The event formed part of UCM’s annual convention programs held in St. Paul, Minn., at the church’s edifice organized by its women’s wing, the “Women of Destiny.” The celebration brought together participants, guests, as well as presenters from UCM and other church groups and institutions within the Minneapolis area.
Stability Factor
Presenters (L-R) Kemi, Naomi, and Prophetess Mary Jubril. Sis. Kemi Davis (right). Photo: The AfricaPaper/James Fasuekoi
Prophetess Mary Jubril who served as chief host, opened the seminar and named several factors as key elements in maintaining a healthy and happy marriage relationship. They are: transparency, emotional maturity, financial and spiritual stability, she said.
In addition to the above, the UCM assistant general overseer asked prospective housewives to learn to be respectful to their husbands and in-laws at all times, something she observed is very important in a marriage relationship.
Soap Making
Sis. Shikoya , standing right, makes her presentation. Photo: The AfricaPaper/James Fasuekoi
During a vocational section, Sis. Victoria Shikoya, a Minnesota resident, volunteered and shared some soap making techniques with participants who might want to venture into soap making at small business level on their spared times at home
Using products from a soap making kit she had bought to be used in teaching participants, Sis. Shikoya demonstrated her soap making process from start to finish. She later displayed the finished product to the group after the various presentations on marriage counseling.
Asked by The AfricaPaper whether she can help teach African immigrant women who might want to learn soap making for career and business purposes, Shikoya said she would be glad to share her skills with women in the community who are interested in soap manufacturing for small businesses and family use.
The exercise was part of several vocational skills introduced by UCM during the women’s just ended convention. The goal is to help women in the church learn new skills that could earn them extra money or benefit their family one way or the other.
Shikoya told The AfricaPaper she learned soap making back home in Nigeria over 20 years ago from her son who had been thought by a girlfriend. Since that time Shikoya has earned extra income for her family while doing it at a small business level back home in Nigeria.
Tailoring
Sis. Kemi Davis (right), demonstrates tailoring techniques during the seminar. Photo: The AfricaPaper/James Fasuekoi
Sis. Kemi Davis, head of the church’s women’s ministry and owner of Glorious Jewel Creations made a presentation on tailoring; her demonstration consisted of cloths measurement taking, as well as fabrics cutting, mainly for women’s garments.
Kemi’s is a stylist in her own rights and isn’t at all new in the business of African fashions for both men and women. Her store located in Brooklyn Park, Minn., showcases some of the best African products from shoes to women’s handbags, plus finished fabrics for both sexes. Bulks of her products come from London, Britain, and Nigeria.
Alongside her business marketing skills, Kemi Davis specializes in general sewing for women and had confided she would be willing to help train women in tailoring whenever the need arises within the UCM body.
Education and Awareness Programs
Pastor Jubril, right, shares information with WGF associates. Photo: The AfricaPaper/James Fasuekoi
Other aspects of the seminar consisted of small-group presentations by financial specialists from World Financial Group, Inc. regarding early retirement and how one could possibly become stress-free financially. This section was led by two locally WFG licensed associates, Elizabeth Okilla and Steve Chinatu.
Sis. Rose Mambwe of UCM’s youth ministry helped distributed flyers about community health awareness programs from HIV/Aids (HIV & Hep C), on how one can protect himself against Hepatitis and HIV while undergoing Tattoos and Body Piercing exercises.
Mambwe also provided leaflets on where and how needy members of minority groups can get affordable health insurance as well as volunteers who could help strengthen their individual’s reading, writing and math skills before enrollment into a college.
A representative from the International Institute of Minnesota, Naomi Ryman, mounted a cubicle where she showcased her institute’s Nursing Assistant Training Programs to young adults of the church and the community at large. TAP
The AfricaPaper: James Kokulo Fasuekoi is Associate Editor for The AfricaPaper. He can be reached at: fasu@fbg.358.myftpupload.com
By James Fasuekoi & Issa Mansaray | The AfricaPaper
Brooklyn Park, Minn – In what was described as a historic event, last Sunday, more than 400 church members, supporters, and city officials gathered at the Ebenezer Community Church (ECC) groundbreaking ceremony.
“We have been on this project for a while, and God has graciously helped us to secure the construction loan,” said Dr. Francis O. S. Tabla, senior pastor of ECC.
The occasion marked the beginning of the first phase of the $2.8 million multipurpose community place of worship. The ceremony started with prayers and dance. Participants were observed wearing green and white tee-shirts with writings “Arise and Build Ebenezer.”
The estimated cost of the 33,254 square facility upon completion is $4 million, according to church officers. The facility will be located at 9248 West Broadway, Brooklyn Park, MN.
For Dr. Tabla, after almost nine years, he considers the new construction a success story after years of struggles. Observers at the occasion share similar sentiments agreeing with the lead pastor that the church and its members have gone through a lot from raising funds to working with contractors.
Never Happened
ECC members praising God. Photo: The AfricaPaper/Issa Mansaray
For a community with enormous challenges for nearly a decade, including breaking ground for the construction of a new church that didn’t get off the ground, members of ECC, whose facility is currently located at Park Center High School have reasons to celebrate.
“This is historic. As far as we have learned, this is the first time of building a project of this magnitude. The first phase is about $2.8 million. For an African immigrant to buy a piece of 4.3 acres of land, and build from ground up, is historic,” said Dr. Tabla. “We have learned that this has never happened in the state of Minnesota. This has never happened in the entire mid-west. For us Liberians and Africans, this is a milestone.”
God’s Time
This was God’s time for the church members. Tabla stressed that the new church building will serve Brooklyn Park and African community. The first phase of the project will be a multipurpose gymnasium that can be used for worship, after-school, and adult literacy programs. The facility will also housed social ministries that are evangelistic in nature, but culturally sensitive to Africans and others in Minnesota, the pastor added.
Pastor Tabla praised his congregation for their enormous financial supports toward the new church building funds. He also thanked members of the audience for their generosity.
Construction Starts Soon
Church supporters break ground. Photo: The AfricaPaper/Issa Mansaray
Adam Holmes, president of VanMan Construction Company disclosed that his builders would move their heavy equipment onto the site within two weeks to start construction and put the duration of the first phase of the construction project to six months.
Members took turns, playing Gospel songs with tears of joy. Their musical instruments consisted of both western and the traditional Sasa from Liberia.
Community Support
Cross section of attendees. Photo: The AfricaPaper/Issa Mansaray
Present at the ceremonies was a long line of educators, community and religious leaders, both African and native born Americans who are friends to the Ebenezer Church family. They included Dr. Tabla’s former BWI-Liberia teacher, Mr. Solomon Jaywhehgar, Rev. Weeseh, Rev. Stan Weesee of North center Baptist Church, and Brooklyn Park Faith Chapel’s pastor John B. Saah.
Others were Rev. Alex Collins, representatives of Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention, Twin Cities Metro Baptist Association, Virginia Baptist Mission Board and First Baptist Church in Richmond Virginia and Rev. Charles Goah who consecrated the building site, shovels and tools.
Dr. Tabla and Dea. Winifred Johnson. Photo: The AfricaPaper /Issa Mansaray
“This day is a great day for us, it’s a joyful day… We have come to give the glory to God,” said Etta Gbeizon-Bornor, Chair of Deacons. “In all, we continue to pray… If God has brought us to this day; indeed he would carry us further. We just want to bless God for this day. We all those that prayed with us, cried… and supported morally and financially.”
The AfricaPaper: Issa Mansaray and James Fasuekoi are staff editors at The AfricaPaper and Africa Institute for International Reporting (AIIR).
IN PRAISE OF GOD – In this month’s religion section, The AfricaPaper’s Associate Editor reports on what is good and bad about marriage from the Universal Christian Ministries in St. Paul. IN PRAISE OF GOD – brings news from different churches and other religious groups each month. Please read: Is Marriage a Good or Bad Thing? Sure, we love to hear from you!
Prophetess May Jubril talks about marriage. Photo James Fasusekoi The AfricaPaper
By James Kokulo Fasuekoi | The AfricaPaper
St. Paul, Minn – Olushola Fatai Jubril, General Overseer of the Universal Christian Ministries (UCM), at 977 Raymond Ave, posed this hypothetical question recently to his audience: “Is marriage a good thing?” The event was a three-day vocational and marriage seminar, marking the celebration of the Women’s Annual Convention. The audience, comprised of mostly young men and women.
People froze, not knowing exactly how to respond or the type of answer to give. A few however answered yes; while the rest stayed mute, unwilling to speak.
Tricky Questions
For those who responded with a – YES, the African-immigrant evangelist had a second question for them.
“If marriage is a good thing, why is it that some people don’t want to remember the day they got married?”
This time the entire auditorium went silent and it seems everyone could tell where Jubril, the son of a devout Nigerian Muslim couple, was heading. Over the years, many from UCM have come to know the Muslim-convert for posing tricky questions in attempt to stress his points. By all accounts, this particular moment wasn’t indeed an exception.
For a moment he stood quiet by the podium, sighed and then stared at the audience as if he had run out of words. But he was actually letting the audience off the hook or digest so he could rephrase the question.
Paraphrased Question
Seeing that people appeared hesitant to respond, Pastor Jubril cleverly paraphrased the question in order to attract responses so as to obtain a desired answer. His quizzing started this way:
Pastor Jubril: “Before you marry, what happens?”
Audience: You’ve to form a relationship.
Pastor Jubril: “Fine. And what prompts a relationship?”
Audience responds: “Love!”
Pastor Jubril: “And love is based on what?”
Audience again: “Trust!”
Marriage or Bondage
Now, if this is the case, Pastor Jubril continued: “Why is it that certain marriage can look like people are in bondage when these affairs started with happiness?” “Why is it that an affair that started with laughter suddenly turned sour and no one wants to see the other?”
In order to find answers to these and many more intriguing questions about marriage, Pastor Jubril tried to seek Biblical answers, starting from Genesis 2:18. It reads thus: “And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
Jubril also referenced Genesis 2:21-22, when the Lord God, made woman, using one of Adam’s ribs and after that God made the declaration in Genesis 2:24 that “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
Satan Fights to Destroy
However, he said, the lesson in Genesis 3:1-4 where the serpent misled Eve is what most believers continue to overlook, forgetting to know that “anything from God is an enemy to Satan.” Because of that, the devil Satan, he said, will fight to destroy any good thing, including a marriage relationship.
According to Pastor Jubril, this is a reality that continues to elude mankind leading to scores of challenges people face in their marriages today. It made him reached a conclusion that the beginning of everything in life [this includes marriage] basically rests on the foundation.
The meaning of the pastor’s argument takes believers to Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” This means, if one plans a relationship well, example, by doing it according to God’s divine plans for his life, that individual certainly will enjoy a happy marriage in the end.
But again, Jubril wondered how many people today are willing to nurture relationship based on God’s purpose for our lives? Certainly, not many people, he reasoned.
Marriage God’s Plans
Cross section of church members. Photo: James Fasusekoi /The AfricaPaper
He said most people nowadays enter marriage relationship with certain expectations and when for some reasons those expectations are not met, they no longer want to stay with their partner although they took oath to keep the relation for better or for worst!
Adding that he became a Christian, and has been appalled by the chaos and high divorce rate among Christians, including pastors. He hates whenever Christians make such remarks as, “all marriages have problems.” “I disagree,” he told his congregation, adding, Christians should instead use the word “challenges” in place of the word “problem” when making a reference to unfavorable conditions in a marriage.
Unless people can pray and come to realize God’s visions for their lives and learn to change their attitudes and put God first, he said, happiness may remain elusive not only in their marriages but also in their relations with people within the community.
He categorized problems that could wreck a marriage, into two main groups; Internal Problems and External Problems.
External problems
He gave examples of external problems as the unexpected loss of job or a business venture and explained they are among problems normally out of one’s control. When such problems surface he said, that’s when one gets to know the true character of his or her partner.
It’s the time people often hear the woman says, “I can’t stay with a broker.” Such a woman according to Jubril, only wants the marriage when “conditions” are pleasing but would quickly change if the situation becomes unpleasant. This behavior he narrated can place pressure on the man. “Love doesn’t quite in difficult times,” he adds.
Internal Problems
Internal problems, he observed, could come from either side from the couple’s in-laws. An example can be a pure dislike from an in law or a relative toward your partner all because, “Your in-law doesn’t like your God.”
Another internal matter that could cause harmful for a marriage he said can be the tendency by one partner to withhold certain truths regarding his or her past from the other and when the truth becomes revealed that’s when misunderstanding sets in and one would hear a party remark: “I wish I had known, I wouldn’t have entered this marriage.”
Jubril said these things happen only when the “Love begins to fade away and everything that once brought laughter before in the relationship now creates tension in the home.”
Avoiding Marriage Problems
As key to avoiding both internal and external problems, Jubril advised Christians to always choose “character” over “physical looks” when considering finding a lifelong partner. It means as a Christian, one needs to befriend someone who is also aligned with him or her spiritually for 2 Corinthians 6:14 says: “Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers.”
The clergyman further cautioned Christian youths against making wrong decisions concerning establishing an intimate relationship, saying, “It’s important for young Christian singles to learn to carefully choose their partners” as a way to prevent divorce which has become prevalent among Christians including pastors.
Defining Marriage
Later, Prophetess Mary Jubril, wife of Evangelist Fatai Jubril, took the stage with a blunt and direct message to young Christian singles, especially girls in UCM and also the African immigrant community.
She defined marriage as a binding relationship between a matured man and a matured woman and as such, she added, “marriage isn’t for small girls and small boys.”
“Leave men alone for now and do your homework…go out there and compete with other girls in education and stop running around with boys,” she told youths.
She said everything has time and urged youths to “wait for your time” in order to avoid an “unwanted pregnancy.”
God’s Understanding
For those Christian youths who may be in relationship now, the UCM assistant general overseer advised them to depend on God’s understanding and not depend on their own intelligence so that the Creator can guide and give them a prosperous life.
She provided Ephesians 5:17, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is,” as a useful guide for youths to remember in their daily life.
Marrying the Wrong Person
Reading from Genesis 2:24, Prophetess Jubril said marrying the wrong person can be like being in hell. For Christians, she explained, it can be very painful knowing you are stuck forever with the person.
She said that as a child of God one should pray for a better partner and never let a friend give you man whose life you don’t know. Such behavior is a grave error many people are making today, she said.
She told youths not to jump in relation because they see others marrying and they too want to marry and be like their friends. That is the wrong way to make decision, she said.
Know How to Cook
Prophetess May Jubril observed that the unwillingness, or inability by some immigrant African women nowadays to perform house chores such as cooking, cleaning and washing, is something that is seriously affecting many marriage relationship.
Mrs. Jubril who once served as a traditional housewife in her native Nigeria before migrating to the United States maintained that a typical African woman should honor the tradition of carrying out house tasks regardless of change of location.
“If you [as a woman] don’t know how to take care of your man, it would be hard to keep him,” she said, noting, a typical African mother-in-law would not want her son marry a woman that has no cooking skills. TAP
The AfricaPaper: James Kokulo Fasuekoi is Associate Editor for The AfricaPaper. He can be reached at: fasu@fbg.358.myftpupload.com
Joan Kagezi was a lead prosecutor in high profile cases in Uganda, including against a former LRA commander and those accused of terrorism. She was shot dead in front of her children in March.
By Brigid Inder | The AfricaPaper
Kampala, Uganda – On 30 March, at around 7.30pm, Joan Kagezi, Senior Principal State Attorney in Uganda, was murdered by unidentified assailants, who opened fire on her while she was driving home from work.
In the most ordinary of circumstances, Joan had stopped at a fruit stall on her way home when she was shot twice by gunmen on a motorcycle. Three of her four children were in the car with Joan at the time of the attack and witnessed the brutal murder of their mother.
Joan was head of the Directorate of Public Prosecution’s (DPP) war crimes and anti-terrorism division and in this capacity she was, at the time of her death, the lead Prosecutor in a high profile terrorism case, involving suspects in the 2010 terrorist bombings in Kampala. The case was strong and Joan was formidable.
Feeling Uncomfortable
Just a few days before her death, Joan had shared with a colleague that she had not liked the way one of the accused in the case was staring at her during a recent court session. She said she felt that he was looking at her in a menacing way and it made her feel uncomfortable. Earlier in the case she had asked the presiding judge to not allow the accused to sit in the public gallery but rather to have them seated together within the Court room. The Judge had refused her request stating that it would injure the health of the accused to do so.
Sharp Prosecutorial Mind
Joan Kagez’s Children
Joan Kagezi was a long-time friend of the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice. She was softly-spoken with a calm, unflappable demeanour which belied her steely and unswerving determination and her sharp prosecutorial mind. Working with Joan generated hope that post-conflict Uganda was on the right track and that its judicial system, although struggling, might rise to the challenge. Maybe our work together helped all of us believe that despite the longevity of the conflict and the pain, torment and suffering of multiple generations of northern Ugandans, justice, truth and reconciliation, or something akin to these aspirations, may yet be possible.
We met Joan in the course of our legal monitoring and advocacy work regarding prosecutions associated with the LRA-related conflict before the International Crimes Division (ICD) of the High Court of Uganda.
Kidnapping and Destruction
As head of the DPP’s war crimes and anti-terrorism division, Joan was the lead Prosecutor in the latter stages of the ICD case against Thomas Kwoyelo, a former commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who was charged with the war crimes of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and destruction of property, amongst other acts. Notably, there were no charges for gender-based crimes in this case despite Kwoyelo’s rank within the LRA and the multiple sources describing the militia’s practice of assigning abducted girls and young women to commanders for sexual and domestic purposes. It is also noteworthy that no charges were brought under the Ugandan ICC Act although some of the incidents for which Kwoyelo is charged are also incidents which have been the subject of ICC investigations. We worked very closely with Joan on these issues. She was receptive to our advocacy and supportive of the inclusion of sexual and gender-based crimes in the ongoing investigative and prosecutorial priorities of the ICD. She informed us last year that she was hopeful that the next round of LRA-related cases would likely include charges for these crimes.
Amnesty for Ex-combatants
The larger challenge in the Kwoyelo case was his application to the Ugandan Amnesty Commission and potential eligibility to be pardoned under the Amnesty Act. More than 24,000 certificates of amnesty have been granted to ex-combatants under this act, and prior to the Kwoyelo case, no one who had applied for amnesty had been denied.
The Women’s Initiatives and our partners, especially the Greater North Women’s Voices for Peace Network (GNWVPN), have been persistently vocal in critiquing the failure of the Act to include amnesty conditions regarding requirements for: truth telling; a confession – individuals are not required to make a full declaration of the acts they had committed or the incidents they may have witnessed; the exclusion of certain crimes including sexual and gender-based violence from qualifying under the amnesty regime; and an apology to direct victims of their crimes and those in the broader community affected by their actions. In practice, the Amnesty Act has provided a blanket immunity from prosecution for sexual violence and other crimes, for the entire period of the Ugandan LRA conflict. Many in the community are critical of the Amnesty Commission which appears to them to provide support to former perpetrators, while no support is provided by the Government and district councils to victims/survivors. In addition, according to the GNWVPN, even amongst those granted amnesty the treatment is unequal with former LRA commanders treated considerably better than those abducted, especially the female abductees.
Prosecuting Crimes
This was an issue we discussed at length with Joan who was sympathetic to the situation of victims and survivors. She shared our concerns that the Amnesty Act was impeding prosecutions and hindering the accountability demanded by victims and survivors, desperately needed by communities as part of the reconciliation process and guaranteed under the Juba Peace Agreements.
Joan’s chance to address this came when the Ugandan Constitutional Court ruled in 2011 that Kwoyelo was eligible for amnesty and ordered the legal proceedings against him to cease and his immediate release from detention. In response, the Attorney General appealed this decision to the Supreme Court and in the subsequent hearing the DPP, with Joan as lead Prosecutor, challenged the decision by the Constitutional Court. The DPP argued that the Amnesty Act did not prevent it from prosecuting crimes within its jurisdiction, that Kwoyelo did not qualify for amnesty because he was captured and had not surrendered, and that the DPP had not discriminated against Kwoyelo by prosecuting him even though other commanders, including those more senior, had been granted amnesty in the past.
Supreme Court Judgment
Those of us working on this issue had been waiting for the Supreme Court judgment since 2012. Finally, on 8 April 2015, a week after Joan’s murder, the Supreme Court issued its ruling finding that the Act does not impinge upon the prosecutorial powers of the DPP and that the DPP had not discriminated against Kwoleyo because it is within its purview to consider each amnesty application in its own right. This clears the way for the case against Kwoyelo, the first in relation to the 25 year LRA-related conflict, to resume.
Perhaps most importantly, the Court provided much needed guidance and clarity regarding the crimes for which amnesty cannot apply. While not applicable in the Kwoyelo case, the judgement implicitly recognizes acts of sexual violence as war crimes and grave breaches under Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention as crimes for which an individual would not be eligible for amnesty. This is a ground-breaking judgment within the Ugandan context.
Important Legal Legacies
Although no longer alive at the time of the decision, this ruling and its important clarifications is one of Joan’s most important legal legacies.
In a conversation with Joan last year, I shared with her my dream to hold a residential institute in northern Uganda for young women formerly abducted by the LRA including former female child soldiers. Her face beamed as she said this was ‘a noble pursuit’ and immediately asked if she could have three places at the institute for young women she had met during her work at the DPP. We hope to one day be able to offer this institute to young women and when we do, the opening will include a tribute to Joan Kagezi, an advocate for gender justice and a Ugandan hero. TAP
