Lives Less Ordinary Meeting the monster: My 14 days with Joseph Kony

In Judith Obina Okumu's imagination, Joseph Kony was a monster. As leader of the Lord's Resistance Army he'd fought a decades-long war against the government of Yoweri Museveni – displacing and destroying hundreds of thousands of lives across Northern Uganda in the process. But one day, a visit from a stranger would challenge Judith to face her fears. In her role as assistant private secretary to President Museveni, Judith was introduced to Joseph Kony's mother, Nora Anek. After three years of gaining her trust, Judith asked Nora if she would go to meet her son at his forest hideout and persuade him to engage with peace talks. What Judith didn't know was that the President wanted her to go too. She was convinced it was the last journey she'd ever make. But after 14 days of talks, Judith and Nora helped broker peace in Northern Uganda.
Lives Less Ordinary is a weekly podcast from the BBC World Service that seeks out the most incredible true stories from around the world. Step into someone else's life and expect the unexpected.
Each episode, a guest shares their most intimate and defining personal story. Listen for real-life accounts, unbelievable twists, and inspiring journeys, which prove just how extraordinary the human experience can be.
Lives Less Ordinary is brought to you by the team behind Outlook, the home of human storytelling on the BBC World Service for nearly 60 years.
Got a story to tell? Send an email to liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Anna Lacey

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The Guardian

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• The Guardian

Kirsty Coventry is now the most powerful person in sport and faces a bulging in-tray

A new day has broken, has it not? For several reasons, Tony Blair's 1997 election victory speech comes to mind on what will be a historic and symbolic day for sport. Because in Lausanne on Monday, after plenty of handshakes and platitudes, the 41-year-old Kirsty Coventry will become the first female and first African president of the International Olympic Committee in its 131-year-old history. It has been, by any measure, a dizzying ascent. In 2016, Coventry stepped out of an Olympic pool for the final time in Rio. Now, nine years later, she is the most powerful person in sport. Yet as she takes charge, there are some who suspect that the new dawn will look rather like the old one – and that her predecessor, Thomas Bach, and his administration, will remain puppet masters behind the throne. After all, it was Bach who identified Coventry's leadership abilities and pushed her candidacy hard before the election in March. And with the mother of two from Zimbabwe not yet having significant business or global political experience, there is a school of thought that believes she will rely on Bach and others in the IOC. Yet having spoken to several people in the IOC ecosystem, I wonder whether that analysis might turn out to be incorrect. Because the early signs are that Coventry may end up being a lot more independent, and interesting, than Bach and the IOC administration were expecting. True, it is early days. But Coventry, who only arrived in Lausanne at the start of June as part of a three-month transition process, has already made an impact. One source described her as 'a breath of fresh air'. Two others said that she had made a very good impression not only in speeches to Olympic partners but with the rank and file. Another said she was 'as tough as nails but very friendly'. Coventry is already displaying a more human approach to Bach, who came across as part Gordon Brown, part Otto von Bismarck, Presbyterian and Prussian, serious and stern. Last week she admitted that she was such a bad loser as a child her family banned her from playing cards. She also recalled how, as a 17-year-old in her first Olympics in Sydney, she had fallen over in the changing rooms trying to put on a Speedo swimsuit for the first time before her hero, the Australian swimmer Susie O'Neill, helped her out. Can you imagine Bach ever laughing at himself? The early signs are also that she will be more consensual. After the handover on Monday there will be a two-day session with IOC members to brainstorm ideas in five areas. I am told that Juan Antonio Samaranch, who came second to her in the IOC presidential election, will lead the finance and revenue section, which suggests more of a big tent approach. When I asked Coventry last week about the leaders she admired and had learned from, she pointed to Strive Masiyiwa, the founder and executive chairman of Econet, and something he had told her. 'One of the biggest things he shared with me was to always know your strengths and weaknesses,' she said. 'And never be too proud to get someone that knows something in your weak spots that's going to be better than you. Because they're ultimately going to make you stronger'. What of policy? Here there will be differences from Bach, too. Coventry has already said she will protect the female category, and promised to set up a taskforce during her campaign. One person with knowledge of her views said the issue was 'front and centre for her'. And that, while it wouldn't happen overnight, they believed there would be little pushback when it came to banning transgender athletes in female sport. They also predicted the 2021 IOC guidelines would be revised and that, ultimately, Olympic sports will end up using the cheek-swab test. I also expect a different approach when it comes to how the 2036 Olympics is awarded. In 2021, Bach controversially gave the 2032 Games to Brisbane after almost no consultation with IOC members. But multiple sources say that Coventry will not rush the 2036 decision and also intends to find a way to get IOC members involved. Another subtle shift might come over the IOC's attitude to Russia. There is no chance it will be let back into the Winter Olympics next year. But Coventry has said she will look at another taskforce over Russia and there is a widespread expectation that ways will be found to let more of the country's athletes compete at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. 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The Independent

3 hours ago

• The Independent

‘The world is cutting foreign aid – but there is a better way to tackle the climate crisis'

In 2023, some $52 million (£38 million) was invested in a groundbreaking solar power plant in Sierra Leone, which is set to increase the East African country's electricity supply by 30 per cent. In a separate project, a power utility called Weza Power was set up in the West African nation of Burundi, which aims to bring grid power to 70 per cent of the country's population, up from a current rate of 12 per cent. Some £21.8m was also spent building warehouses across Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, giving 200,000 small-scale farmers access to storage solutions that will help them bring their crops to market. All of these projects are united by the fact that they have been funded by British International Investments (BII), the UK's development finance institute. Little known outside of global development policy circles, BII is a key driver of the UK government's foreign assistance and climate interests, and is committing to keep being so, even as much of the rest of the world retreats. 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Some 940m people also continue to lack access to clean-burning cooking solutions on the continent, which is a problem that raises environmental concerns over deforestation for firewood and health concerns over the risks related to polluting fuels, among other things. 'The one area that is the undisputed number one priority in the development agenda today is energy poverty,' says Maasdorp. 'In Africa, it is a number one priority. You cannot do anything without energy: factories, clinics, schools and hospitals all need power.' Maasdorp joined BII in October last year following a career that has spanned the New Development Bank – which is the Shanghai-based development finance institute of the BRICs – the group formed by Brazil, Russia, India and China. Maasdorp also worked for Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and held government roles in his native South Africa. 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While Rachel Reeves' Spending Review earlier this month did not go into sufficient detail to mention BII, current signals suggests that the government will struggle to inject fresh capital into BII as aid budgets are cut. Nick Dyer, director of global programmes in international development at FCDO, told the International Development Committee on 13 May that 'in a 0.3 per cent world I think that it will be difficult for us to provide any core funding to BII'. But a BII spokesperson more recently told The Independent that even if there is no new injection of cash from FCDO, BII will be able to maintain its current levels of investment, given that the past seven years it has made average returns of 5.1 per cent. 'The company has a self-financing model that delivers development impact and a financial return for the UK taxpayer. BII will continue to invest at its current rate,' the BII spokesperson said. Prior to 2016, there was a long period where BII was not topped up by the aid budget, so no new money is not unprecedented – though it will prevent BII from growing as much as it might have done. Maasdorp is clear that, even if the US is retracting from its climate commitments, with President Trump declaring his intention to remove the US from the Paris Agreement, climate will remain a priority for BII. 'It is very clear that climate will remain central to the mandate of BII,' says Maasdorp. That mandate currently holds a target of 30 per cent of spending on climate – but BII currently spends at 40 per cent. 'We recognise that there is an inextricable and interconnected relationship between climate and development, and development gains will be completely eroded if we don't also invest in climate,' he adds. Maasdorp nonetheless recognises that climate programmes face major funding challenges globally in the coming years. At the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, which took place at the end of last year, the world set itself the challenge of boosting climate finance to $300bn (£224bn) a year by 2035. This target was already widely decried at the time as inadequate given the sheer cost of tackling climate change – but even so is now under threat due to the global retreat from development spending, believes Maasdorp. 'The ability of the developed world to meet such targets is becoming even more challenging,' he says. 'Whether certain countries will now step forward and increase their funding remains to be seen though it seems unlikely that the UK will be able to do so, at least in the short term, given the cuts north of £6bn that have been announced.' Where spending does come under pressure, Maasdorp believes that the investment-focused strategy of BII is a cost-efficient model to drive the UK's climate agenda as grant-based programmes come under pressure. 'A focus on investment helps encourage long-term sustainable growth in those countries, with governments able to use taxes that come in from companies to invest in education, healthcare, and clinics,' he says. 'That is a better legacy than what can be achieved with aid.' Maasdorp is among those who argue that rethinking the manner in which aid is designed and distributed is not necessarily a bad thing in some cases. This is because are countries around the world that have been highly dependent on aid for many years, but continue to record weak economic growth and development outcomes, which is a dynamic many people in the development world would like to shift. 'When I speak to policymakers, heads of state, and ministers of finance, everybody agrees that it is a good thing to try and end aid dependency, and for countries to take ownership of their development trajectory,' says Maasdorp. While Africa continues to face huge developmental challenges, it is also a continent of vast potential, with 70 per cent of its population under the age of 30, and seven of the ten fast-growing economies in the world in 2025. Foreign investment flows into Africa continue to pale in comparison to other parts of the world - but Maasdorp believes with innovative new financing models driven by organisations like BII, these dynamics really can begin to shift. 'We work with the government to improve the investment environment, and then we encourage other financiers to invest alongside us,' he continues. 'We believe we are at a sweet spot now where we can be a vehicle through which larger institutions can begin investing in Africa.'

BBC News

7 hours ago

• BBC News

Lives Less Ordinary Meeting the monster: My 14 days with Joseph Kony

In Judith Obina Okumu's imagination, Joseph Kony was a monster. As leader of the Lord's Resistance Army he'd fought a decades-long war against the government of Yoweri Museveni – displacing and destroying hundreds of thousands of lives across Northern Uganda in the process. But one day, a visit from a stranger would challenge Judith to face her fears. In her role as assistant private secretary to President Museveni, Judith was introduced to Joseph Kony's mother, Nora Anek. After three years of gaining her trust, Judith asked Nora if she would go to meet her son at his forest hideout and persuade him to engage with peace talks. What Judith didn't know was that the President wanted her to go too. She was convinced it was the last journey she'd ever make. But after 14 days of talks, Judith and Nora helped broker peace in Northern Uganda. Lives Less Ordinary is a weekly podcast from the BBC World Service that seeks out the most incredible true stories from around the world. Step into someone else's life and expect the unexpected. Each episode, a guest shares their most intimate and defining personal story. Listen for real-life accounts, unbelievable twists, and inspiring journeys, which prove just how extraordinary the human experience can be. Lives Less Ordinary is brought to you by the team behind Outlook, the home of human storytelling on the BBC World Service for nearly 60 years. Got a story to tell? Send an email to liveslessordinary@ or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Anna Lacey